Death attributable to anaesthesia. A 10-year survey (1967--1976)

The mortality associated with 240 483 anaesthetics administered over 10 years at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, is reported. The frequency of death to which anaesthesia contributed was 0.22 per 1000 anaesthetics (compared with 0.33 per 1000 in the previous 10 years). These deaths were responsible for 2.2% of the total mortality from surgery. Two-thirds of the "anaesthetic" deaths were attributable to (in order of frequency): (a) hypovolaemia; (b) respiratory inadequacy following myoneural blockade; (c) complications of tracheal intubation; (d) inadequate postoperative care and supervision.