PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R A Caplan

Publications and source records attributed to R A Caplan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Adverse anesthetic outcomes arising from gas delivery equipment: a closed claims analysis.

BACKGROUND: Anesthesia gas delivery equipment is a potentially important source of patient injury. To better define the contribution of gas delivery equipment to professional liability in anesthesia, the authors conducted an in-depth analysis of cases from the database of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project. METHODS: The database of the Closed Claims Project is composed of closed US malpractice claims that have been collected in a standardized manner. All claims resulting from the use of gas delivery equipment were reviewed for recurrent patterns of injury. RESULTS: Gas delivery equipment was associated with 72 (2%) of 3,791 claims in the database. Death and permanent brain damage accounted for almost all adverse outcomes (n = 55, 76%). Equipment misuse was defined as fault or human error associated with the preparation, maintenance, or deployment of a medical device. Equipment failure was defined as unexpected malfunction of a medical device, despite routine maintenance and previous uneventful use. Misuse of equipment (n = 54, 75%) was three times more common than equipment failure (n = 17, 24%). Misconnects and disconnects of the breathing circuit made the largest contribution to injury (n = 25, 35%). Reviewers judged that 38 of 72 claims (53%) could have been prevented by pulse oximetry, capnography, or a combination of these two monitors. Overall, 56 of 72 gas delivery claims (78%) were deemed preventable with the use or better use of monitors. The year of occurrence for claims involving gas delivery equipment ranged from 1962 to 1991 and did not differ significantly from claims involving other adverse respiratory events. CONCLUSIONS: Claims associated with gas delivery equipment are infrequent but severe and continue to occur in the 1990s. Educational and preventive strategies that focus on equipment misuse and breathing circuit configuration may have the greatest potential for enhancing the safety of anesthesia gas delivery equipment.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1996

Variation in expert opinion in medical malpractice review.

BACKGROUND: Expert opinion in medical malpractice is a form of implicit assessment, based on unstated individual opinion. This contrasts with explicit assessment processes, which are characterized by criteria specified and stated before the assessment. Although sources of bias that might hinder the objectivity of expert witnesses have been identified, the effect of the implicit nature of expert review has not been firmly established. METHODS: Pairs of anesthesiologist-reviewers independently assessed the appropriateness of care in anesthesia malpractice claims. With potential sources of bias eliminated or held constant, the level of agreement was measured. RESULTS: Thirty anesthesiologists reviewed 103 claims. Reviewers agreed on 62% of claims and disagreed on 38%. They agreed that care was appropriate in 27% and less than appropriate in 32%. Chance-corrected levels of agreement were in the poor-good range (kappa = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.23 to 0.51). CONCLUSIONS: Divergent opinion stemming from the implicit nature of expert review may be common among objective medical experts reviewing malpractice claims.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1994

Burns from warming devices in anesthesia. A closed claims analysis.

BACKGROUND: Prevention of hypothermia is an important aspect of anesthetic management. Methods used for its prevention may, however, cause cutaneous burns. We reviewed the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Closed Claims Project database to determine if there were recurrent patterns of injury arising from intraoperative warming methods. METHODS: The ASA Closed Claims Project database is a collection of closed malpractice claims that have been reviewed in a standardized format. All claims for burns were reviewed. RESULTS: Among the 3,000 total claims there were 54 burns, of which 28 resulted from materials or devices used to warm patients. Intravenous fluid bags or bottles warmed in an oven and then applied to the patient's skin were responsible for 18 of the 28 (64%) burns associated with warming devices. These burns from intravenous fluid bags or bottles occurred in predominantly healthy (ASA physical status 1-2) young (age 38 +/- 17 yr, mean +/- standard deviation) women undergoing routine gynecologic or peripheral orthopedic surgery under general anesthesia. Of the eight burns from electrically powered warming equipment, five resulted from circulating-water mattresses. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous fluid bags or bottles warmed in an operating room oven represent a hazard to anesthetized patients. Because intravenous fluid bags or bottles are not an efficient method of patient warming, there seems to be little justification for their use.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

A comparison of pediatric and adult anesthesia closed malpractice claims.

BACKGROUND: Since 1985, the Committee on Professional Liability of the American Society of Anesthesiologists has evaluated closed anesthesia malpractice claims. This study compared pediatric and adult closed claims with respect to the mechanisms of injury, outcome, the costs, and the role of care judged to be substandard. METHODS: Using a standardized form and method developed for analysis of closed claims, the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Data Base was used to compare pediatric with adult anesthesia-related adverse events. RESULTS: Of the 2,400 total claims, 238 (10%) were in the pediatric age group (15 yr of age or younger). The pediatric claims presented a different distribution of damaging events compared with that of adults. In particular, respiratory events were more common among pediatric claims (43% versus 30% in adult claims; P < or = 0.01). The mortality rate was greater in the pediatric claims (50% versus 35% in adult claims; P < or = 0.01), anesthetic care more often was judged less than appropriate (54% versus 44% in adult claims; P < or = 0.01), the complications more frequently were thought to be preventable with better monitoring (45% versus 30% in adult claims; P < or = 0.01), and the distribution of payments to the plaintiff was different (median payment, $111,234 versus $90,000 in adult claims; P < or = 0.05). Many of the differences between pediatric and adult claims were explained by a higher prevalence of patient injury caused by inadequate ventilation in the pediatric claims (20% versus 9% in adult claims; P < or = 0.01). In pediatric compared with adult inadequate ventilation claims, poor medical condition and/or obesity (6% versus 41%; P < or = 0.01) were uncommon associated factors. Cyanosis (49%) and/or bradycardia (64%) often preceded cardiac arrest in pediatric claims related to inadequate ventilation, resulting in death (70%) or brain damage (30%) in previously healthy children. Although clinical clues suggested hypoxemia as a common mechanism of injury, the files did not contain enough information to explain the genesis of hypoxemia in these claims. CONCLUSIONS: Comparison of adult and pediatric closed claims revealed a large prevalence of respiratory related damaging events--most frequently related to inadequate ventilation. In the opinion of the reviewers, 89% of the pediatric claims related to inadequate ventilation could have been prevented with pulse oximetry and/or end tidal CO2 measurement. However, pulse oximetry appeared to prevent poor outcome in only one of seven claims in which pulse oximetry was used and could possibly have done so.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Eye injuries associated with anesthesia. A closed claims analysis.

Claims against anesthesiologists for eye injuries were analyzed as part of the ASA Closed Claims Project. Eye injury occurred in 3% of all claims in the database (71 of 2,046). The payment frequency for eye injury claims was higher than that for non-eye injury claims (70% vs. 56%; P less than or equal to 0.05). The median cost of eye injury claims was less than that for other claims ($24,000 vs. $95,000; P less than or equal to 0.01). Two distinct subsets were identified. The first was characterized by corneal abrasion during general anesthesia (25 of 71 claims; 35%). Claims for corneal abrasion were characterized by low incidence of permanent injury (16%) and low median payment ($3,000). Reviewers were able to identify a mechanism of injury in only 20% of claims for corneal abrasion. The second subset of eye injury was characterized by patient movement during ophthalmologic surgery (21 of 71; 30%). Blindness was the outcome in all cases. Sixteen of the claims involving movement occurred during general anesthesia, and 5 occurred during monitored anesthesia care. The median payment for claim involving movement was 10 times greater than for non-movement claims ($90,000 vs. $9,000; P less than or equal to 0.01). Anesthesiologist reviewers deemed the care rendered in the general anesthesia "movement" claims as meeting standards in only 19% of claims. From the perspective of patient safety, as well as risk management, these data suggest two specific needs: research directed at better understanding of the etiology of corneal abrasion and clinical strategies designed to assure patient immobility during ophthalmic surgery.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Incidence and risk factors for side effects of spinal anesthesia.

We prospectively studied 952 patients to identify the incidence of hypotension (systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg), bradycardia (heart rate less than 50 beats/min), nausea, vomiting, and dysrhythmia during spinal anesthesia. Historical, clinical, and physiologic data were correlated with the incidence of these side effects by univariate and multivariate analysis. Hypotension developed in 314 patients (33%), bradycardia in 125 (13%), nausea in 175 (18%), vomiting in 65 (7%), and dysrhythmia in 20 (2%). Variables conferring increased odds of developing hypotension include peak block height greater than or equal to T5 (odds ratio 3.8, P less than 0.001), age greater than or equal to 40 yr (2.5, P less than 0.001), baseline systolic blood pressure less than 120 mmHg (2.4, P less than 0.001), combination of spinal and general anesthesia (1.9, P = 0.01), spinal puncture at or above the L2-L3 interspace (1.8, P less than 0.001), and addition of phenylephrine to the local anesthetic (1.6, P = 0.02). Variables conferring increased odds of developing bradycardia include a baseline heart rate less than 60 beats/min (odds ratio 4.9, P less than 0.001), ASA physical status classification of 1 versus 3 or 4 (3.5, P less than 0.001), current therapy with beta-adrenergic blocking drugs (2.9, P less than 0.001), and peak block height greater than or equal to T5 (1.7, P = 0.02). Variables conferring increased odds of developing nausea or vomiting include addition of phenylephrine or epinephrine to the local anesthetic (3.0-6.3, P less than or equal to 0.003), peak block height greater than or equal to T5 (odds ratio 3.9, P less than 0.001), use of procaine (2.6-4.4, P less than or equal to 0.003), baseline heart rate greater than or equal to 60 beats/min (2.3, P = 0.03), history of carsickness (2.0, P = 0.01), and development of hypotension during spinal anesthesia (1.7, P = 0.009). Our results indicate that the incidence of side effects during spinal anesthesia may be reduced by 1) minimizing peak block height; 2) using plain solutions of local anesthetics; 3) performing the spinal puncture at or below the L3-L4 interspace; and 4) avoiding the use of procaine in the subarachnoid space.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Effect of outcome on physician judgments of appropriateness of care.

Is a permanent injury more likely to elicit a rating of inappropriate care than a temporary injury? To explore this question, we asked 112 practicing anesthesiologists to judge the appropriateness of care in 21 cases involving adverse anesthetic outcomes. The original outcome in each case was classified as either temporary or permanent. The authors then generated a matching alternate case identical to the original in every respect except that a plausible outcome of opposite severity was substituted. The original and alternate cases were randomly divided into two sets and assigned to reviewers who were blind to the intent of the study. The reviewers were asked to rate independently the care in each case as appropriate, less than appropriate, or impossible to judge, based on their personal (implicit) judgment of reasonable and prudent practice. A significant inverse relationship between severity of outcome and judgments of appropriateness of care was observed in 15 (71%) of the 21 matched pairs of cases. Overall, the proportion of ratings for appropriate care decreased by 31 percentage points when the outcome was changed from temporary to permanent and increased by 28 percentage points when the outcome was changed from permanent to temporary. We conclude that knowledge of the severity of outcome can influence a reviewer's judgment of the appropriateness of care.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1991

A comparison of obstetric and nonobstetric anesthesia malpractice claims.

Malpractice claims filed against anesthesiologists for care involving obstetric (OB) anesthesia (n = 190) were taken from the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Closed Claims Database and compared to claims not involving OB cases (n = 1351). The most common complications in the OB claims were (percentage of all OB claims): maternal death (22%), newborn brain damage (20%), and headache (12%). In contrast, the most common complications in the nonobstetric (non-OB) group were (percentage of all non-OB claims): death (39%), nerve damage (16%), and brain damage (13%). The group of OB claims contained a proportionately greater number of minor injuries, such as headache, backache, pain during anesthesia, and emotional injury (32%) compared to the non-OB claims (4%). Complications due to aspiration and convulsions were more common among the OB cases. The standard of care was judged to have been met in 46% of OB and 39% of non-OB claims. This difference is not statistically significant. Claims involving general anesthesia were more frequently associated with severe injuries and resulted in higher payments than did claims involving regional anesthesia. Payments were made in a similar proportion of OB and non-OB claims (53 and 59%, respectively). For cases in which payments were made, the median payment for OB claims was significantly greater ($203,000) than for non-OB claims ($85,000; P less than or equal to 0.05).

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Adverse respiratory events infrequently leading to malpractice suits. A closed claims analysis.

Adverse outcomes associated with respiratory events are the single largest class of injury in the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project (762 of the 2,046 cases, 37%). Inadequate ventilation, esophageal intubation, and difficult tracheal intubation are the most common mechanisms of respiratory-related adverse outcomes. An analysis of closed claims data regarding these mechanisms has been reported previously. This report is concerned with 300 claims for five other less common but important categories of respiratory-related adverse outcomes in which recurrent themes of management error or patterns of injury could be identified: airway trauma, pneumothorax, airway obstruction, aspiration, and bronchospasm. Airway trauma (97 claims, 5% of the database) was associated with difficult intubation in 41 (42%) of the cases and the most frequent sites of injury were the larynx, pharynx, and esophagus. Pneumothorax (67 cases, 3% of the database) was usually either needle-related (block or central vascular catheter placement) or airway management-related (instrumentation or barotrauma). Airway obstruction (56 claims, 3% of the database) occurred in the upper airway in 39 (70%) of the cases. Aspiration (56 claims, 3% of the database) usually occurred during general anesthesia, either during induction prior to tracheal intubation or during maintenance of anesthesia delivered via mask. Bronchospasm (40 claims, 2% of the database) tended to occur during induction of general anesthesia in patients with a history of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and/or smoking. The incidence of severe injury (brain damage and death) among these cases in the five categories was 47% overall, ranging from 12% in airway trauma claims to nearly 90% in claims for airway obstruction and bronchospasm.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Airway Obstruction↗
PubMed1990

Measuring interrater reliability among multiple raters: an example of methods for nominal data.

This paper reviews and critiques various approaches to the measurement of reliability among multiple raters in the case of nominal data. We consider measurement of the overall reliability of a group of raters (using kappa-like statistics) as well as the reliability of individual raters with respect to a group. We introduce modifications of previously published estimators appropriate for measurement of reliability in the case of stratified sampling frames and we interpret these measures in view of standard errors computed using the jackknife. Analyses of a set of 48 anaesthesia case histories in which 42 anaesthesiologists independently rated the appropriateness of care on a nominal scale serve as an example.

Reproducibility of Results↗
PubMed1990

Reliability of ratings of anesthesia's contribution to adverse surgical outcomes.

The interrater reliability of physician ratings of anesthesia contribution to adverse outcomes was evaluated. A physician panel reviewed hospital records, anesthesia records, standard data collection forms, and, when available, autopsy reports for 28 patients experiencing severe morbidity or death within 48 hours following anesthesia for surgery. Consensus among reviewers about the contribution of anesthesia to adverse outcomes ranged from 82.1% to 92.9%. Kappa coefficients indicated excellent interrater reliability for the Edwards Scale and rating scale, and good interrater reliability for the percent scale.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1990

Adverse respiratory events in anesthesia: a closed claims analysis.

Adverse outcomes associated with respiratory events constitute the single largest class of injury in the American Society of Anesthesiology Closed Claims Study (522 of 1541 cases; 34%). Death or brain damage occurred in 85% of cases. The median cost of settlement or jury award was +200,000. Most outcomes (72%) were considered preventable with better monitoring. Three mechanisms of injury accounted for three-fourths of the adverse respiratory events: inadequate ventilation (196; 38%), esophageal intubation (94; 18%), and difficult tracheal intubation (87; 17%). Inadequate ventilation was used to describe claims in which it was evident that insufficient gas exchange had produced the adverse outcome, but it was not possible to identify the exact cause. This group was characterized by the highest proportion of cases in which care was considered substandard (90%). The esophageal intubation group was notable for a recurring diagnostic failure: in 48% of cases where auscultation of breath sounds was performed and documented, this test led to the erroneous conclusion that the endotracheal tube was correctly located in the trachea. Claims for difficult tracheal intubation were distinguished by a comparatively small proportion of cases (36%) in which the outcome was considered preventable with better monitoring. A better understanding of respiratory risks may require investigative protocols that initiate data collection immediately upon the recognition of a critical incident or adverse outcome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Nerve injury associated with anesthesia.

The authors examined the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Study database to define the role of nerve damage in the overall spectrum of anesthesia-related injury that leads to litigation. Of 1,541 claims reviewed, 227 (15%) were for anesthesia-related nerve injury. Ulnar neuropathy represented one-third of all nerve injuries and was the most frequent nerve injury. Less-frequent sites of nerve injury were the brachial plexus (23%) and the lumbosacral nerve roots (16%). In a large proportion of cases, the exact mechanism of injury was unclear despite evidence of intensive investigation in the claim files. Median payment for nerve damage claims involving disabling injury was $56,000, which was significantly lower than the $225,000 median payment for claims for disabling injury not involving nerve damage (P less than 0.01). The closed claims reviewers judged that the standard of care had been met significantly more often in claims involving nerve damage than in claims not involving nerve damage. The authors conclude that nerve damage is a significant source of anesthesia-related claims but that the exact mechanism of nerve injury is often unclear. In particular, ulnar nerve injuries seemed to occur without identifiable mechanism.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1989

Standard of care and anesthesia liability.

For the past 3 years, the Committee on Professional Liability of the American Society of Anesthesiologists has been studying records of closed malpractice claims files for anesthesia-related patient injuries. The database of 1004 lawsuits was examined to define the impact of the "standard of care," as judged by a practicing group of anesthesiologists, on the likelihood and amount of financial recovery. We found that payment was made in more than 80% of claims made by patients who were judged to have received substandard anesthetic care. Payment also was made in more than 40% of claims when the anesthesia care was judged to be appropriate. We conclude that in the tort-based system of compensation for anesthesia-related injury, the patient has a high probability of financial recovery for injury caused by substandard care. However, if the anesthesiologist provides appropriate care there is still a greater than 40% chance that payment will be made for the claim of malpractice.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1989

Transdermal fentanyl for postoperative pain management. A double-blind placebo study.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized design was used to evaluate the safety and efficacy of transdermal fentanyl citrate for postoperative pain management in 42 healthy adult patients undergoing major shoulder surgery. Transdermal systems rated to deliver fentanyl citrate at a rate of 75 micrograms/h were applied to the skin immediately prior to surgery and worn for 24 hours. Patients in the active group required significantly less morphine than the placebo group during the 24-hour period that systems were in place (0.8 +/- 0.61 vs 1.3 +/- 0.64 mg/h) and for the first 12 hours after removal (0.3 +/- 0.36 vs 0.5 +/- 0.32 mg/h). The incidence of vomiting was more frequent in the active group than in the placebo group (73% vs 30%), and respiratory rate in the active group was lower than in the placebo group during the 13- to 24-hour interval of system application (14 +/- 3 vs 16 +/- 2 breaths per minute). Nevertheless, transdermal fentanyl appears to be safe and effective after orthopedic surgery in healthy adult patients.

Administration, Cutaneous↗