Tidsskrift for den Norske lægeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny række
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Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. · Jan 1990
[Registration of problems during anesthesia. Analysis of risk factors and quality control].
Society continues to increase its demands on the medical profession in regard to quality. We believe this situation should be met by a more systematic approach to risk evaluation and quality assessment of our work. We report an attempt to establish a routine system for recording complications during anesthesia. ⋯ Problems such as drop in blood pressure, intubation, laryngeal spasm and cardiac arrhythmias dominated. Such registration increases awareness for the safety of the patients, and enables us to assess the risk and evaluate the quality of our work. The system is now an integral part of the department's routine.
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Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. · Jan 1990
[Causes and risk factors of intraoperative anesthesia complications. A prospective study of 14,735 anesthesias].
Identification of risk factors is an essential part of our efforts to minimize problems during anesthesia. 14,735 patients were included in a prospective study in order to assess the magnitude of risk and identify risk factors. The rate of complications increased substantially after the age of 40, due mainly to a large number of patients with poor preoperative physical condition. High age in itself was not associated with increased risk of complications. ⋯ The complications were related to the conduct of anaesthesia in 70% of the total number of cases and to poor physical status and the surgery in 30%. However, poor physical condition and the surgery were responsible for 50% of the very serious complications and for all the four deaths on the table. The results of the survey confirm that thorough preoperative preparation of the patient is extremely important in order to reduce intraoperative risk, especially in emergency surgery.