Abstract
Drug related incidents are a common form of reported medical errors. This paper reviews the critical incidents related to drug errors reported from the main operating theatre suite in a teaching hospital in a developing country from January 1997 to December 2002. Each report was evaluated individually by two reviewers using a structured process. During this period, 44 874 anaesthetics were adnimistered; 768 critical incidents were reported, 165 (21%) of which were related to drug errors. Underdosage, side-effect/drug reaction and syringe swap were the most common. A total of 76% were classified as preventable; 56% due to human error and 19% due to system error. High risk incidents accounted for 10% of all drug errors and most of these were related to the use of neuromuscular blocking drugs. This analysis has been found useful in addressing some issues about priorities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 48-52 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Anaesthesia |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2005 |