Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine

            School of Clinical Sciences and Community Health

Last updated 17th January 2011. This page was designed and published by Duncan Paxton.

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336

 

 

Dr R Peter Alston MD, FRCA

Peter Alston trained in medicine at the University of Glasgow. He undertook post-graduate training in anaesthesia and critical care in Edinburgh, Auckland and Glasgow. Subsequently, he spent two years working at the University of Washington.

 

His main research interests have been related to cardiac anaesthesia and critical care. In particular, he has maintained a long interest in effects of cardiopulmonary bypass upon the body. This has involved examination of systemic oxygen uptake and more recently, the influence of cerebral oxygenation during and after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery on cognitive and neurological outcome. Other research interests have included spinal anaesthesia, professional attitudes and postoperative analgesia.

 

Although committed to postgraduate training in cardiac anaesthesia, his main teaching interests relate to undergraduate training in the form of introductory courses in problem based learning and research projects.

 

He is secretary for the Medical Staff Association at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. This year, he was elected to the Scottish Standing Committee of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

 

Clinical audit and critical incident reporting are also of importance. He has organised many audits including postoperative analgesia that have been instrumental in changing the delivery of clinical care. Currently, he is auditing antibiotic prophylaxis for surgery.

Grants Held

Example Publications

Alston R.P. (principal investigator).  Audit of Postoperative pain following cardiothoracic surgery. 
Lothian Health 
£3000

Alston R.P. (principal investigator),  Souter M and Andrews PJD.
Does Cerebral Hypoperfusion only occur following cardiac surgery. 
Scottish Hospitals Endowment Research Trust.  March 1997-February 1998.
£61000.

Alston R.P. (principal investigator), Deary I., Souter M.J., Andrews P.J.D. 
Is postoperative cerebral hypoperfusion associated with brain damage?
The Wellcome Trust.  January 1998-December 1999.
£140,115.

Alston R.P. (principal investigator).
Supplementary funding awarded to determine whether cerebral lactate production, lactate-oxygen index or S-100 protein in the intensive care unit is related to brain damage. 
The Wellcome Trust.  July 1998-December 1999.
£11,000

Alston RP. (grant holder) 
The neuropsychological sequelae of systemic illness: The 1999 Wellcome Trust Research Workshop at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
The Wellcome Trust. £1775. 22nd November 1999.

Alston R P, Singh M, McLaren A D. 
Systemic oxygen uptake during hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass :  Effects of flow rate, flow character and acid-based management. 
Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 1989 ; 98 : 757 - 768

Souter MJ, Andrews PJD, Alston RP. 
Propofol does not ameliorate cerebral venous oxyhaemoglobin desaturation during hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. 
Anesthesia and Analgesia 1998;86:926-31

Millar S, Alston RP, Souter MJ, Andrews PJD. 
Aerobic, anaerobic and combination estimates of cerebral hypoperfusion during and after cardiac surgery.  British Journal of Anaesthesia 1999; 83:936-9.

Robson MJA, Alston RP, Deary IJ et al. 
Cognition after coronary artery surgery is not related to postoperative jugular bulb desaturation. Anaesthesia and Analgesia 2000; 91: 1317-26.

Millar S, Alston RP, Souter MJ, Andrews PJD. Cerebral hypoperfusion in the immediate postoperative period following coronary artery bypass grafting, heart valve and abdominal aortic surgery.
British Journal of Anaesthesia 2001 (in press)
 

Contact

Tel: 44 (0) 131 242 3180
Fax: 44 (0) 131 242 3138
Email: peter.alston@ed.ac.uk

 

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