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Determination of legal responsibility in shared airway management between anesthesiology and otolaryngology
Author(s) -
Ideker Henry C.,
Julakanti Jatin S.,
Momin Nishat A.,
Chaaban Mohamad R.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.25948
Subject(s) - anesthesiology , otorhinolaryngology , malpractice , medicine , airway management , publishing , multidisciplinary approach , intubation , airway , medical malpractice , medical emergency , intensive care medicine , anesthesia , surgery , law , political science
Background Malpractice litigation remains an important point of contention in the United States. Airway management often sees multidisciplinary teams of anesthesiologists and otolaryngologists. This report analyzes lawsuits affecting both teams in airway management. Methods The Westlaw legal database (West Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN) was used to search for malpractice cases involving failed airway management, where both anesthesiology and otolaryngology were involved. Results Among the 28 cases analyzed, otolaryngology and anesthesiology were most commonly sued together (46.4%). When sued together, defendants were less likely to win and average award amounts ($4, 558 716) were higher. These cases most commonly occurred in the operating room (78.6%), involved a difficult/improper intubation (39.3%), alleged a failure to follow standard of care (57%), and resulted in death (60.7%). Conclusion These cases primarily cited failure to follow standard of care and communication failures. Efforts should be directed toward multidisciplinary airway management protocols and effective communication.