British Journal of Anaesthesia 2008 100(2):165-183; doi:10.1093/bja/aem380
© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2008. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Anaesthesia in the prone position
H. Edgcombe1,
K. Carter1 and
S. Yarrow2,*
1 Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, London Road, Reading RG1 5AN, UK
2 John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
* Corresponding author: Nuffield Department of Anaesthesia, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. Email: drsyarrow{at}tiscali.co.uk
Prone positioning of patients during anaesthesia is required to provide operative access for a wide variety of surgical procedures. It is associated with predictable changes in physiology but also with a number of complications, and safe use of the prone position requires an understanding of both issues. We have reviewed the development of the prone position and its variants and the physiological changes which occur on prone positioning. The complications associated with this position and the published techniques for various practical procedures in this position will be discussed. The aim of this review is to identify the risks associated with prone positioning and how these risks may be anticipated and minimized.
Keywords:
complications, neuropathy;
complications, respiratory;
position, effects;
position, prone;
surgery, spinal

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