Dr. Dražen Matleković, specialist in anaesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive care
Dr. Dražen Matleković is a specialist in anaesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive care and the full-time anaesthetist at Poliklinika Barbel in Zagreb, where he has worked since 2009. He runs the anaesthetic clinic: he carries out the anaesthetic assessment before the procedure and manages the anaesthesia during it. His licence was issued by the Croatian Medical Chamber (Hrvatska liječnička komora, HLK), membership number HR151806.
→ Check the licence in the Croatian Medical Chamber's Directory of Doctors
Education and specialist training
He was born in Šibenik and grew up in Zagreb, where he trained as a sanitary and laboratory technician at a secondary medical school and graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Zagreb in 1991. He did his internship at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb (KBC Zagreb), and after the internship, during the Croatian War of Independence, he served twice in the Croatian Armed Forces. As there was no hiring in healthcare during the war years, he only obtained his specialist training post in 1995/1996.
He did his specialist training in anaesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive care as a trainee of Merkur University Hospital (KB Merkur); he completed most of his specialist rotations at KB Merkur and some parts at Zagreb clinics in Klaićeva Street, at Rebro and in Dubrava. He passed the specialist examination at KBC Zagreb in 2000.
Clinical work and experience
At KB Merkur he worked as an anaesthetist for vascular, abdominal, trauma and urological surgery. While still in specialist training, he became a member of the newly founded KB Merkur transplant team. From the first transplant in 1999 to 2009, more than 300 liver, kidney and pancreas transplants were performed at KB Merkur, including liver transplants from living donors, and Dr. Matleković took part in about two thirds of them.
Since 2009 he has worked at Poliklinika Barbel, where he focuses on anaesthesia for day surgery and so-called fast-track surgery, in which the aim is a quick recovery for the patient without unpleasant side effects of anaesthesia. He developed his own methods of general anaesthesia for day surgery, which keep nausea and vomiting after anaesthesia to a minimum.
Areas of work
Dr. Matleković carries out the anaesthetic assessment before the procedure, at which your general health is assessed and the type of anaesthesia is agreed: potentiated local anaesthesia, sedation or general anaesthesia. He is present throughout the procedure and monitors you, and after general anaesthesia you stay at the clinic to recover for at least six hours, longer if needed.
→ What happens before, during and after anaesthesia?
Professional development
He took part in the first F.E.E.A. (Fondation Européenne d'Enseignement en Anesthésiologie) course held in Croatia, from 1997 to 1999. From 1999 to 2010 he was secretary, organiser and lecturer for the European F.E.E.A. and CEEA (Committee for European Education in Anaesthesiology) courses in anaesthesiology and intensive care in Croatia.