Some Preoperative Warnings of Potential Operating-Room Deaths

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Abstract
CAREFUL study of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of surgical patients has proved profitable in defining groups of patients who are candidates for catastrophe in the operating room or in the immediate postoperative period. Many of the hazards involved are generally recognized and understood. Others may be apparent if the anesthetist, surgeon or internist studies the problem before operation. In a final group the mechanism of the complication is obscure, and forewarning comes only from previous experience. It is the purpose of this report to attempt to classify these hazards and to relate certain experiences encountered by the anesthesia service . . .