Incidence and risk factors of anaesthesia-related perioperative cardiac arrest: A 6-year observational study from a tertiary care university hospital

BACKGROUND In recent decades, the incidences of anaesthesia-related perioperative mortality and adverse outcomes have decreased drastically. However, to date, data on perioperative cardiac arrest and risk factors of perioperative cardiac arrest from European countries are scarce. OBJECTIVES To determine the incidences of perioperative cardiac arrest and rates of anaesthesia-related and anaesthesia-contributory cardiac arrest. Identification of pre-existing risk factors leading to perioperative cardiac arrest. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany. INTERVENTIONS Perioperative critical incident reports between 2007 and 2012 were screened, and reports on cardiac arrest within 24 h postoperatively were identified. Cardiac arrests were classified as ‘anaesthesia-related’, ‘anaesthesia-contributory’ or ‘anaesthesia-unrelated’ by two reviewers independently. Univariate and multi-variate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest. RESULTS Analysis of 318 critical incidents from 169 500 anaesthetics revealed 99 perioperative cardiac arrests. This is an overall incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest of 5.8/10 000 anaesthetics [95% confidence interval (CI), 4.7 to 7.0]. The rate of anaesthesia-related cardiac arrest was 0.7/10 000 (95% CI, 0.3 to 1.1), and the rate of anaesthesia-c...
Source: European Journal of Anaesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Perioperative medicine Source Type: research