Survey of the Preparation of Cardiovascular Emergency Medications for Adult Cardiovascular Anesthesia

Victor M. Neira, Matthias Scheffler, Derek Wong, Vivian Wang, Richard I. Hall

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: To describe current practices and safety concerns regarding cardiac emergency medications in cardiac anesthesia. Design: An anonymous survey with multiple-choice questions. Settings: Online survey using Opinio platform. Participants: Cardiac anesthesiologists from United States and Canada. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Response rate was 12% (n = 320), with 78% of respondents from the United States and 22% from Canada. The majority of the respondents were experienced (66%), academic (60%), and worked in large cardiac institutions (81%). Most cardiac emergency medications were prepared in the operating room (53.4%), followed by the pharmacy (34%) and industry (8.2%). American respondents had more medications prepared by a pharmacy (53%) versus Canadian (10%, p < 0.001). The majority (85%) considered expiration time of cardiac medications prepared in the operating room to be more than 12 hours. Familiarity with the American Society of Anesthesiologists guidelines on labeling was 58%, other medication safety guidelines 25%, and 34% were not familiar with any guidelines. The majority used color-coded labeling (95%), and a minority (11%) used bar-code systems. Most respondents (69%) agreed that lack of availability of preprepared medications could compromise patient safety. Having to prepare medications by themselves was a concern for respondents based on distractions (66%), lack of availability for emergencies (53%), labeling errors (41%), incorrect concentration (36%), sterility (33%), and stability (30%). Conclusion: This survey found that cardiac emergency medications commonly are prepared in the operating room. The authors identified gaps in familiarity with parenteral medications safety guidelines. Most safety concerns could be addressed with the application of current medication safety guidelines.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1813-1820
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia
Volume35
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was funded by a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Health Foundation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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