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The Bare Minimum: The Reality of Global Anaesthesia and Patient Safety

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Abstract

Introduction

Current guidelines for the provision of safe anaesthesia from the World Health Organization and the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) are unachievable in a majority of low and middle-income countries (LMICs) worldwide.

Methods

Current guidelines for anaesthesia and patient safety provisions from the WHO and WFSA are compared with local ability to achieve these recommendations in LMICs.

Conclusions

Influential international organizations have historically published anaesthesia guidelines, but for the most part, without impacting substantial documentable changes or outcomes in low-income environments. This analysis, and subsequent recommendations, reviews the effectiveness of existing strategies for international guidelines, and proposes practical, step-wise implementation of patient safety approaches for LMICs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Kelly McQueen

  2. Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Tom Coonan

  3. Hobart Anaesthetic Group, Hobart, Australia

    Andrew Ottaway

  4. Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Andrew Ottaway

  5. Center for International Health, The Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia

    Simon Hendel

  6. Peri-Operative Care Services, King Faisal Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda

    Paulin R. Bagutifils

  7. Department of Anesthesia and ICM, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Butare, Rwanda

    Paulin R. Bagutifils

  8. Departments of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, and Physiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Alison Froese

  9. Diamedica UK Ltd, Barnstaple, UK

    Robert Neighbor

  10. School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia

    Haydn Perndt

Authors
  1. Kelly McQueen
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  2. Tom Coonan
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  3. Andrew Ottaway
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  4. Simon Hendel
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  5. Paulin R. Bagutifils
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  6. Alison Froese
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  7. Robert Neighbor
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  8. Haydn Perndt
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Correspondence to Kelly McQueen.

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McQueen, K., Coonan, T., Ottaway, A. et al. The Bare Minimum: The Reality of Global Anaesthesia and Patient Safety. World J Surg 39, 2153–2160 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-015-3101-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-015-3101-x

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