• H Herff, P Paal, A von Goedecke, K H Lindner, C Keller, and V Wenzel.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Anichstr. 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. holger.herff@i-med.ac.at
• Anaesthesia. 2007 Dec 1; 62 (12): 1202-6.

AbstractNitrous oxide continues to be used frequently and the possibility of inadvertent fatal hypoxaemia resulting from technical errors with its administration still exists. A Medline analysis revealed only a few case reports over the last 30 years, and a closed claim analysis only reported 'claims involving oxygen supply lines' predating 1990. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of nitrous oxide-related catastrophes during general anaesthesia in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. As nitrous oxide-related anaesthesia casualties are rare but generally prosecuted, they almost invariably attract significant media attention. We scanned mass media archives from April 2004 until October 2006 for nitrous oxide-related disasters during general anaesthesia. This approach detected six incidents which were almost certainly nitrous oxide ventilation-related deaths. Searching non-scientific data bases demonstrates that severe incidents involving oxygen supply lines occurred after 1990, and may be much more frequent than previously thought.

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