Structure

Many thanks to one of my consultants this week for providing me with a beautiful structure to answer any clinical question. I'm sure he won't mind me sharing it:

Preoperative
-History
-Examination
-Investigations (Observations, Bloods, ABGs, ECG, CXR, Other X-rays, Echo, PFTs etc)
-Pre-medication
-Preparation
-Consent

Intraoperative
-Check (machine/equipment, patient)
-Monitoring (AAGBI minimum standards)
-Oxygen
-Venous Access
-Emergency Drugs/Equipment
-Drugs
-Skilled Assistance
-Resuscitation equipment

-Induction
-Maintenance
-Emergence

Postoperative
-Disposal (Recovery, HDU/ITU, ward)
-Oxygen
-Analgesia
-Antiemesis
-IV Fluids
-DVT prophylaxis

The beauty is that you could know nothing about the actual surgery, but by mentioning all of the above in the correct order, you'll probably pass!