Monthly media digest: August/September 2026

ANZCA warning on body tattooing in offshore clinics

College president Dr Tanya Selak was quoted in a Yahoo  News article about complications that can occur when people travel overseas for cosmetic procedures, including body tattoos.

Dr Selak said Australians considering travelling overseas for medical or cosmetic procedures needed to carefully weigh the possibility of complications.

"All surgical procedures and general anaesthesia carry a degree of risk," Dr Selak told Yahoo News Australia.

"If something goes wrong, the facility needs to have suitable medical equipment and enough staff to be able to resuscitate patients or deal with other complications."

Iron infusion before heart surgery helps patients recover faster

Professor Paul Myles was interviewed by media outlets about the Intravenous iron to treat anaemia before cardiac surgery (ITACS): an international, double blind, placebo controlled randomised trial,  funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the ANZCA Foundation. 

The world-wide study published in the British Medical Journal involved 955 patients across 33 Australian hospitals and nine internationally and is the first large-scale trial to show that intravenous iron can improve outcomes for anaemic cardiac patients.

The landmark study found that a simple iron infusion administered in the weeks before heart surgery could soon become standard care as the infusion reduces blood transfusions and shortens recovery.