The study is the most in-depth into the nature, causes and consequence of perioperative cardiac arrest, perhaps the complication of surgery feared most by patients, anaesthetists and surgeons. A new study ‒ that has examined all cardiac arrests occurring during or soon after surgery in more than 300 UK hospitals over a one-year period ‒ has identified that this extremely dangerous and often fatal event occurs in 3 per 10,000 surgeries requiring anaesthesia.
The study - the 7th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (NAP7) published in Anaesthesia (the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) – included data from all NHS hospitals and some in the independent sector and received the support of more than 11,000 anaesthetists throughout the UK. It is likely the largest and certainly the most in-depth study of the nature, causes and consequence of perioperative…
