Anaesthetic Mortality and Pulmonary Function

Abstract

The safety of anaesthesia is commonly expressed in numbers of deaths directly associated with anaesthetic procedures. Mortality is a poor measure and has several drawbacks as it is difficult to evaluate contributing factors such as surgery, types of emergency etc. Harrison in 1978(1) in an analysis of more than 240,000 patients from the period 1967–1977, established 531 deaths associated with anaesthesia or 2.3 per 1000 anaesthetics. In 0.2 per 1000 anaesthetics, the anaesthethesia procedure itseld was the main cause of death. Three major groups could be established

• Complications associated with the airways — intubation

• Respiratory insufficiency due to muscle relaxants — residual effects

• Inadequate observation and technical problems related to equipment hypovolaemia