Anaesthetic equipment in low and low-middle income countries

Publication date: Available online 17 August 2019Source: Anaesthesia & Intensive Care MedicineAuthor(s): Claire E. Adams, Michael DobsonAbstractThere is a discrepancy between healthcare need and the ability to provide safe anaesthesia in low/low-middle income countries (LMICs). There is a shortage of medically trained anaesthetists. Most anaesthetics are provided by non-physician anaesthetists who may not have studied the core sciences underpinning anaesthesia, but are clinically very competent. Poor infrastructure is common, such as a shortage of piped medical gases and critical care beds. Safe anaesthesia depends on effective technology, and on consumables such as cannulae, and drugs, all of which are under-provided resources in LMICs. Much of the equipment used in the developed world is unsuitable for use in LMICs. Anaesthetic equipment used in LMICs, such as draw-over breathing systems and oxygen concentrators, may be unfamiliar to developed world anaesthetists. Cleaning and maintenance of equipment is usually the responsibility of the anaesthetist, who needs a good understanding of how it works.
Source: Anaesthesia and intensive care medicine - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research