Critical incidents during anesthesia in a developing country: A retrospective audit

Critical incidents occur inadvertently where ever humans work. Reporting these incidents and near misses is important in learning and prevention of future mishaps. The aim of our study was to identify the incidence, outcome and potential risk factors leading to critical incidents during anaesthesia in a tertiary care teaching hospital and attempt to suggest preventive strategies that will improve patient care.

A retrospective audit of all anaesthesia charts for documented critical incidents over a 12 month period was carried out. Age and ASA classification of patient, urgency of surgery, timing of the incident, body system involved and the grade of the anaesthetists were noted. The data collected was analysed using the SPSS software.

Fourteen incidents were documented in 54 patients, giving a frequency of 0.071. More females suffered critical incidents. Patients in the 4(th) and 5(th) decades of life were noted to be more susceptible. Airway and cardiovascular incidents were the commonest. Anaesthetists with less than 6 years experience were involved in more mishaps.

We conclude that airway mishaps and cardiovascular instability were the commonest incidents especially in the hands of junior anaesthetists.