Purpose: To describe the frequency and pattern of drug errors in clinical anesthesia, and to evaluate whether a change to colour coded syringe labels, along with education, could reduce the problem of drug errors. Methods:We prospectively recorded anesthesia-related information from all anesthetic cases for 36 mo, totally 55,426 procedures. Intraoperative problems, including drug errors, were recorded. After eighteen months we changed to colour coded syringe labels, and the effect of this change and education on drug errors was assessed. Errors were divided into four groups: syringe swap, ampoule swap, other 'wrong drug' errors, and wrong dose errors. The problems were graded into four levels, according to severity.Results: A drug error was recorded in 63 cases (0.11%). There were 28 syringe swaps, and muscle relaxants were erroneously given in 15. There were nine ampoule swaps. There were eight 'other wrong drug' cases, and 18 cases where a wrong dose of the correct drug was given. Three of the drug errors were classified as serious, and 27 were of moderate severity. We found no differences between the two periods except for decreased number of ampoule swaps (P = 0.04).Conclusion: Drug errors are uncommon, and represent a small part of anesthesia problems but still have the potential for serious morbidity. Syringe swaps occurred most often between syringes of equal size, and were not eliminated by colour coding of labels. As muscle relaxant drugs are most commonly involved, and can cause lasting morbidity, special preventive measures should be taken for this group of drugs.Objectif: Décrire les erreurs de médicaments en anesthésie clinique selon leur fréquence et leur nature et éva-luer si une modification de la couleur des étiquettes codées des seringues pouvait, avec une certaine formation, résoudre ce problème. Conclusion : Les erreurs de médicaments sont rares et ne représentent qu'une petite partie des problèmes anesthésiques, mais elles sont toujours potentiellement dangereuses. Les échanges de seringues surviennent le plus souvent entre seringues de même taille et ils ne sont pas réduits par les étiquettes de couleurs codées. Les myorelaxants, le plus souvent en cause, peuvent entraîner une morbidité résiduelle. Des mesures préventives spéciales devaient être envisagées dans ce cas.

P Pu ur rp po os se e: : The low incidence of mortality and major morbidity in anesthesia makes it difficult to study the pattern of potential accidents and to develop preventive strategies. Anesthetic 'near-misses', however, occur more frequently. Using data from a simple routine-based system of problem reporting, we have analyzed the pattern and causes of serious non-fatal problems, in order to improve preventive strategies. M Me et th ho od ds s: :We prospectively recorded anesthesia-related information from all anesthetics for five years. The data included intraoperative problems, which were graded into four levels, according to severity. We analyzed only the serious nonfatal problems, which were sorted according to clinical presentation, and also according to which factor was most important in the development of the problem. We assessed any untoward consequences for the patient, and whether the problems could have been prevented. R Re es su ul lt ts s: : Serious problems were recorded in 315 cases out of 83,844 (0.4%). Anesthesia was considered the major contributing factor in 111 cases. Difficult intubation, difficult emergence from general anesthesia, allergic reactions, arrhythmia and hypotension were the dominating problems. Twenty-six anesthesia related problems resulted in changes in level of postoperative care, and one patient later died in the intensive care unit after anaphylactic shock. Eighty-two problems could have been prevented by simple strategies.C Co on nc cl lu us si io on n: : Analysis of serious nonfatal problems during anesthesia may contribute to improved preventive strategies. Data from a routine-based system are suitable for this type of analysis. Intubation, emergence, arrhythmia, hypotension and anaphylaxis cause most serious problems, and should be the object of preventive strategies. Objectif : La faible incidence de mortalité et de morbidité importante en anesthésie complique l'étude des types d'accidents potentiels et la

We found a low incidence of pulmonary aspiration. When it occurs, it carries a low risk for serious morbidity. Emergency cases for general anaesthesia are most at risk. Regional anaesthesia is considered safe. There is no evidence that preoperative gastric emptying should be routinely done in emergency cases, except in patients with suspected ileus/ subileus.

Objective. To study the incidence, maternal characteristics and outcome of unplanned out-of-institution births (= unplanned births) in Norway. Design. Register-based cross-sectional study. Population. All births in Norway (n = 892 137) from 1999 to 2013 with gestational age ≥22 weeks. Methods. Analysis of data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway from 1999 to 2013. Unplanned births (n = 6062) were compared with all other births (reference group). Results. The annual incidence rate of unplanned births was 6.8/1000 births and remained stable during the period of study. Young multiparous women residing in remote municipalities were at the highest risk of experiencing unplanned births. The unplanned birth group had higher perinatal mortality rate for the period, 11.4/1000 compared with 4.9/1000 for the reference group (incidence rate ratio 2.31, 95% confidence interval 1.82-2.93, p < 0.001). Annual perinatal mortality rate for unplanned births did not change significantly (p = 0.80) but declined on average by 3% per year in the reference group (p < 0.001). The unplanned birth group had a lower proportion of live births in all birthweight categories. Live born neonates with a birthweight of 750-999 g in the unplanned birth group had a more than five times higher mortality rate during the first week of life, compared with reference births in the same birthweight category. Conclusions. Unplanned births are associated with adverse outcome. Excessive mortality is possibly caused by reduced availability of necessary medical interventions for vulnerable newborns out-of-hospital.