Key result
Seventy percent (28/40) of the surveyed health facilities in the Health Antenna of Butembo were below standard according to WHO-WSFA guidelines for anaesthesia monitoring.
Why the study?
Standard monitoring during anaesthesia is critical for patient safety, but baseline data in hospitals of North Kivu were needed to guide plans toward safe anaesthesia.
Cross-Sectional (n=40)
Yes
The practice of standard monitoring during anaesthesia is poor in health facilities of Butembo, DRC, with 70% of facilities falling below WHO-WSFA guidelines.
Underscores anesthesia safety gaps in low-resource settings; leaves open effective strategies to meet WHO-WSFA standards.
BACKGROUND: Standard monitoring during anaesthesia is a core element of patient safety and practice of safe anesthesia has reduced morbidity and mortality worldwide. The main objective of this study was to assess the practice of standard monitoring during anaesthesia in the hospitals of North Kivu, so as to establish a baseline overview of the situation, and orientate plans towards safe anaesthesia in the region. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional survey of health facilities of the Health Antenna of Butembo in Democratic Republic of Congo and was conducted from October to December 2018. Questionnaires were brought to anaesthesia providers in the health facilities. The study included 1 answer from the anaesthesia practitioners who accepted to participate. The practices of standard monitoring in the health facilities were compared to WHO-WSFA guidelines. Data was captured and analyzed with Epi Info 7. RESULTS: Forty out of 90 health facilities (44.4%) of 10 health zones responded on the questionnaire. Twenty-three health facilities (57.5%) were from private sector and 17 (42.5%) from public sector. Sixteen health facilities (40.0%) were from the Butembo health zone. The median number of anaesthesia providers was 2 per health facility. Of all the anaesthesia providers, none were physicians, 47.5% were nurses practicing anaesthesia without any training in anaesthesia and 47.5% were nurse anaesthetists. All the health facilities were providing general anaesthesia whereas spinal anaesthesia was provided in 22 out of 40 centers (55%). Seventy percent (28/40) of the facilities were below standard according to WHO-WSFA guidelines. Only 40% (16/40) were using a pulse oximeter and 10% (4/40) declared that ECG was occasionally used. CONCLUSION: The practice of standard monitoring is poor in health facilities of the Health Antenna of Butembo. Efforts should be made to improve monitoring which is a key element of safe anaesthesia.
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Pascal et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional in Anaesthesia monitoring practices (n=40). Standard monitoring practices during anaesthesia vs. WHO-WSFA guidelines was evaluated on Proportion of health facilities meeting WHO-WSFA standard monitoring guidelines. Seventy percent (28/40) of the surveyed health facilities in the Health Antenna of Butembo were below standard according to WHO-WSFA guidelines for anaesthesia monitoring.
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