Researchers at University of Minnesota Report New Data on Anesthesia (Falls From the OR or Procedure Table)

Insurance Weekly News

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Research findings on Anesthesia are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting from Minneapolis, Minnesota, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Patient safety secured by constant vigilance remains a primary responsibility of every anesthesia professional. Although significant attention has been focused on patient falls occurring before and after surgery, a potentially catastrophic complication is when patients fall off an operating room or procedure table during anesthesia care."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the University of Minnesota, "Because such events are (fortunately) uncommon, and because very little information is published in our literature, we queried 2 independent closed claims databases (the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project and the secure records of a private, anesthesia specialty-specific liability insurer) for information. We acquired documentation of patient events where a fall occurred during anesthesia care, noting the surrounding conditions of the provider, the patient, and the environment at the time of the event. We identified 21 claims (1.2% of cases) from the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project, while information from a private liability insurer identified falls in only 0.07% of cases. The percentage of these patients under general, regional, or monitored anesthesia care anesthesia was 71.5%, 19.5%, and 9.5%, respectively. To educate personnel about these uncommon events, we summarized this cohort with illustrative examples in a series of mini-case reports, noting that both inpatients and outpatients undergoing a broad array of procedures with various anesthetic techniques within and outside operating rooms may be vulnerable to patient falls. Based on detailed reports, we created 2 supplementary videos to further illuminate some of the unique mechanisms by which these events and their resulting injuries occur. When such information was available, we also noted the associated liability costs of defending and settling malpractice claims associated with these events."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Our goal is to inform anesthesia and perioperative personnel about the common patient, provider, and environmental risk factors that appear to contribute to these mishaps, and suggest key strategies to mitigate the risks."

For more information on this research see: Falls From the OR or Procedure Table. Anesthesia and Analgesia, 2017;125(3):846-851. Anesthesia and Analgesia can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Two Commerce Sq, 2001 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA. (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins - www.lww.com; Anesthesia and Analgesia - www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting R.C. Prielipp, University of Minnesota, Sch Med, Minneapolis, MN, United States. Additional authors for this research include J.L. Weinkauf, T.M. Esser, B.J. Thomas and M.A. Warner.

Keywords for this news article include: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, North and Central America, Anesthesia, Risk and Prevention, Pain Medicine, University of Minnesota.