Anaesthesia
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Incident reporting is promoted as a key tool for improving patient safety in healthcare. We analysed 2238 patient safety incidents involving medications submitted from up to 29 critical care units each year in the North West of England between 2009 and 2012; 452 (20%) of these incidents led to harm to patients. Although 1461 (65%) incidents were judged to have been preventable, there was no reduction in the rate of incidents per 1000 days between 2009 and 2012 (5.9 in 2009, 6.6 in 2012). ⋯ The most commonly reported drugs were noradrenaline (161 incidents, 92 with harm), heparins (153 incidents, 29 with harm), morphine (131 incidents, 14 with harm) and insulin (111 incidents, 54 with harm). The administration of drugs was the stage in the process where incidents were most commonly reported; it was also the stage most likely to harm patients. We conclude that the wide range in reported rates between units, and the scope for preventing many incidents, suggest that quality improvement initiatives could improve medication safety in the units studied.
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We evaluated whether pulse pressure variation can predict fluid responsiveness in spontaneously breathing patients. Fifty-nine elective thoracic surgical patients were studied before induction of general anaesthesia. After volume expansion with hydroxyethyl starch 6 ml.kg(-1) , patients were defined as responders by a ≥ 15% increase in the cardiac index. ⋯ Median (IQR [range]) pulse pressure variation during forced inspiratory breathing was significantly higher in responders (n = 29) than in non-responders (n = 30) before volume expansion (18.2 (IQR 14.7-18.2 [9.3-31.3])% vs. 10.1 (IQR 8.3-12.6 [4.8-21.1])%, respectively, p < 0.001). The receiver-operating characteristic curve revealed that pulse pressure variation during forced inspiratory breathing could predict fluid responsiveness (area under the curve 0.910, p < 0.0001). Pulse pressure variation measured during forced inspiratory breathing can be used to guide fluid management in spontaneously breathing patients.
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Editorial Comment
Peripheral nerve block and local anaesthetic dose, how much is enough?