Perioperative medication errors and adverse drug events occur at a markedly higher rate than previously reported in retrospective surveys, highlighting a critical area for safety improvement.
One in 20 perioperative medication administrations included an ME and/or ADE. More than one third of the MEs led to observed ADEs, and the remaining two thirds had the potential for harm. These rates are markedly higher than those reported by retrospective surveys. Specific solutions exist that have the potential to decrease the incidence of perioperative MEs.
Nanji et al. (Sun,) studied this question.