· Numbers
o 11 million episodes
o 200 anaesthesia-related deaths
o i.e. mortality from anaesthesia very low, and if anything is getting lower
· Was it anos fault?
o 23 Category 1 = definitely the anaesthetic
o 19 Category 2 = not entirely the anaesthetic
o 158 Category 3 = anaesthetic and medical/surgical factors
· Patient
o 93% were ASA 3-5
o 87% were >60 years
· Surgery
o 73% were emergency procedures
o 56% orthopaedic
o 10% abdominal
o 9% cardiothoracic
o 6% vascular
· Anaesthesia causes of death
o 7 anaphylaxis
o 6 aspiration
o 6 cardiac arrest
o 2 CICO
o 2 stroke from arterially placed CVC
· Other observations:
o Overrepresentation of cases with a non-anaesthetist providing sedation (e.g. scopes, radiology, cardiology)
o In some cases the decision to operate was inappropriate
o Should limit community exposure to pholcodeine to limit cross-sensitisation with rocuronium