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An audit of airway problems in the recovery room
Author(s) -
Abdy S.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2044.1999.00746.x
Subject(s) - medicine , airway , general anaesthetic , audit , incidence (geometry) , anesthesia , general anaesthesia , general hospital , intensive care medicine , emergency medicine , physics , management , optics , economics
It has recently been suggested that recovery rooms should have dedicated anaesthetic cover during working hours to deal with serious life‐threatening problems. This audit was undertaken to determine the incidence and severity of airway problems that occurred in the recovery room at a District General Hospital. One thousand consecutive patients who received a general anaesthetic were assessed. If an airway problem was identified, the patient's notes were examined to document the type of surgery and any predisposing factors which may have contributed. The incidence of airway problems in this study was found to be 2.8%, which was in agreement with previous studies and appears too low to warrant a full‐time anaesthetic presence.