Anaesthesia-specific checklists: A systematic review of impact

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Checklists are established tools for error prevention in high-reliability organizations.
• The perioperative setting has pioneered checklist development, but literature remains sparse and conflicting.
• Existing research highlights the need for standardized tools in anesthesia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and assess the current literature on perioperative routine and crisis checklists.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of anesthesia-specific checklists in clinical practice.
• To identify gaps in the literature regarding anesthesia checklist development and implementation.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted without date limitations, including articles up to March 2019.
• 25 articles were included from an initial 874 identified.
• A qualitative content analysis approach was used due to methodological heterogeneity, precluding meta-analysis.

Main Results:

• The majority of studies (92%) demonstrated that anesthesia checklists decrease human error, enhance patient safety, and improve teamwork and care quality.
• Anesthesia-specific checklists show utility beyond the WHO surgical time-out, particularly for provider handoffs, emergencies, and routine procedures.
• The literature on anesthesia-specific checklists is limited and highly varied.

Conclusions:

• Anesthesia checklists are effective tools for improving patient safety and reducing errors in the perioperative setting.
• Further large-scale studies are required to define optimal anesthesia checklists and implementation strategies.
• Standardization of anesthesia checklists is crucial for consistent application and maximal benefit.