A 28-year-old woman develops a postural headache two days after spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section. The headache worsens when she sits up and improves when she lies flat. Conservative management with hydration and simple analgesics fails after 48 hours. What is the most appropriate next step?

A child develops sudden inspiratory stridor and paradoxical chest and abdominal movement immediately after extubation in the recovery room, with no air movement audible on auscultation. Jaw-thrust with 100% oxygen via a tight-fitting facemask fails to relieve the obstruction. What is the most appropriate next step?

A 28-year-old man undergoes an open appendicectomy under general anaesthesia. He received morphine 5 mg IV intraoperatively. In the recovery room, he is alert and reports pain of 6/10. The anaesthetist plans a multimodal analgesic regimen for his post-operative pain management. Which analgesic strategy is most appropriate?

A 34-year-old male undergoes emergency laparotomy for blunt abdominal trauma. He receives 6 L of 0.9% sodium chloride intraoperatively. End-of-case arterial blood gas: pH 7.28, PaCO₂ 38 mmHg, HCO₃⁻ 17 mmol/L, Cl⁻ 115 mmol/L, lactate 1.1 mmol/L. Which complication of fluid therapy best explains these findings?

A 26-year-old woman with a known history of acute intermittent porphyria requires emergency induction of general anaesthesia. Which induction agent should be AVOIDED in this patient?

While setting up the anaesthetic machine, a medical officer attempts to open both the sevoflurane and isoflurane vaporisers at the same time. What safety feature of the anaesthetic machine prevents this?

During rapid sequence induction and intubation, in what order should the following steps occur?

A patient is administered a hypnotic agent, an opioid, and a muscle relaxant in combination for a surgical procedure under general anaesthesia. This combination is designed to achieve which three goals, collectively known as the ‘triad of anaesthesia’?

A patient in the recovery room is fully awake, moves all four limbs voluntarily, breathes deeply and coughs freely, maintains SpO2 of 97% on room air, and has a blood pressure within 15 mmHg of her preoperative baseline. Which scoring system is used to formally assess her readiness for discharge from the recovery room, and what minimum score is generally required?

A patient in the recovery room following an uneventful spinal anaesthetic for total hip replacement becomes hypotensive. Urine output has been minimal, and there was an estimated 800 ml of intraoperative blood loss. What is the most likely cause of the hypotension, and the most appropriate initial management?