Analysis of adverse outcomes in the post-anesthesia care unit based on anesthesia liability data

The aim of this study is to provide a contemporary medicolegal analysis of claims brought against anesthesiologists in the United States for events occurring in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU).

In this retrospective analysis, we analyzed closed claims data from the Controlled Risk Insurance Company (CRICO) Comparative Benchmarking System (CBS) database.

Claims closed between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2014 were included for analysis if the alleged damaging event occurred in a PACU and anesthesiology was named as the primary responsible service.

Forty-three claims were included for analysis. Data regarding ASA physical status and comorbidities were obtained, whenever available. Ages ranged from 18 to 94. Patients underwent a variety of surgical procedures. Severity of adverse outcomes ranged from temporary minor impairment to death.

Patients receiving care in the PACU.

Information gathered for this study includes patient demographic data, alleged injury type and severity, operating surgical specialty, contributing factors to the alleged damaging event, and case outcome. Some of these data were drawn directly from coded variables in the CRICO CBS database, and some were gathered by the authors from narrative case summaries.

Settlement payments were made in 48.8% of claims. A greater proportion of claims involving death resulted in payment compared to cases involving other types of injury (69% vs 37%, p = 0.04). Respiratory injuries (32.6% of cases), nerve injuries (16.3%), and airway injuries (11.6%) were common. Missed or delayed diagnoses in the PACU were cited as contributing factors in 56.3% of cases resulting in the death of a patient. Of all claims in this series, 48.8% involved orthopedic surgery.

The immediate post-operative period entails significant risk for serious complications, particularly respiratory injury and complications of airway management. Appropriate monitoring of patients by responsible providers in the PACU is crucial to timely diagnosis of potentially severe complications, as missed and delayed diagnoses were a factor in a number of the cases reviewed.