Presented in part to the Difficult Airway Society Annual meeting, Lille; 2006 and the European Society of Anaesthesiology Annual Meeting, Vienna; 2007.
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Mortality related to anaesthesia in France: analysis of deaths related to airway complications†
Article first published online: 13 MAR 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2008.05792.x
© 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland
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How to Cite
Auroy, Y., Benhamou, D., Péquignot, F., Bovet, M., Jougla, E. and Lienhart, A. (2009), Mortality related to anaesthesia in France: analysis of deaths related to airway complications. Anaesthesia, 64: 366–370. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2008.05792.x
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Publication History
- Issue published online: 13 MAR 2009
- Article first published online: 13 MAR 2009
- Accepted: 21 October 2008
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Summary
Death certificates from the French national mortality database for the calendar year 1999 were reviewed to analyse cases in which airway complications had contributed to peri-operative death. Respiratory deaths (and comas) found in a previous national 1978–82 French survey (1 : 7960; 95% CI 1 : 12 700 to 1 : 5400) were compared with the death rate found in the present one: 1 : 48 200 (95% CI 1 : 140 000 to 1 : 27 500). In 1999, deaths associated with failure of the breathing circuit and equipment were no longer encountered and no death was found to be related to undetected hypoxia in the recovery unit. Deaths related to difficult intubation also occurred at a lower rate than in the previous report (1 : 46 000; 95% CI 1 : 386 000 to 1 : 13 000) in 1978–82 vs 1 : 176 000 (95% CI 1 : 714 000 to 1 : 46 000) in 1999, a fourfold reduction. In most cases, there were both inadequate practice and systems failure (inappropriate communication between staff, inadequate supervision, poor organisation). This large French survey shows that deaths associated with respiratory complications during anaesthesia have been strikingly reduced during this 15-year period.