Survey of anaesthesia machine failures recognized before and during anaesthesia.

Objective: To assess the incidence and the causes of failures of anaesthesi a machines. Study design: Prospective survey from August 1995 to September 1997. Material: Check-list and machine failure forms. Methods: Failures of anaesthetic machines have been collected and entered i nto a database. Causes and treatment of each failure have been analysed. Results: Of 5,096 foreseen forms, 3,926 (77%) have been completed after che ck-list or anaesthesia machine failure. Overall, 233 incidents have been de clared (4.5%). Failures identified during the preoperative check-list (n = 96) were mainly related to mechanical problems, especially the gas proporti oning device (35%). Perioperative failures (n = 137) were mostly related to electronic problems (ventilator: 27% and monitor: 57%). In more than half of the cases, a specially trained anaesthetic nurse was able to correct the failure in the operating theatre. Using 14 anaesthetic machines for 12 ope rating rooms, no procedure was cancelled because of a technical failure of a machine. Conclusions: This study emphasises the value of the check-list and the fail ure report. The presence of a specially trained anaesthetic nurse allows im mediate correction of the majority of technical problems. (C) 1999 Elsevier , Paris.