• A Neuschwander, A Job, A Younes, A Mignon, C Delgoulet, P Cabon, J Mantz, and A Tesniere.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Hôpital européen Georges Pompidou, AP-HP, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
• Br J Anaesth. 2017 Jul 1; 119 (1): 125-131.

BackgroundSleep deprivation is common in anaesthesia residents, but its impact on performance remains uncertain. Non-technical skills (team working, situation awareness, decision making, and task management) are key components of quality of care in anaesthesia, particularly in crisis situations occurring in the operating room. The impact of sleep deprivation on non-technical skills is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that in anaesthesia residents sleep deprivation is associated with impaired non-technical skills.MethodsTwenty anaesthesia residents were randomly allocated to undergo a simulation session after a night shift [sleep-deprived (SLD) group, n =10] or after a night of rest [rested (R) group, n =10] from January to March 2015. The simulated scenario was a situation of crisis management in the operating room. The primary end point was a composite score of anaesthetists' non-technical skills (ANTS) assessed by two blinded evaluators.ResultsNon-technical skills were significantly impaired in the SLD group [ANTS score 12.2 (interquartile range 10.5-13)] compared with the R group [14.5 (14-15), P <0.02]. This difference was mainly accounted for by a difference in the team working item. On the day of simulation, the SLD group showed increased sleepiness and decreased confidence in anaesthesia skills.ConclusionsIn this randomized pilot trial, sleep deprivation was associated with impaired non-technical skills of anaesthesia residents in a simulated anaesthesia intraoperative crisis scenario.Trial RegistrationNCT02622217.© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

13 keywords...

hide…