A description of intraoperative and postanesthesia complication rates.

This article reviews the current rate of intraoperative and postanesthesia complications in an acute care hospital and Level II Trauma center. One thousand patients were assessed for intraoperative and postoperative complications and compared with a previous study from 1991 in a different institution. The overall rate of complications in this current study indicated an overall complication rate (combined intraoperative and PACU) of 26% with an intraoperative rate of 3.8% and a PACU rate of 23.4%. Although a slight improvement from a study in 1991, there continue to be many similarities.