A critical and evidence based glance at major publications in anaesthesia in 2011

Despite increasing efforts to provide evidence based treatments for our patients, there is still a large gap between our daily practices and the level of evidence. However, even in the face of what appears to be solid evidence, issues such as scientific fraud, heterogeneity of included patients, interventions and settings may weaken our faith in evidence based medicine. It is however important to view published papers with methodological and scientific vigilance and scrutiny to avoid implementation of interventions that may prove to be harmful only when results of better and larger trials appear. In this paper, I will provide a snapshot overview of some of the major publications of the previous year through this periscope in regards to topics such as fluid resuscitation, transfusion and coagulation management and intraoperative awareness.