Anaesthesia Foundations MCQs

Capnography is continuous graphical display of carbon dioxide concentration during the respiratory cycle.

ASA physical status is a preoperative classification describing a patient’s systemic health status.

Balanced anaesthesia is use of multiple agents and techniques to achieve hypnosis, analgesia, muscle relaxation and physiological stability.

Preoxygenation is administration of high-concentration oxygen before induction to increase oxygen reserve.

Rapid-sequence induction is an induction technique designed to secure the airway quickly while reducing aspiration risk.

Minimum alveolar concentration is the alveolar concentration of an inhaled anaesthetic preventing movement in half of subjects exposed to a standard stimulus.

End-tidal carbon dioxide is the carbon dioxide concentration measured at the end of expiration and used to assess ventilation.

Pulse oximetry is non-invasive estimation of arterial oxygen saturation using light absorption.

Spinal anaesthesia is injection of local anaesthetic into cerebrospinal fluid to produce neuraxial block.

Epidural anaesthesia is administration of local anaesthetic into the epidural space through a needle or catheter.

Malignant hyperthermia is a life-threatening hypermetabolic reaction to triggering anaesthetic agents in susceptible individuals.

Difficult airway is a clinical situation in which trained personnel have difficulty with ventilation, intubation or both.