• Annelies Scholliers, Stef Cornelis, Maurizio Tosi, Tine Opsomer, David Shaproski, Caroline Vanlersberghe, Domien Vanhonacker, Jan Poelaert, Lisa Goudman, and Maarten Moens.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University Hospital Brussels (UZ Brussel), Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: annelies.scholliers@uzbrussel.be.
• Br J Anaesth. 2023 May 1; 130 (5): 622635622-635.

BackgroundRecently, fatigue has received more attention as a workplace hazard. This scoping review focuses on fatigue in anaesthesia providers. We explore the prevalence of fatigue in anaesthesia providers, and we examine how fatigue impacts their performance.MethodsA literature search was independently conducted from December 2019 through March 2020. The following four databases were consulted: MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and PubPsych. Only studies discussing fatigue in anaesthesia providers were eligible.ResultsThe initial database search identified a total of 118 studies, of which 30 studies were included in the review. Eight articles concerned the prevalence of fatigue in anaesthesia providers, whereas 22 explored the impact of fatigue on the performance of anaesthesia providers. Up to 60.8% of anaesthesia providers suffered from severe excessive daytime sleepiness, and fatigue was denoted as a common workplace problem in up to 73.1% of anaesthesia providers. Fatigue had a negative influence on medication errors and vigilance, and it decreased the performance of anaesthesia providers during laboratory psychomotor testing. There was a decrease in non-technical skills (notably communication and teamwork) and worsening mood when fatigued.ConclusionsBased on this scoping review, fatigue is a prevalent a phenomenon that anaesthesia providers cannot ignore. A combination of deterioration in non-technical skills, increased medication errors, loss of sustained attention, and psychomotor decline can lead to poorer performance and cause patient harm. Concrete strategies to mitigate fatigue should be developed.Copyright © 2022 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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