[Perspectives of an electronic data processing-controlled anesthesia protocol]

There are two ways to introduce electronic data processing in anesthesia recording, which should be combined in the future: (1) computer-aided data collection (during anesthesia) and (2) data analysis. Both procedures have their own advantages and disadvantages. The first step in data collection is a system whereby the on-line registered data are automatically plotted and the discrete data are noted by hand (semi-automatic recording). The second step is to keep the minutes on a display screen instead of on paper, thus producing a protocol in digital form (automatic recording). We discuss the problems of these computer-aided recording systems and future trends, in particular the problems caused by the "human-computer interface" and by uncertainty with respect to the validity of the stored data. For computer-aided data analysis of anesthesia records, one has to select appropriate data in order to build up data bases. This selection is necessary whether the protocol is in analogical or in digital form, and we attempt to develop some general rules, the concrete selection depends, of course, on the aim of the evaluation. As an example we discuss evaluations for administrative purposes. Evaluations for scientific questions are even more affected by the quality of data definitions, and the efforts involved in data management are considerably higher. At the end of this paper we sketch a hybrid information system for computer-aided anesthesia recording that combines data collection and data analysis.