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Use of an Integrated Low-Flow Anesthetic Vaporizer, Ventilator, and Physiological Monitoring System for Rodents

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Medication errors in veterinary anesthesia: a literature review.

Renata H Pinho¹, Maryam Nasr-Esfahani², Daniel S J Pang³

¹Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.

Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia

|April 3, 2024

Summary

Medication errors (MEs) are common in veterinary anesthesia, similar to human practice. Strategies like improved communication and aids can reduce these critical patient safety risks.

Keywords:

adverse events drug calculation medical errors near miss patient safety

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Area of Science:

Veterinary Anesthesia
Patient Safety
Medication Errors

Background:

Human anesthesia is known for a high risk of medication errors (MEs).
MEs are frequently reported medical errors in veterinary medicine.
Focus on the perianesthetic period in veterinary practice.

Purpose of the Study:

To overview medication errors in veterinary medicine, particularly during anesthesia.
To compare veterinary MEs with those in human anesthesia.
To identify risk factors and error reduction strategies.

Main Methods:

Literature search of PubMed and CAB abstracts.
Search terms included 'patient safety', 'medication error', and 'veterinary'.
Analysis of case reports and self-reporting systems.

Main Results:

Common predisposing factors for MEs in both human and veterinary anesthesia include distraction, fatigue, workload, and dose calculations.
Perianesthetic MEs in veterinary medicine involve prescription, preparation, and administration errors.
Cats experienced more harmful outcomes from MEs than dogs.

Conclusions:

Self-reporting systems likely underestimate the true incidence of MEs.
Strategies for reducing MEs include education, awareness, and implementing behavioral, communication, organizational, and cognitive aids.
Addressing identified risk factors is crucial for enhancing patient safety in veterinary anesthesia.