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This guideline updates and replaces the 4th edition of the AAGBI Standards of Monitoring published in 2007. The aim of this document is to provide guidance on the minimum standards for physiological monitoring of any patient undergoing anaesthesia or sedation under the care of an anaesthetist. The recommendations are primarily aimed at anaesthetists practising in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Minimum standards for monitoring patients during anaesthesia and in the recovery phase are included. There is also guidance on monitoring patients undergoing sedation and also during transfer of anaesthetised or sedated patients. There are new sections discussing the role of monitoring depth of anaesthesia, neuromuscular blockade and cardiac output. The indications for end-tidal carbon dioxide monitoring have been updated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of anaesthetists who are involved in magnetic resonance (MR) units is increasing. Magnetic resonance systems are becoming more powerful and interventional procedures are now possible. This paper updates information relating to safety terminology, occupational exposure, reactions to gadolinium-based contrast agents and the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Magnetic resonance examinations of patients with pacemakers are still generally contra-indicated but have been carried out in specialist centres under strictly controlled conditions. As availability of MR increases, so the education of anaesthetists, who are occasionally required to provide a service, must be considered. Anaesthesia in MR units was first described in the 1980s. Guidelines on the provision of anaesthetic services in MR units were published by the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) in 2002 [1]. Since then, the number of hospitals with MR units, and hence the number of patients requiring anaesthesia for MR, has increased. While the issues relating to setting up anaesthetic services in MR have not changed, there have been a number of developments that warrant this update: 1 Safety terminology and guidelines have changed. 2 MR systems utilise higher magnetic-field strengths and more open designs are available. 3 Interventional and intra-operative MR are now routine in some centres. 4 Mobile MR scanners are increasingly used to reduce waiting lists. 5 Although still generally contra-indicated, some patients with pacemakers have been scanned under strictly controlled conditions in specialist centres. 6 'MR safe' medical implants are now being produced. 7 New equipment is now available for use in MR. 8 Out-of-hours availability of MR investigations has increased. 9 Reports of allergic reactions to MR contrast media have increased. 10 Gadolinium based contrast agents (Gd-CAs) are associated with a varying degree of risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in patients with impaired renal function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]