title: Drug shortages in Canadian anesthesia: a national survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Canadian physicians are faced with an increasing frequency of drug shortages. We hypothesized that drug shortages have a clinical impact on anesthesia care in Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a self-administered survey of anesthesiologists in Canada using the membership list of the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society. For survey development, we identified key domains, including types of drug shortages, impact on the ability of anesthesia practitioners to provide general anesthesia care, and impact on patient outcomes. We undertook assessments of face validity, clinical sensibility, and content validity. Respondents were surveyed from January-April 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Completed valid questionnaires were submitted by 1,187 respondents (61.4%), and 779 (65.7%) of respondents described a shortage of one or more anesthesia or critical care drugs. Changes in anesthesia practice resulting from drug shortages were common; 586 (49%) respondents thought they had given an inferior anesthetic, and 361 (30%) reported administering medications with which they were unfamiliar. Respondents also reported that drug shortages were, at times, responsible for changes in the conduct of patient care, with 28 (2.4%) noting cancellation or postponement of surgery and 92 (7.8%) witnessing a drug error. One hundred sixty-five (13.9%) respondents regarded drug shortages as having prolonged recovery from anesthesia, and 124 (10.5%) viewed drug shortages as resulting in an increased number of postoperative complications, such as postoperative nausea and vomiting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Drug shortages are common in anesthetic practice in Canada. This state of affairs may have a negative effect on how anesthesiologists practice anesthesia and may be associated with adverse patient outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Dalhousie University and the Capital District Health Authority, Room 5452 Halifax Infirmary, 1796 Summer Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3A7, Canada. rihall@dal.ca
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bryson
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flowerdew
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neilipovitz
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grabowski-Comeau
authors.forename: Alexis F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Turgeon
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D002170:Canada; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics