Society guideline links: Patient safety in the operating room

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

International

●World Health Organization (WHO)-World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA): International standards for a safe practice of anesthesia (2018)

●WFSA: Safer Anaesthesia From Education (SAFE) – Paediatric & obstetric anaesthesia pocket handbook (2015, revised 2016)

●WHO: Guidelines for safe surgery – Safe surgery saves lives (2009)

●WHO: Surgical safety checklist (2008, revised 2009)

Canada

●Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society (CAS): Guidelines to the practice of anesthesia, revised edition (2023)

●Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS)/CAS/Canadian Heart Rhythm Society (CHRS): Joint position statement on the perioperative management of patients with implanted pacemakers, defibrillators, and neurostimulating devices (2012)

United States

●American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA): Statement on surgical attire (2019, amended 2022)

●ASA: Statement on anesthetic care during interventional pain procedures for adults (2005, amended 2021)

●ASA: Practice advisory for the perioperative management of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices – Pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, update (2020)

●ASA: Statement on distractions (2015, amended 2020)

●American College of Surgeons (ACS): Statement on patient safety principles for office-based surgery utilizing moderate sedation/analgesia (2019)

●Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA): Recommendations for the use of opioids in children during the perioperative period (2019)

●ACS: Statement on patient safety in the operating room – Team care (2018)

●ASA: Statement on security of medications in the operating room (2003, amended 2018)

●SPA: Position statement on anesthesia and brain development in your child (2017)

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on patient safety in the surgical environment (2010, reaffirmed 2014)

●ASA: Practice guidelines for the perioperative management of patients with obstructive sleep apnea, update (2014)

●American Heart Association (AHA): Scientific statement on patient safety in the cardiac operating room – Human factors and teamwork (2013)

●ASA: Practice advisory for the prevention and management of operating room fires, update (2013)

●ASA: Practice alert for the perioperative management of patients with coronary artery stents (2009)

Europe

●European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC): Guidelines on peri-operative use of ultrasound for regional anaesthesia (PERSEUS regional anesthesia) – Peripheral nerve blocks and neuraxial anaesthesia (2021)

●European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA)/European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM): Joint guideline on noninvasive respiratory support in the hypoxaemic peri-operative/periprocedural patient (2020)

●ESA: Guidelines for the management of severe perioperative bleeding, first update (published 2017)

●European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS): Guidelines for the use of patient safety checklists (2012)

United Kingdom

●Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI): Guidelines for the peri-operative management of patients with sickle cell disease (2021)

●AAGBI: Recommendations for standards of monitoring during anaesthesia and recovery (2021)

●AAGBI, Intensive Care Society (ICS): Fire safety and emergency evacuation guidelines for intensive care units and operating theatres – For use in the event of fire, flood, power cut, oxygen supply failure, noxious gas, structural collapse or other critical incidents (2021)

●AAGBI: Guidelines for the management of glucocorticoids during the peri-operative period for patients with adrenal insufficiency (2020)

●Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (APAGBI): Statement on decision making and consent following the update to General Medical Council (GMC) guidance published on 9th November 2020 (2020)

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Guideline for perioperative care in adults (2020)

●AAGBI: Checklist for draw-over anaesthetic equipment (2019)

●AAGBI: Guidelines for the peri-operative care of people with dementia (2019)

●AAGBI: Guidelines on controlled drugs in peri-operative care (2019)

●AAGBI and British Association of Day Surgery (BADS): Guidelines for day-case surgery (2019)

●AAGBI: Guidelines for anaesthesia and peri-operative care for Jehovah's Witnesses and patients who refuse blood (2018)

●AAGBI: Guidelines for peri-operative management of the surgical patient with diabetes (2015)

●AAGBI: Guidelines on fatigue and anaesthetists (2014)

●AAGBI: Safety guidelines for arterial line blood sampling – Preventing hypoglycaemic brain injury (2014)

●AAGBI: Safety guidelines for peri-operative care of the elderly (2014)

●AAGBI: Guidelines for checking anaesthetic equipment (2012)

●AAGBI: Drug and alcohol abuse amongst anaesthetists – Guidance on identification and management (2011)

Australia–New Zealand

●Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA): Position statement on minimum facilities for safe administration of anaesthesia in operating suites and other anaesthetising locations (2021)

●ANZCA: Statement on the minimum safety requirements for anaesthesia machines and workstations for clinical practice (2021)

●ANZCA: Guideline on fatigue risk management in anaesthesia practice (2020)

●ANZCA: Guideline for the perioperative care of patients selected for day stay procedures (2018)

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Avoid initiating anaesthesia for patients with limited life expectancy, at high risk of death or severely impaired functional recovery, without discussing expected outcomes and goals of care (reviewed 2017)

●ANZCA: Statement on roles in anaesthesia and perioperative care (2015)