A recent increase in the percentage of older and multi-morbid surgical patients, along with technological surgical developments, has led to an apparent increase in anesthesia-associated mortality, according to a study published in Deutsches Aerzteblatt International.
According to the study, approximately 230 million major surgical procedures are performed under anesthesia worldwide every year. In industrialized nations, the estimated perioperative complication rate is 3-16 percent, and in 0.4-0.8 percent of cases, the result is lasting damage of death.
The authors examined several studies from the last 10 years and determined that anesthesia-associated mortality has risen in recent years. The study observed that while anesthesia-related mortality is relatively low in patients without relevant systemic disease, patients with relevant comorbidities have experienced an increase in death rates.
The study concluded that the increase is caused not by a decrease in anesthesiological care, but by an increase in the proportion of elderly patients and multi-morbid patients undergoing surgery. In addition, highly-invasive operations are now commonplace rather than "unthinkable" as they were in the past, according to the report.
Read the study in Deutsches Aerzteblatt International.
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According to the study, approximately 230 million major surgical procedures are performed under anesthesia worldwide every year. In industrialized nations, the estimated perioperative complication rate is 3-16 percent, and in 0.4-0.8 percent of cases, the result is lasting damage of death.
The authors examined several studies from the last 10 years and determined that anesthesia-associated mortality has risen in recent years. The study observed that while anesthesia-related mortality is relatively low in patients without relevant systemic disease, patients with relevant comorbidities have experienced an increase in death rates.
The study concluded that the increase is caused not by a decrease in anesthesiological care, but by an increase in the proportion of elderly patients and multi-morbid patients undergoing surgery. In addition, highly-invasive operations are now commonplace rather than "unthinkable" as they were in the past, according to the report.
Read the study in Deutsches Aerzteblatt International.
Related Articles on Anesthesia:
Florida Woman Accuses Doctors Hospital Anesthesiologist of Wrong-Site Injection
Debt Ceiling Deal Contains Little for Anesthesiologists to Like
Cocaine-Free Topical Agents Can Treat Pain During Sutures