[Critical events in the operating room among 1,440,776 patients with ASA PS 1 for elective surgery].

Background: The Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists (JSA) survey of critical incidents in the operating room has shown that preoperative complications are the leading causes of critical incidents, and affect the occurrence, severity and outcome of critical incidents which are due to causes other than preoperative complications. Causes of critical events in the operating room were examind in patients for elective surgery with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status (ASA PS) 1.

Methods: JSA has conducted annual surveys of critical incidents in the operating room by sending and collecting confidential questionnaires to all JSA Certified Training Hospitals.

[Critical incidents during regional anesthesia in Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists-Certified Training Hospitals: an analysis of responses to the annual survey conducted between 1999 and 2002 by the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists].

Background: Recently, a national survey in France including 35,439 patients who had received spinal anesthesia showed that the incidences of cardiac arrest and mortality associated with spinal anesthesia were 2.5 and 0.8 per 10,000 anesthetics, respectively.

[Supplemental survey in 2003 concerning life-threatening hemorrhagic events in the operating room].

Background: We previously showed that pre-operative hemorrhagic shock and surgical hemorrhage were the major causes of life-threatening events in the operating room and subsequent fatality. We investigated the background of these events.

Methods: The Subcommittee on Surveillance of Anesthesia-Related Critical Incidents, Japanese Society of Anesthesiologist (JSA) sent confidential questionnaires to all JSA-certified training hospitals (n=862).

[Surgical volume and mortality due to intraoperative critical incidents at Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists certified training hospitals: an analysis of the annual survey in 2002].

Background: We have previously showed that surgical volume affects mortality due to intraoperative critical incidents among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, the surgery with the highest risk, using data obtained by the annual survey in 2001 conducted by the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists (JSA). In this study, we investigated whether surgical volume affects mortality due to intraoperative critical incidents independent of the surgical site.

Methods: We investigated this relationship using data obtained from the 2002 annual survey conducted by the Subcommittee on Surveillance of Anesthesia-related Critical Incidents, JSA.