Anaesthesia in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Interventions in the cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL) requiring anaesthetic expertise are becoming routine. These interventions involve a heterogeneous patient population and take place in an offsite location. This review aims to give an insight into anaesthetic issues surrounding certain interventions and the challenges encountered in an offsite location.

RECENT FINDINGS: Owing to an ageing population with increasing comorbidity, transcatheter interventions are being developed and in certain cases becoming routine alternatives for open heart operations. Percutaneous interventions are also being increasingly performed in adult patients with congenital heart abnormalities. The anaesthetic team plays an important role in these procedures, requiring detailed knowledge of the intervention, the characteristics of the patient population and the ability to work as a team in a complex, multidisciplinary setting.

SUMMARY: Interventions in the CCL have developed to such an extent that dedicated anaesthesia teams are required in order to cope with the complexities of the patient populations, the interventions and the challenges brought by the offsite nature of the CCL.