Perianesthetic death: a 10-year retrospective observational study in a Japanese university hospital

Studies reporting on perianesthetic death and anesthesia-related death are limited. The present study aimed to assess the incidence of perianesthetic death and its relation to anesthesia and to describe the patient characteristics and main events leading to death in cases of anesthesia-related death and anesthesia-contributory death.

We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients in whom anesthesia procedures were performed by anesthesiologists at a Japanese tertiary hospital between January 2008 and December 2017. Perianesthetic death was defined as death occurring within 48 h of an anesthetic, and it was divided into the following three categories: anesthesia-related death, anesthesia-contributory death, and nonanesthesia-related death. Patient demographics and perioperative factors were analyzed in cases of anesthesia-related death and anesthesia-contributory death.

Among 46,378 patients who underwent anesthetics, 41 experienced perianesthetic death, with an incidence of 8.8/10,000 anesthetics (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.1-11.6). No patient experienced anesthesia-related death, whereas 10 experienced anesthesia-contributory death, with an incidence of 2.1/10,000 (95% CI, 0.69-3.6), and 31 experienced nonanesthesia-related death, with an incidence of 6.8/10,000 (95% CI, 4.2-9.1). The events leading to anesthesia-contributory death were hypovolemia, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and respiratory failure, and they occurred during anesthesia maintenance in 5 patients and after surgery in 5 patients.

The incidence of perianesthetic death was 8.8/10,000 anesthetics; however, anesthesia-related death was not detected. Ten patients experienced anesthesia-contributory death, and hypovolemia during or after surgery was most frequently associated with anesthesia-contributory death.