[Better communication between surgery and anesthesia may provide safer surgery. The exchange of information has been mapped within the framework of "Safe abdominal surgery"].
Poor communication between surgical and anesthesia unit personnel may jeopardize patient safety.  Review reports from a national survey on patient safety performed at 17 units 2011-2013 were analyzed in order to identify strategies to reduce risks related to the interaction between surgery and anesthesia. The reports were reviewed in this study by an independent group in order to extract findings related to communication between anesthesia and surgical unit personnel. Suggested strategies to improve patient safety included: uniform national health declaration forms; consistent use of admission notes; uniform systems for documenting medical information; multidisciplinary forum for evaluation of high-risk patients; weekly and daily scheduling of surgical programs; application of the WHO check list; open dialog during surgery; oral and written reports from the surgeon to the postoperative unit; and combined mortality and morbidity conferences.
Department of Intensive Care and Perioperative Medicine - Skåne University Hospital Lund, Sweden Department of Intensive Care and Perioperative Medicine - Skåne University Hospital Lund, Sweden.
Katarina
K
Göransson
Skane University Hospital - Dept of Intensive Care and Perioperative Medicine Lund, Sweden Skane University Hospital - Dept of Intensive Care and Perioperative Medicine Lund, Sweden.
Johan
J
Lundberg
Sahlgrenska University Hospital - Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Göteborg, Sweden Sahlgrenska University Hospital - Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Göteborg, Sweden.
Olle
O
Ljungqvist
Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University - Dept of Surgery Örebro, Sweden Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University - Dept of Surgery Örebro, Sweden.
Elisabet
E
Ohlsson
Center for Digestive Diseases - Department of Surgery Stockholm, Sweden Gatrocentrum - Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset Stockholm, Sweden.
Gabriel
G
Sandblom
D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000592:standards*; D013502:General Surgery / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017751:Safety Management; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000592:standards*