Undesirable Perioperative Anesthesia Outcomes at Two National Referral Hospitals, a cross sectional study in Eritrea

Background: Perioperative undesirable anesthesia outcomes are common among patients undergoing surgery. They may affect body systems and lead into more serious intraoperative and postoperative problems. This research is conducted in the Eritrean National Referral Hospitals with the aim of assessing the prevalence of undesirable anesthesia outcomes during the perioperative period. Method: A cross sectional study design was applied on 470 patient who underwent different types of surgeries with in a three month period. Patients were interviewed 24 hours after operation using the Leiden preoperative care patient satisfaction questionnaire (LPPSq). This study reports one component of a large study conducted. The dimension “Discomfort and needs” of the LPPSq was considered and the measurement of that dimension are presented in this report. Items of the dimension were standardized and measured using a five point Likert scale from “Not at all” to “Extremely”. Multivariable logistic regression was used to look for the association of the outcomes with the types of surgery and types of anesthesia using SPSS (Version 22). Statistical significance level was set at p< 0.05. Results: The prevalence of undesirable anesthesia outcomes were computed in two manners; prevalence of those with ‘at least a little bit’ outcomes which was computed to see the total occurrence of these outcomes and prevalence of those having ‘more than moderate’ outcomes to see the severe experience of these outcomes. Prevalence of the predominant undesirable outcome, post-operative pain, for ‘at least a little bit’ and ‘more than moderate’ were 82.6% and 43.6% respectively. The rest post-operative undesirable outcomes were less frequently reported. Conclusion: Postoperative pain was found to be the most prevalent undesirable outcome. Enhancement of the proper assessment and management of postoperative pain through the development and implementation of specific pain management modalities is needed. Local guidelines should also be available in these settings for the treatment of acute postoperative pain or other outcomes.