Smile Train-Lifebox tackle major gap in anesthesia safety in low-resource setting operating rooms
Retrieved on:
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Capnography, The Nairobi Hospital, Hospital, WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, Death, International standard, Risk, Safety, Brain damage, ORS, Smile, WHO, Patient, World Health Organization, Patient safety, Cleft, Checklist, Society, Pulse, Child, Smile Train, Research, Operating, Dentistry, Lifebox, Anesthesia
NAIROBI, Kenya and NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahead of World Anesthesia Day, the world's largest cleft organization, Smile Train, and safer surgery nonprofit, Lifebox, come together to highlight and address a 30-year access gap that puts the lives of people undergoing surgery in low-resource settings at significant risk.
Key Points:
- Yet, capnography remains largely unavailable across most low-resource setting operating rooms with research showing there is often a 100% gap between the need for capnography and its availability in low-income countries.
- Increasing available capnography will significantly bridge the gap in anesthesia safety for people—including children—undergoing surgery in low-resource settings.
- This work is part of the Smile Train-Lifebox Safe Surgery and Anesthesia Initiative to strengthen the safety of pediatric anesthesia and surgical care in low-and middle-income countries.
- Furthermore, the WHO's Surgical Safety Checklist must include a capnograph—in addition to a pulse oximeter—as anesthesia monitoring equipment required for safe surgery.