Apportioning pain and disability after a car accident or work related injury can be difficult. Many doctors who undertake this task often state that because an x ray examination or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan soon after the injury shows degenerative disc disease (DDD), some or all of the patient’s spinal pain and disability must be pre-existing. This interpretation of imaging is not c...

Children with co-existing pulmonary disease have a wide range of clinical manifestations with significant implications for anaesthetists. Although there are a number of pulmonary diseases in children, this review focuses on two of the most common pulmonary disorders, asthma and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). These diseases share the physiology of bronchoconstriction and variably decreased fl...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Regional anesthesia is controversial in patients with pre-existing neurologic disease. This study reviews the published evidence regarding the utilization and outcomes of regional anesthetics in this population. RECENT FINDINGS Although publications are sparse, neuraxial and peripheral regional techniques have been successfully described in patients with spinal cord injury, ...

The pathophysiology of high-altitude illnesses has been well studied in normal individuals, but little is known about the risks of high-altitude travel in patients with pre-existing lung disease. Although it would seem self-evident that any patient with lung disease might not do well at high altitude, the type and severity of disease will determine the likelihood of difficulty in a high-altitud...