A method for assessment of standards of care of anesthesia services in departments with different levels of resources.

In developing countries the standards of anesthesia care vary greatly between hospitals. In order to identify the urgent needs of disadvantaged hospitals, we compared three index hospitals in the greater Cairo area, one of which has excellent (category I), on intermediate (category II), and one with severely restricted resources (category III). Standards of care published by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) were used to develop a spreadsheet for documenting features of pre-, intra- and post-anesthetic care in patients undergoing tonsillectomies, a procedure commonly performed in all three hospitals. The spreadsheet enabled us to document all equipment, supplies and personnel engaged from pre-anesthetic evaluation to discharge. Analysis of the data revealed that the service provided by the category I hospital approached the ASA standards. In the category II hospital the patients did not go through a pre-anesthetic evaluation; instead they were seen for the first time in the operating room. No premedication was given. Intravenous access was established with the help of a needle (rather than a catheter). Monitoring consisted occasionally of a finger on the pulse. Sterilization was accomplished by boiling. Air-conditioning was not available. No records were kept and no recovery room was available. The same deficiencies existed in the category III hospital, which did not even have oropharyngeal airways, antiarrhythmic or inotropic medications, and sterile techniques were completely ignored. Despite these stark differences in care, the patients or their parents in all three hospitals appeared satisfied with the level of care they received. Much has to be done to improve anesthesia care in less fortunate departments in developing nations. Urgent help does not mean the need for sophisticated monitors or equipment only, but the establishment of practice standards first. Applying the priciples of modern management, we need to evaluate the structure, processes and outcome of anesthetic practice in developing countries in order to reengineer the way we provide help to anesthetic departments in developing nations. In this modest study we are presenting a means to evaluate the features and processes of the anesthesia services in developing countries.