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The Thai Anesthesia Incident Monitoring Study (Thai AIMS): an analysis of perioperative complication in geriatric patients
Abstract and Figures
The present study was a part of the multi-centered study of model of Anesthesia related adverse events in Thailand by incident report. (The Thai Anesthesia Incident Monitoring Study or Thai AIMS). The objective of the present study was to identify and analyze anesthesia incident in geriatric patients in order to find out the frequency distribution, clinical courses, management of incidents and investigation of model appropriate for possible corrective strategies.
This study was a prospective descriptive multicentered study conducted between January 1, 2007 and June 30, 2007. Incident reports from 51 hospital across Thailand were sent to data management unit on anonymous and voluntary basis. The authors extracted relevant data from the incident reports on geriatric patients (age 65 or more). The cases were reviewed by 3 anesthesiologists. Any disagreement was discussed and judged to achieve a consensus. Descriptive statistics was used.
Among 407 incident reports and 559 incidents, there were more male (52.8%) than female (46.7%) patients with ASA PS 2, 3, 4 and 5 = 38.6%, 42.8%, 14.5% and 4.2% respectively. Surgical specialties that posed high risk of incidents were general, orthopedic, neurological, urologic and otorhiolaryngological surgery. Common places where incidents occurred were operating room (57.1%), ward (30.9%) and recovery room (12.0%). Common occurred incidents were arrhythmia needing treatment (30.0%), death within 24 hr (24.6%), desaturation (21.9%), cardiac arrest (16.2%) and reintubation (16.0%). The causes of the incidents were mostly attributed from patients underlying diseases and conditions. Most common outcomes were major physiologic changes with 26.5% fatal outcome at 7 days. The most common contributing factor was human factor (inappropriate decision and inexperience). Vigilance and having more experience could be the minimizing factors.
Incidents in geriatric patients were similar to all age group patients with a higher incidents in death within 24 hr. The outcome were more serious resulting in 26.5% fatal outcome at 7 days. Quality assurance activity, clinical practice guidelines and improved supervision were suggested corrective strategies.
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... The potentially associated factors with A-IOM were major complex surgeries, surgical emergency, use of VP, and invasive monitoring ( Table 5). The emergency of the surgery is a well-established preoperative predictive factor for A-IOM, as shown in our study and other studies (3,13). In emergency surgeries, mortality risk depends on many factors such as the impossibility of adequate evaluation and preoperative patient preparation-optimization. ...
INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to determine anesthesia-related mortality and intraoperative mortality (IOM) incidences and the associated risk factors. METHODS: The operations between the years of 2010-2019 were retrospectively reviewed. It was found that 87 of 351,930 patients who were anesthetized in the last 10 years died. Each patient who died was recruited into one of the patient/condition-related, surgical-related, or anesthesia-related mortality groups. Patient characteristics were determined as age, gender, ASA PS score, and comorbidities. Surgical procedures were classified as minor/intermediate, major, and major complex. Anesthesia type was recorded. Operative time, the requirement for vasopressor and the invasive monitoring were determined. RESULTS: The incidence of IOM and anesthesia-related mortality were 2.47 and 0.28 per 10,000 patients, respectively. The IOM group had a higher rate of out-of-hours work, surgical emergency, prolonged operative time, high comorbidity rate, high ASA PS score, major complex surgeries, use of VP, and invasive monitoring. Surgical emergency (p: 0.000), use of VP (p: 0.002), and invasive monitoring (p: 0.000) were independent determinants of IOM. Major complex surgeries (p: 0.007), surgical emergency (p: 0.000), use of VP (p: 0.002), and invasive monitoring (0.000) were potentially associated factors in anesthesia-related mortality. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The incidence of IOM and anesthesia-related mortality were 2.47 and 0.28 per 10,000 patients, respectively. The fact that anesthesia-related mortality was associated with drug administration is important for the development of preventive measures. Primary prevention may play a key role in reducing the high fatality. These results indicate the need for improving medical perioperative practices in high-risk and emergency patients.
... This finding is consistent with the findings of the Thai anesthesia incident monitoring study (Thai AIMS) and other studies in Thailand. 20,36 Upon comparing in the same setting, it was observed that elderly patient was a predictor of death after emergency surgery, as that factor increased the rate by 2.8-4.3 times. 30 As for other studies such as those conducted in the USA, 4,11,27,34 the UK, 37 and Brazil, 38 they showed that elderly patient was a factor contributing to cardiac arrest during anesthesia, especially for patients who were more than 80 years of age. ...
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to determine the incidences and factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients who received anesthesia for emergency surgery.
Patients and methods:
This retrospective cohort study was approved by the medical ethical committee, Faculty of Medicine, Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Thailand. Data of 19,683 trauma patients who received anesthesia between January 2007 and December 2016, such as patient characteristics, surgery procedures, anesthesia information, anesthetic drugs, and cardiac arrest outcomes, were analyzed. Data of patients receiving local anesthesia by surgeons or monitoring anesthesia care (MAC) and those with much information missing were excluded. Factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest were identified using univariate analysis and the multiple regression model. A stepwise algorithm was chosen at a P-value of <0.20 which was selected for multivariate analysis. A P-value of <0.05 was concluded as statistically significant.
Results:
The perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients receiving anesthesia for emergency surgery was 170.04 per 10,000 cases. Factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients were as follows: age >65 years (risk ratio [RR] =1.41, CI =1.02-1.96, P=0.039), American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) physical status 3 or higher (ASA physical status 3-4, RR =4.19, CI =2.09-8.38, P<0.001; ASA physical status 5-6, RR =21.58, CI =10.36-44.94, P<0.001), sites of surgery (intracranial, intrathoracic, upper intra-abdominal, and major vascular, each P<0.001), cardiopulmonary comorbidities (RR =1.55, CI =1.10-2.17, P=0.012), hemodynamic instability with shock prior to receiving anesthesia (RR =1.60, CI =1.21-2.11, P<0.001), and having a history of alcoholism (RR =5.27, CI =4.09-6.79, P<0.001).
Conclusion:
The incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients receiving anesthesia for emergency surgery was very high and correlated with patient's factors, especially old age and cardiopulmonary comorbidities, a history of drinking alcohol, increased ASA physical status, hemodynamic instability with shock prior to surgery, and sites of surgery such as brain, thorax, abdomen, and the major vascular region. Anesthesiologists and surgeons should be aware of a warning system and a well-equipped track to manage the surgical trauma patients.
... Few studies on perioperative cardiac arrest (CA) and mortality carried out exclusively in geriatric patients undergoing all types of surgery have been published [3][4][5][6]. However, there are no studies on anesthesia-related CA and death exclusively in elderly patients. ...
Background:
Little information is known about factors that influence perioperative and anesthesia-related cardiac arrest (CA) in older patients. This study evaluated the incidence, causes and outcome of intraoperative and anesthesia-related CA in older patients in a Brazilian teaching hospital between 1996 and 2010.
Methods:
During the study, older patients received 18,367 anesthetics. Data collected included patient characteristics, surgical procedures, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status, anesthesia type, medical specialty team and outcome. All CAs were categorized by cause into one of four groups: patient's disease/condition-related, surgery-related, totally anesthesia-related or partially anesthesia-related.
Results:
All intraoperative CAs and deaths rates are shown per 10,000 anesthetics. There were 100 CAs (54.44; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 44.68-64.20) and 68 deaths (37.02; 95% CI: 27.56-46.48). The majority of CAs were patient's disease-/condition-related (43.5; 95% CI: 13.44-73.68). There were six anesthesia-related CAs (3.26; 95% CI: 0.65-5.87) - 1 totally and 5 partially anesthesia-related, and three deaths, all partially anesthesia-related (1.63; 95% CI: 0.0-3.47). ASA I-II physical status patients presented no anesthesia-related CA. Anesthesia-related CA, absent in the last five years of the study, was due to medication-/airway-related causes. ASA physical status was the most important predictor of CA (odds ratio: 14.52; 95% CI: 4.48-47.08; P<0.001) followed by emergency surgery (odds ratio: 8.07; 95% CI: 5.14-12.68; P<0.001).
Conclusions:
The study identified high incidence of intraoperative CAs with high mortality in older patients. The large majority of CAs were caused by factors not anesthesia-related. Anesthesia-related CA and mortality rates were 3.26 and 1.63 per 10,000 anesthetics, with no anesthesia-related CA in the last five years of the study. Major predictors of intraoperative CAs were poorer ASA physical status and emergency surgery. All anesthesia-related CAs were medication-related or airway-related, which is important for prevention strategies.
webAIRS is a web-based de-identified anaesthesia incident reporting system, which was introduced in Australia and New Zealand in September 2009. By July 2016, 4,000 incident reports had been received. The incidents covered a wide range of patient age (<28 days to >90 years), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status, and body mass index (<18.5 to >50 kg/m²). They occurred across a wide range of anaesthesia techniques and grade of anaesthesia provider, and over a wide range of anaesthetising locations and times of day. In a high proportion the outcome was not benign; about 26% of incidents were associated with patient harm and a further 4% with death. Incidents appeared to be an ever-present risk in anaesthetic practice, with extrapolated estimates exceeding 200 per week across Australia and New Zealand. Independent of outcomes, many anaesthesia incidents were associated with increased use of health resources. The four most common main categories of incident were Respiratory/Airway, Medication, Cardiovascular, and Medical Device/Equipment. Over 50% of incidents were considered preventable. The narratives accompanying each incident provide a rich source of information, which will be analysed in subsequent reports on particular incident types. The summary data in this initial overview are a sober reminder of the prevalence and unpredictability of anaesthesia incidents, and their potential morbidity and mortality. The data justify current efforts to better prevent and manage anaesthesia incidents in Australia and New Zealand, and identify areas in which increased resources or additional initiatives may be required. © 2017, Australian Society of Anaesthetists. All rights reserved.
Background: As a site of the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI Study) of anesthetic adverse outcome, we continued the institutional data collection to determine incidence of cardiac arrest, mortality rate and risk factors representing a Thai University hospital. Methods: Between July 2003 and December 2006, an anesthesia registry was conducted at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Anesthesiologists were requested to record perioperative variables and adverse outcomes including perioperative mortality (i.e., event of death since the conduction of anesthesia until the end of 24-hour postoperative period) on a structured data-record form. Details of events were reviewed by three independent anesthesiologists who determined the causes by consensus. Logistic regression identified characteristics associated with mortality within 24-hr P<0.05 that were considered significant. Results: Among 50,409 cases in the registry, 108 patients experienced perioperative cardiac arrest with 80 fatalities. The incidences of intraoperative, and 24-hr perioperative cardiac arrest were 10.32 and 21.42 per 10000 anesthetics with mortality rate of 48.1 % and 74.0 % respectively. Factors related to perioperative mortality were; higher ASA physical status [OR 5.92 (95 %, CI 4.41-7.95)], emergency surgery [OR 2.48 (95 %, CI 1.31-4.70)], intracranial surgery [OR 10.01 (95 %, CI 3.35-29.9)] and use of desflurane [OR 6.64 (95 %, CI 2.68-16.4)]. Factors related to lower risk of mortality were: lower abdominal surgery [OR 0.32 (95 %, CI 0.13-0.78)], and the use of nitrous oxide [OR 0.38 (95 %, CI 0.003-0.19)]. Common characteristic of intraoperative death were: male gender, emergency traumatic condition, upper abdominal surgery. The most common cause of intraoperative death was exangination (60%). The incidence of anesthesia related mortality was 0.198 per 10,000. Conclusion: The incidence of intraoperative and 24-hr perioperative cardiac arrest was 10.3 and 21.4 per 10000 anesthetics with morality rate of 48.1 % and 74.0 % respectively. Improving emergency trauma facility may increase survival rates. Death associated with anesthesia was first reported in 1847 [1]. Beecher and Todd published what was considered the most extensive study of anesthesia mortality in the United States in 1954 [2]. Concerns over the number of deaths attributed to anesthesia in the United States were shared by the international community and resulted in a number of publications from South Africa [3], France [4], Australia [5], Canada [6], England including the voluntary Confidential Enquiry into Perioperative Deaths [7]. In 1993, an analysis of cases of cardiac arrest and death from the first 2000 incidents reported to the Australian Incident Monitoring Study was published [8]. This was followed by studies on fatal and nonfatal cardiac arrest in France [9] in 2001, and anesthesia related mortality in Japan [10] in 2003. In Thailand, however, the statistical data of perioperative mortality and morbidity, which would objectively illustrate the state of clinical achievement, were scarce. The Royal College of Anesthesiologists of Thailand hosted the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI Study) from 2003 to 2004 [11, 12]. As a site of this multi-centered study, the registry of anesthesia was continued at the Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and factors related to perioperative mortality in a university hospital in Thailand.
As a site of the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI Study) of anesthetic adverse outcome, the authors continued the institutional data collection to determine the incidence of intraoperative oxygen desaturation of geriatric patients (age 65 years and over) and relative factors representing a Thai university hospital.
Between July 1, 2003 and March 31, 2007, an anesthesia registry was conducted at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Anesthesiologists and anesthesia residents were requested to record perioperative variables and adverse outcomes including oxygen desaturation (SpO2 < or = 90% for 3 minutes or SpO2 < 85%) on a structured data record form. Univariable analysis was used to identify factors related to intraoperative oxygen desaturation. Multivariable generalized linear regression for risk ratio was used to investigate independent factors with significant association to intraoperative oxygen desaturation. A forward stepwise algorithm was chosen. A p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Among 54,419 cases in the registry, 8,905 geriatric patients underwent non-cardiac surgery receiving anesthesia. Among these, 21 patients developed intraoperative oxygen desaturation with an incidence of 23.6 (95% CI 10, 30):10000 anesthetics. Variables that predict intraoperative oxygen desaturation by multivariable analysis were ASA physical status 3 [RR 4.6 (95% CI 1.6, 13.6)], ASA physical status 4-5 [RR 29.8 (95% CI 8.7, 102.8)], history of difficult airway [RR 13.1 (95% CI 1.7, 102.2)], recent respiratory failure [RR 6.0 (95% CI 1.2, 29.3)], and anesthetic agents used such as: pethidine [RR 6.2 (95% CI 1.9, 19.9)], and ketamine [RR 5.6 (95% CI 1.2, 25.9)].
The incidence of intraoperative oxygen desaturation of geriatric patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery in a Thai university hospital was 23.6:10000 anesthetics, which was comparable to others. The higher ASA physical status, history of difficult intubation and recent respiratory failure were risk factors of intraoperative oxygen desaturation. Pre-anesthetic evaluation particularly airway evaluation and identification of high-risk patients are crucial for prevention of oxygen desaturation.
As a site of the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI Study) of anesthetic adverse outcome, the authors continued the institutional data collection to determine the incidence and factors related to 24-hour perioperative cardiac arrest in geriatric patients (aged 65 years and over) representing a Thai university hospital.
Between July 1, 2003 and March 31, 2007, an anesthesia registry was conducted at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Anesthesiologists and anesthesia residents were requested to record perioperative variables and adverse outcomes including 24-hour perioperative cardiac arrest on a structural data record form. Univariable analysis was used to identify factors related to 24-hour perioperative cardiac arrest. A multivariable generalized linear regression for risk ratio was used to investigate independent factors with significant association to 24-hour perioperative cardiac arrest. A forward stepwise algorithm was chosen. A p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Among 54,419 cases in the registry, 8,905 geriatric patients underwent a non-cardiac surgery under anesthesia. Thirty-six patients experienced cardiac arrest. The incidence of intra-operative cardiac arrest, within 24 hours postoperative cardiac arrest, and overall 24-hours perioperative cardiac arrest were 18:10000 (mortality rate of 62.5%), 22.5:10000 (mortality rate of 90%), and 40.4:10000 (mortality rate of 77.8%), respectively. By multivariable analysis, age of 76-85 [RR 2.6 (95% CI: 1.2,5.4)], age > or = 86 [RR 4.4 (95% CI: 1.7, 11.8)], recent respiratory failure [RR 6.6 (95% CI: 1.9, 22.3)], ASA physical status 3-5 [RR 19.9 (95% CI: 4.6, 86)], emergency surgery [RR 2.8 (95% CI: 1.4, 5.6)], intrathoracic surgery [RR 3.7 (95% CI: 1.4, 9.9)], upper abdominal surgery [RR 2.8 (95% CI: 1.3, 5.7)], and administration of ketamine [RR 5.4 (95%CI: 1.8, 15.9)] were factors related to 24-hour perioperative cardiac arrest.
The incidence of 24-hourperioperative cardiac arrest of geriatric patients in a Thai university in the present study was 40.4:10000 anesthetics, which was comparable to others with high mortality rate. Risk factors for 24-hour perioperative cardiac arrest were older age, ASA physical status 3-5, emergency surgery, intrathoracic surgery, upper abdominal surgery, recent respiratory failure, and administration of ketamine. Pre-anesthetic evaluation is important for finding the risks and optimal preparation for preventing perioperative cardiac arrest in these aging patients.
The present study was a part of the Multi-centered Study of Model of Anesthesia related Adverse Events in Thailand by Incident Report (The Thai Anesthesia Incident Monitoring Study or Thai AIMS). The objective of the present study was to determine the outcomes, contributory factors and factor minimizing incident.
The present study was a descriptive research design. The authors extracted relevant data from the incident reports on reintubation after planned extubation after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation from the Thai AIMS database during the study period January to June 2007. The cases were extensively reviewed by 3 reviewers for conclusion of anesthesia directly and indirectly related reintubation. Comparative analysis between two groups was done.
A total 184 incidents of extubation failure according to the definition were extracted in which 129 cases (70.1%) were classified as directly related to anesthesia and 55 cases (29.9%) were indirectly related to anesthesia. Oxygen desaturation occurred in 85.9% of cases while 90.2% of patients was reintubated within 2 hours after extubation. Hypoventilation (58.1%) was the commonest cause which led to reintubation directly related to anesthesia while upper airway obstruction (39.6%) was the commonest cause in the indirectly related anesthesia group. The proportion of preventable incident was 99.2% and 54.5% in directly and indirectly related anesthesia groups, respectively. Human factors particularly including lack of experience and inappropriate decision-making were considered in 99.2%, are directly related to anesthesia reintubation group.
Extubation failure and reintubation was mostly related to anesthesia. Most of directly related to anesthesia group were considered as preventable. Human factors were also claimed as contributing factors. Quality assurance activity and improvement of supervision to improve experience and competency of decision making were suggested corrective strategies.
The present study is a part of the Multicentered Study of Model of Anesthesia related Adverse Events in Thailand by Incident Report (The Thai Anesthesia Incident Monitoring Study or Thai AIMS). The objective of the present study was to determine the frequency distribution, outcomes, contributory factors, and factors minimizing incident.
The present study is a prospective descriptive research design. The authors extracted relevant data from the incident reports on oxygen desaturation from the Thai AIMS database and analyzed during the study period between January and June 2007.
From the relevant 445 incidents, most of the incidents (89%) occurred in patients receiving general anesthesia. The incidence in patients receiving regional anesthesia was 4.0%. The events mostly occurred in patients aged between 16-65 years (52.8%). Most of the events (76%) took place in the operating theater during the induction period (30.1%). More than 81% of the patients experienced severe oxygen desaturation (SpO2 < 85%). There were 55 patients (12.4%) who had unplanned ICU admission and 2 patients (0.4%) who had unplanned hospital admission. Factors that may relate to the incident involve combined factors (50.8%). Anesthetic factors were found to involve 38.4% of incidents. The common contributing factors that might lead to the incidents were inexperienced (57.5%), inappropriate decision (56.2%), and haste (23.8%). For factors minimizing incident, the important factors were vigilance (86.3%), experienced in that tropic (71.2%), and experienced assistance (54.8%). Quality assurance activity was the most common suggestive corrective strategy (79.1%). The others were improvement of supervision (47.2%) and guideline practice (46.5%).
To lower the incidence of oxygen desaturation, the anesthesia personnel has to improve the anesthesia services by quality assurance activity, improvement of supervision, clinical practice guidelines, and additional training.
The Thai Anesthesia Incidents Monitoring Study (Thai AIMS) was aimed to identify and analyze anesthesia incidents in order to find out the frequency distribution, clinical courses, management of incidents, and investigation of model appropriate for possible corrective strategies.
Fifty-one hospitals (comprising of university, military, regional, general, and district hospitals across Thailand) participated in the present study. Each hospital was invited to report, on an anonymous and voluntary basis, any unintended anesthesia incident during six months (January to June 2007). A standardized incident report form was developed in order to fill in what, where, when, how, and why it happened in both the close-end and open-end questionnaire. Each incident report was reviewed by three reviewers. Any disagreement was discussed and judged to achieve a consensus.
Among 1996 incident reports and 2537 incidents, there were more male (55%) than female (45%) patients with ASA PS 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 = 22%, 36%, 24%, 11%, and 7%, respectively. Surgical specialties that posed high risk of incidents were neurosurgical, otorhino-laryngological, urological, and cardiac surgery. Common places where incidents occurred were operating room (61%), ward (10%), and recovery room (9%). Common occurred incidents were arrhythmia needing treatment (25%), desaturation (24%), death within 24 hr (20%), cardiac arrest (14%), reintubation (10%), difficult intubation (8%), esophageal intubation (5%), equipment failure (5%), and drug error (4%) etc. Monitors that first detected incidents were EKG (46%), Pulse oximeter (34%), noninvasive blood pressure (12%), capnometry (4%), and mean arterial pressure (1%).
Common factors related to incidents were inexperience, lack of vigilance, inadequate preanesthetic evaluation, inappropriate decision, emergency condition, haste, inadequate supervision, and ineffective communication. Suggested corrective strategies were quality assurance activity, clinical practice guideline, improvement of supervision, additional training, improvement of communication, and an increase in personnel.
For patients considering elective major surgery, information about operative mortality risks is essential for careful decision making. Because available information is often limited to educated guesses or optimistic data from case series, we examined surgical mortality by using nationwide data.
Operative mortality in 1.2 million patients in the Medicare system who were hospitalized between 1994 and 1999 for major elective surgery (six cardiovascular procedures and eight major cancer resections).
MEDPAR file of the National Medicare claims database for patients 65 years of age and older.
Operative mortality, defined as death within 30 days of the operation or death before discharge.
Overall operative mortality varied widely according to procedure. Procedures associated with relatively low mortality risk included carotid endarterectomy (1.3%) and nephrectomy (2.3%). Overall mortality was greater than 10% for other procedures, such as mitral valve replacement (10.5%), esophagectomy (13.6%), and pneumonectomy (13.7%). In general, mortality risk increased with age. Operative mortality for patients 80 years of age and older was more than twice that for patients 65 to 69 years of age.
Population-based operative mortality for major surgery varies by procedure and patient age and is considerably higher than that typically reported in case series and trials.
From a prospectively defined cohort of patients who underwent either general, regional or combined anaesthesia from 1 January 1995 to 1 January 1997 (n = 869 483), all consecutive patients (n = 811) who died within 24 h or remained unintentionally comatose 24 h after anaesthesia were classified to determine a relationship with anaesthesia. These deaths (n = 119; 15%) were further analysed to identify contributing aspects of the anaesthetic management, other factors and the appropriateness of care. The incidence of 24-h peri-operative death per 10 000 anaesthetics was 8.8 (95% CI 8.2–9.5), of peri-operative coma was 0.5 (0.3–0.6) and of anaesthesia-related death 1.4 (1.1–1.6). Of the 119 anaesthesia-related deaths, 62 (52%) were associated with cardiovascular management, 57 (48%) with other anaesthetic management, 12 (10%) with ventilatory management and 12 (10%) with patient monitoring. Inadequate preparation of the patient contributed to 30 (25%) of the anaesthesia-related deaths. During induction of anaesthesia, choice of anaesthetic technique (n = 18 (15%)) and performance of the anaesthesiologist (n = 8 (7%)) were most commonly associated with death. During maintenance, the most common factors were cardiovascular management (n = 43 (36%)), ventilatory management (n = 12 (10%)) and patient monitoring (n = 12 (10%)). In both the recovery and the postoperative phases, patient monitoring was the most common factor (n = 12 (10%) for both). For cardiovascular, ventilatory and other anaesthetic management, human failure contributed to 89 (75%) deaths and organisational factors to 12 (10%). For inadequate patient monitoring, human factors contributed to 71 (60%) deaths and organisational factors to 48 (40%). Other contributing factors were inadequate communication (30 deaths (25%) for all four aspects of the anaesthetic management) and lack of supervision (particularly for ventilatory management). Inadequate care was delivered in 19 (16%) of the anaesthesia-related deaths with respect to cardiovascular management, in 20 (17%) with respect to ventilatory management, in 18 (15%) with respect to patient monitoring and in 23 (19%) with respect to other anaesthetic management.
The Royal College of Anesthesiologists of Thailand organized the first national sentinel incident reports of anesthesia related adverse events in 2007 on an anonymous and voluntary basis. The aims of the present study were to analyze incidence, risk factors, clinical course and outcome of perioperative arrhythmia and indicate the contributing factors and suggested corrective strategies in the database of the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Monitoring Study (Thai AIMS).
This study was a prospective descriptive multicentered study conducted between January 2007 and June 2007. Data was collected from 51 hospitals across Thailand. All cases whose arrhythmia was detected intra-operatively and within 24 hr postoperative period were analyzed by 3 independents anesthesiologists. Any disagreements were discussed to achieve a consensus.
Four hundred and eighty-nine cases were enrolled as relevant arrhythmia cases. Bradycardia was the most common type (434 cases; 88.8%). Most of all events occurred intra-operatively (94.7%) and electrocardiography was the most common firstly detected monitoring equipment (95.5%). Arrhythmia occurred frequently in patients with hypertension and pre-operative heart rate < 60 beat per min. Intravenous anesthetics, central neural blockage and vagal reflex were considered to be the 3 most common suspected causes of arrhythmia requiring treatment. Most common outcomes were minor physiologic change with complete recovery physiologic change with complete recovery while 7% of incidents developed fatal outcome. The most common contributing factor was human factor (72.4%) especially in experience. An experienced anesthetic team with high awareness could be the minimizing factors.
Arrhythmia accounted for 19.2% of 2,537 incidents of the Thai AIMS database. Bradycardia was the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia. Most arrhythmia was benign but might be fatal. Suggested corrective strategies such as guidelines practice, improvement of supervision and quality assurance activity.
From a prospectively defined cohort of patients who underwent either general, regional or combined anaesthesia from 1 January 1995 to 1 January 1997 (n = 869 483), all consecutive patients (n = 811) who died within 24 h or remained unintentionally comatose 24 h after anaesthesia were classified to determine a relationship with anaesthesia. These deaths (n = 119; 15%) were further analysed to identify contributing aspects of the anaesthetic management, other factors and the appropriateness of care. The incidence of 24-h peri-operative death per 10 000 anaesthetics was 8.8 (95% CI 8.2-9.5), of peri-operative coma was 0.5 (0.3-0.6) and of anaesthesia-related death 1.4 (1.1-1.6). Of the 119 anaesthesia-related deaths, 62 (52%) were associated with cardiovascular management, 57 (48%) with other anaesthetic management, 12 (10%) with ventilatory management and 12 (10%) with patient monitoring. Inadequate preparation of the patient contributed to 30 (25%) of the anaesthesia-related deaths. During induction of anaesthesia, choice of anaesthetic technique (n = 18 (15%)) and performance of the anaesthesiologist (n = 8 (7%)) were most commonly associated with death. During maintenance, the most common factors were cardiovascular management (n = 43 (36%)), ventilatory management (n = 12 (10%)) and patient monitoring (n = 12 (10%)). In both the recovery and the postoperative phases, patient monitoring was the most common factor (n = 12 (10%) for both). For cardiovascular, ventilatory and other anaesthetic management, human failure contributed to 89 (75%) deaths and organisational factors to 12 (10%). For inadequate patient monitoring, human factors contributed to 71 (60%) deaths and organisational factors to 48 (40%). Other contributing factors were inadequate communication (30 deaths (25%) for all four aspects of the anaesthetic management) and lack of supervision (particularly for ventilatory management). Inadequate care was delivered in 19 (16%) of the anaesthesia-related deaths with respect to cardiovascular management, in 20 (17%) with respect to ventilatory management, in 18 (15%) with respect to patient monitoring and in 23 (19%) with respect to other anaesthetic management.