Peri-operative mortality in the anaesthetic service at Tygerberg Hospital

This study reports on the process of peer review of peri-operative mortality at Tygerberg Hospital. The peri-operative mortality rate for the past 3.5 years was 11.9/10,000. The departmental evaluation committee thought that 3.4/10,000 of these deaths were anaesthetic-related. In 2.3/10,000, the anaesthetic contributed to the death of the patient and in 10 cases (total case load = 94,945; i.e. 1.1/10,000) anaesthesia was responsible for the death of the patient. The majority of the peri-operative deaths (8.5/10,000) were caused by a combination of trauma and haemorrhagic shock.