The anaesthetic machine and patient safety

Abstract

The anaesthetic machine used by most anaesthetists today closely resembles the anaesthetic machine of the late 1940s, with the addition of a multitude of devices and monitors necessary for the complexity of modern anaesthesia. Although modern anaesthesia boasts of a high level of safety, the ad hoc development of the anaesthetic machine has done little to enhance this safety record. Future improvements in patient safety will at least partially depend on improved ergonomics and human factor engineering in the design and arrangement of the anaesthetic workplace. Some innovative designs are now being seen both commercially and experimentally in which all monitoring is integrated and servo feedback control loops are used to deliver anaesthetic agents to the patient.