Currently, no reported studies have evaluated intraoperative handover among anesthesia providers. Studies on anesthetic handover in the US recovery room setting observed that handover processes are insufficient and, in many instances, significant intraoperative events are disregarded. An online survey tool was sent to anesthesia providers at US anesthesia residency programs nationwide (120 out of the 132 US programs encompassing around 4500 residents and their academic MDAs) and a smaller survey selection of CRNAs (10 institutions about 300 CRNAs in the metropolitan area of Detroit, MI, USA) to collect information on handover practices. The response rate to this survey (n = 216) was comprised of approximately 5% (n = 71) of the resident population in US anesthesia programs, 5% (n = 87) of MDAs , and 20% (n = 58) of the CRNAs. Out of all respondents (n = 212), 49.1 % had no hand-over protocol at their institution and 88% of respondents who did have institutional handover protocols believed them insufficient for effective patient handover. In addiiton, 84.8% of all responders reported situations where there was insufficient information received during a patient handover. Only 7% of the respondents reported never experiencing complications or mismanagement due to poor or incomplete hand-overs. In contrast, 60% reported rarely having complications, 31% reported sometimes having complications, and 3% reported frequent complications. In conclusion, handover transition of patient care is a vulnerable and potentially life-threatening event in the operating room. Our preliminary study suggests that current intraoperatvive handover practices among anesthesia providers are suboptimal and that national patient handover guidelines are required to improve patient safety.

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Background:Angioedema (AE) is edema of the skin, subcutaneous tissue and/or submucosal tissues, resulting from extravasation of intravascular fluid. Swelling of the supraglottic mucosa can lead to airway obstruction with consequent hypoxia, brain damage and death. To date, fiberoptic bronchoscope (FOB) intubation of the spontaneously breathing patient is the preferred method for an anticipated difficult intubation. However, other alternative devices can be utilized to intubate angioedema successfully.Materials and Methods:A retrospective chart review was performed over a three-year period (2008-2010) of all patients with angioedema that required airway intervention. We hypothesized that fiberoptic intubation would have a higher success rate for intubation attempts; however, would take longer to perform when compared to videolaryngoscopic (VL) intubation. Outcomes for FOB versus VL intubations were reviewed, along with alternative miscellaneous methods of tracheal intubation in the setting of angioedema.Results:Thirty-three patients were grouped, according to the chosen method of intubation into FOB (n=12), VL (n=11), and miscellaneous (n=10) groups. No significant difference was found in first intubation attempts or number of intubation attempts between the three groups. Duration of time to perform successful intubation revealed a significantly shorter intubation time (P<0.05) in the VL group (6.9±0.9 min) and miscellaneous group (9.1±2.0 min) than that of the FOB group (10.4±0.7 min).Conclusion:This retrospective review of intubation methods showed that VL could be performed faster than FOB without an increase in adverse events.