Mark Warner, MD, professor of anesthesiology at Mayo Medical and president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, discussed the evolution of anesthesia safety in a Minnesota Medicine report.
Dr. Warner said that when he started practicing medicine in the 1970s, the odds of a relatively healthy patient dying within 24 hours of a surgical procedure were around one in 10,000. The risk is now about one in 120,000 — a significant decrease. He cites a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1993 that found outpatient anesthesia and surgery was safer than traveling by car to a surgery center.
In determining why safety has improved so drastically since the 1970s, Dr. Warner looks to change in surgical procedures, which have generally become less invasive, and techniques that result in less blood loss and postoperative complications. He also credits the American Society of Anesthesiologists for establishing standardized best practices and patient monitoring systems, which have significantly reduced major complications.
Despite the major successes in anesthesia safety, he says providers "still have a ways to go." He looks to the future for improvements in anoxic brain injury mortality and postoperative respiratory depression.
Read Dr. Mark Warner's thoughts on anesthesia safety in Minnesota Medicine.
Read more on anesthesia:
-Harvard Anesthesiologist Talks to New York Times About 'How Anesthesia Works'
-Anesthesiologist Representative Calls Texas Medicaid Rates 'Woefully Inadequate'
Dr. Warner said that when he started practicing medicine in the 1970s, the odds of a relatively healthy patient dying within 24 hours of a surgical procedure were around one in 10,000. The risk is now about one in 120,000 — a significant decrease. He cites a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1993 that found outpatient anesthesia and surgery was safer than traveling by car to a surgery center.
In determining why safety has improved so drastically since the 1970s, Dr. Warner looks to change in surgical procedures, which have generally become less invasive, and techniques that result in less blood loss and postoperative complications. He also credits the American Society of Anesthesiologists for establishing standardized best practices and patient monitoring systems, which have significantly reduced major complications.
Despite the major successes in anesthesia safety, he says providers "still have a ways to go." He looks to the future for improvements in anoxic brain injury mortality and postoperative respiratory depression.
Read Dr. Mark Warner's thoughts on anesthesia safety in Minnesota Medicine.
Read more on anesthesia:
-Harvard Anesthesiologist Talks to New York Times About 'How Anesthesia Works'
-Anesthesiologist Representative Calls Texas Medicaid Rates 'Woefully Inadequate'