Monthly media digest: December 2025/January 2026

Anaesthetists lead landmark open heart surgery trial

ANZCA welcomes the announcement of a new $3.7 million Medical Research Future Fund grant for a world-first study set to reshape monitoring practices for patients undergoing open-heart surgery. The pulmonary artery catheters in low-risk cardiac surgery (PUMA) trial will be led by Dr Luke Perry, anaesthesia registrar at the Victorian Heart Institute.

GLP-1 receptor agonists in surgery

ANZCA President Professor David Story was interviewed by the ABC online on 22 December about patients not declaring their use of GLP-1 receptor agonists ahead of surgery. Professor Story highlighted the potentially life-threatening consequences to patients, and urged them to be upfront with their doctors about the medications they are on.

Professor Story also featured in radio news broadcasts nationally and on ABC TV news broadcasts, reaching nearly a million people.   

Frozen blood platelets safe to use in adult cardiac surgery

Queensland FANZCA Professor Michael Reade's CLIP-II study into frozen blood platelets featured in an article in The Australian "Frozen blood platelets discovery ‘the difference between life and death’ on 9 December (paywalled).

Professor Reade, the director of the University of Queensland’s Greater Brisbane Clinical School,  led a team of researchers from UQ and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood who have discovered that lifesaving platelets are safe and effective to use on critically injured patients for far longer than previously thought if they are frozen.

Their study involved almost 400 patients across 11 Australian hospitals.