Interventional Radiology
Eurorad
Aunt Minnie
Urgent - cancel that clinic and register!
Antibiotic policy
Gel, anyone?

 

Interventional Radiology

I was walking past a poster in our Radiology Department and came upon some information put together by my colleague Ian Robertson, an interventional radiologist. He was able to highlight the web based resources of interest to interventional radiologists. I followed some of the links and have selected some which are likely to be of interest to surgeons.

The British Society of Interventional Radiology is a fairly new society. It started in 1988 with a membership of 78. The membership now exceeds 500. It organizes one annual scientific meeting and helps to promote other educational activities. It also co-hosts the Endovascular Forum, a bi-annual meeting, along with the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland. There is an excellent list of links including some really good educational resources.

Eurorad

This is a well organised site. There are excellent resources and case discussions available. There is however, a 10 euro charge for associate membership.

The X-ray Files are part of the free radiology educational resource from the Scottish Radiological Society. This site has a long lineage, its forerunner being the first UK based radiology resource on the web, back in the last millenium, 1995.

Aunt Minnie

Weird name but very credible and useful site. It has a load of material. Much of it is news and commercial information. There is a good CME section, a Case of the Day and other ideas like the RadPath Compendium. Well worth a look. You need to be a member but you can register for free.

CT is us

CTisus.com has a fantastic collection of teaching files – organised by site and giving you the option of having the diagnosis displayed on screen or not. Very good indeed.

Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe

Society of Interventional Radiology

Many of the resources are available to non members. Again a good site with lots to explore.

 

 

 

Triennial Conference. Urgent - cancel that clinic and register!

Building on the durable success of the Annual Surgical Forum the College is hosting a Triennial Conference this year. This is a new venture for the College. It will include the Surgical Forum, Medical Forum, Dental Forum, Autumn Lung Conference and Travel Medicine Symposium all under one umbrella and all at the superb SECC in Glasgow on November 6th and 7th 2008.

The abstract submission deadline is Aug 29th so get busy! Have a look at the Surgical Forum information page here.

Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Surgery

The SIGN guideline has been published providing guidance on antibiotic prophylaxis in surgery. Individual specialties will be working with the microbiologists to agree how this will be taken forward.

Antimicrobial Prescribing Policy

A new policy on the prescribing of antibiotics has been launched as part of the drive to tackle Clostridium Difficile. The new policy, which reflects national guidance and best practice, aims to promote the use of a number of antibiotics which are less associated with Clostridium Difficile. While it will still be necessary, in certain clinical situations, to use other antibiotics, the use of these drugs will be restricted as far as possible. The updated guidelines can be accessed via the homepage of StaffNet and have been posted on the Glasgow Formulary website. They will also be included in the NHSGGC Therapeutics Handbook. Copies have already been circulated to medical, nursing and pharmacy staff.

Fancy a refreshment?

The battle against hospital superbugs has encountered an unexpected enemy - street drinkers and homeless people are stealing the 70%-proof alcohol hand cleanser from hospital wards to make potentially lethal cocktails.

Next month I hope to bring you some news about my colleague Dominique Byrne and his amazing Tour de France cycling project in aid of land mine victims in Kosovo. Until then ...

Best wishes

David Galloway