Case Evaluation

Lack of or Improper Use of Anesthesia: Anesthesia Errors

If you have ever had surgery then you probably have had the experience of being put under Anesthesia. Anesthesia stops the perception of pain signal sent from the brain and allows patients to have relatively pain-free surgery. Anesthesia, as a process, is very precise and as such there is large potential for error in this field.

The evolving field of medicine is always coming up with more sophisticated equipment to make surgeries safer, easier, and less stressful on the patient. However, these devices are far from foolproof and a qualified anesthesiologist is always needed to observe and avoid Anesthesia error.

There are several different causes of Anesthesia error. Some of the most common include:

  • Overdose/Underdose. These two seemingly simple errors can have devastating consequences on a patient. Too much Anesthesia can result in organ failure, brain damage, coma, and even death. Too little Anesthesia, on the other hand, can cause the patient to wake up in the middle of surgery, without being able to etheir condition to the surgeon.
  • Allergies. More and more people have allergies to common drugs, including anesthetics. It is the responsibility of the aesthetician to ensure that the chemicals used in the surgery will not have any adverse affects on the patient.
  • Interactions between Anesthesia and other drugs. Many Anesthesia accidents occur because doctors fail to cross check the potentially harmful interaction of anesthetics and other drugs in the patient’s system.
  • Failure to advise on food and water interactions. Patients need to be directed that they must not eat or drink within 24 hours of the surgery. This is to reduce the potential for complications.

Continued use of outdated equipment also increases the potential for errors. Many of the Anesthesia mistakes can come from the EKG or electrocardiogram. These electrodes are placed on the surface of the skin to measure the patient's heart rate and activity. The problem with the EKG device is that it is quite sensitive and can be influenced by a variety of outside factors. An inaccurate heart rate reading can adversely affect how an anesthesiologist monitors and adjusts the level of Anesthesia for the patient.

There are other things that affect the EKG. Noise originating from the patient is one factor. Involuntary movements like shivering can affect the reading and raise the risk of Anesthesia error. Noise originating from the patient electrode interface is another factor. When things are put on the patient's skin such as degreasing agents, like alcohol, this can affect the electrode and the signal it receives. This can again raise the risk of Anesthesia errors.

Noise coming from the outside environment is another cause of errors. An operating theater is full of things that can create sources of AC current. These currents can possibly influence the EKG reading and create Anesthesia error.

Anesthesia Case Evaluation

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  • Anesthesia - Medline Plus
    • General information about anesthesia including basic overviews, research, and additional resources.

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