The Anaesthetic Mortality Assessment Committee 1979-1984.

A review of 324 cases reported to the Anaesthetic Mortality Assessment Committee over a five year period confirms a low incidence of cases associated primarily with anaesthesia. The committee has identified potential problem areas affecting anaesthesia which require continued vigilance on the part of the anaesthetist. These include the fluid balance of patients, the potential for hypothermia, altered patterns of drug action in the elderly and critically ill and the influence of other disease processes-notably those affecting the heart. As well there are the rare problems more directly associated with anaesthesia such as hypersensitivity reactions and malignant hyperpyrexia. Technical problems during anaesthesia such as misplacement of the endotracheal tube are not commonly associated with death, but because they are preventable, are of particular importance.