Welcome
Wake Up Safe, with the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia as its sponsor, is dedicated to better outcomes for children receiving anesthetic care and to the education of our members in improvement science. Wake Up Safe, through the efforts of its members, collects data on thousands of anesthetic patients each year. Members have access to this data and to monthly conference calls and twice-yearly meetings which promote the dissemination of best practices. Members have used the database to publish numerous papers in peer reviewed journals. Wake Up Safe has been certified by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as a Patient Safety Organization.
SAFETY REMINDER
Potential risk of severe anesthesia related complications in Venezuelan patients
Joint Communication from the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia and American Society of Anesthesiologists Regarding Severe Neurological Complications and Death after General Anesthesia in Venezuelan Children
The Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) are aware of recent reports from the Society of Anesthesiology of Chile, the Venezuelan Society of Anesthesiology, and the Colombian Society of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation regarding severe neurological damage in five previously healthy Venezuelan children, including the death of four of them, following elective surgeries under general anesthesia. The SPA Board of Directors and the ASA Committee on Pediatric Anesthesia thoughtfully considered what is known about this situation and currently believe there is insufficient data to make any specific recommendations concerning the anesthetic care of Venezuelan children. However, it is imperative that pediatric anesthesiologists report any suspected cases for further investigation. After consultation with ASA leadership, members are strongly encouraged to report any concerning cases to the Anesthesia Incident Reporting System (AIRS) hosted by the Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI) at https://qualityportal.aqihq.org/AIRSMain/AIRSCaseEntry.
Some experts in the field believe that this group of patients may have a presentation similar to patients with a mitochondrial disorder.
Supporting data are largely preliminary and patients should be treated with an abundance of caution.
We encourage members to report any perioperative events in this population to AIRS and WakeUp Safe (in the database or email Jay_Deshpande@wakeupsafe.org) so that more specific recommendations can be developed.
We are an AHRQ designated Patient Safety Organization
Start-up funding in part by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation
