Abstract
Anesthesiology is one of the leading medical specialties in patient safety. Pediatric anesthesiology is inherently higher risk than adult anesthesia due to differences in the physiology in children. In this review, we aimed to describe the highest yield safety topics for pediatric anesthesia and efforts to ameliorate risk. Conclusions: Pediatric anesthesiology has made great strides in patient perioperative safety with initiatives including the creation of a specialty society, quality and safety committees, large multi-institutional research efforts, and quality improvement initiatives. Common pediatric peri-operative events are now monitored with multi-institution and organization collaborative efforts, such as Wake Up Safe.
Highlights
Anesthesiology has made great strides in patient safety over the past several decades, with mortality decreasing from 1:2500 to 1:13,000 [1,2,3]
We aimed to describe the highest yield safety topics for pediatric anesthesia
Several safety resources have been developed such as pediatric perioperative crisis and airway checklists through various pediatric anesthesiology organizations including the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) and Wake Up Safe (WUS)
Summary
Anesthesiology has made great strides in patient safety over the past several decades, with mortality decreasing from 1:2500 to 1:13,000 [1,2,3]. Pediatric anesthesiology is inherently higher risk than adult anesthesiology due to the difference in physiology in children. Pediatric perioperative safety events fall into major categories including airway, cardiovascular, and medication error events. Research analyzing the location of the anesthetic (operating room or OR versus non-operating room anesthesia or NORA) in determining perioperative risks, as well as care transition and handovers associated with transferring patients to and from the operating room from other areas in the hospital has been conducted. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) population is at increased risk due to rapidly changing physiology and smaller margin of error. Major research efforts to improve safety include the concern for neurotoxicity in small children. Several safety resources have been developed such as pediatric perioperative crisis and airway checklists through various pediatric anesthesiology organizations including the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) and Wake Up Safe (WUS). WUS provides event data for analysis and dissemination and methods for quality improvement and enhanced patient safety
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