Health facilities to get free essential monitors for safe anaesthesia
Entrance to Kijabe Hospital. The decision to prioritise Kenya came after paediatric surgery data collected from 24 hospitals around the country such as Kijabe Hospital established a baseline paediatric mortality rate that is 100 times higher than in high-income countries.
What you need to know:
- Many hospitals in low-income countries lack essential tools to monitor if a patient is getting adequate air supply during anesthesia in a theatre.
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a capnography is the best tool for detecting a leading cause of anesthesia-related complications and deaths — the misplacement of the breathing tube supplying oxygen to the patient.
- Without an oxygen supply, a patient will suffer catastrophic harm in a matter of minutes, including brain damage and death.
Twenty four hospitals are set to benefit from capnographys — life saving monitors that immediately detect when a patient is not getting adequate oxygen during anesthesia— valued at Sh43 million.
In a move aimed at improving safety for millions of people undergoing surgery each year, the world’s largest cleft-focused organisation, Smile Train, together with Lifebox, have announced that they will be distributed the machines to low-middle countries, including Kenya.
Many hospitals in low-income countries lack essential tools to monitor if a patient is getting adequate air supply during anesthesia in an operating room. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a capnography is the best tool for detecting a leading cause of anesthesia-related complications and deaths — the misplacement of the breathing tube supplying oxygen to the patient.
Without an oxygen supply, a patient will suffer catastrophic harm in a matter of minutes, including brain damage and death.
The risk of a misplaced breathing tube is greater in children, WHO experts say.
The decision to prioritise Kenya came after paediatric surgery data collected from 24 hospitals around the country such as Kijabe Hospital established a baseline paediatric mortality rate that is 100 times higher than in high-income countries.
The data was collected on 6,005 paediatric surgery cases from 24 facilities in Kenya from January 2014 to December 2016.
“A majority of the cases collected (4,557), 76.5 per cent, were from secondary hospitals, while the only tertiary hospital that participated in our study collected 586 (9.8 per cent) of cases, “they explained.
The study also found that secondary hospitals performed a higher percentage of neurosurgical procedures (1,463, 32 per cent), compared to primary (10, one per cent) and tertiary (46,eight per cent) hospitals.
A majority of cases performed in primary hospitals were orthopedic procedures (385, 47 per cent), compared to 518 (11 per cent) at secondary and 79 (13 per cent) at tertiary hospitals.
This is why in response to the existing critical shortfall, Smile Train and Lifebox launched their SmileTrain-Lifebox capnographThey observe that according to their study, children comprise more than 50 per cent of the overall population in many low- and middle-income countries.
“Perhaps 85 per cent of these children will require a surgical operation before their 15th birthday. Surgical admissions account for six to 12 per cent of all pediatric hospitalisations in Sub-Saharan Africa, although this may be even higher in urban settings or areas of conflict,” they said.
It is a high-quality, user-friendly, affordable capnograph with sturdy construction and long battery life suited for use in low-resource settings.
Working with the World Federation of Anesthesiologists (WFSA), the Global Capnography Project (GCAP), and leaders in global anesthesia, the initiative also developed a comprehensive capnography training package for anesthesia providers.
“This year, 350 capnographs will also be distributed in Benin, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and Uganda,” the two partners officially announcedduring the 18th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Singapore.
“We believe inclusion of a capnograph by professional societies and national health authorities as an essential anaesthesia monitoring equipment in operating rooms will catalyse its adoption worldwide, ultimately saving countless lives,” Susannah Schaefer, President and CEO of Smile Train said.
She noted that the vital tool has been a staple in operating rooms in high-income countries for more than three decades.
Its introduction in the United States in 1991 led to dramatic decline in anesthesia-related complications and deaths.
Yet capnography remains largely unavailable across most low-resource-setting operating rooms, with research showing there is often a 100 per cent gap between the need for capnography and its availability in low-income countries.
“Capnography shouldn’t be a privilege; it should be standard for surgical patient safety everywhere, and it is needed now,” Lifebox Global CEO Kris Torgeson said.
“Inclusion, for example, in operating room checklists as an essential piece of equipment would represent a monumental step in making surgery safer for every patient, regardless of where they live, “he added.
According to the Lancet Commission’s Global Surgery 2030, the estimation that 143 million additional surgical procedures are needed each year worldwide demonstrates the clinically significant burden on the pediatric population, which is part of this 143 million procedure deficit.
“The obstacles to receiving safe, efficient surgical care in low- and middle-income countries are even more threatening in the pediatric population located in these rural areas of resource-poor countries,” the lancet added.
