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Crisis management during anaesthesia: water intoxication

¹ Senior Staff Specialist, Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand
² Senior Staff Specialist, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
³ Senior Staff Specialist, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
⁴ Metabolic Neurochemistry Unit, Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia

Correspondence to:
Professor W B Runciman
President, Australian Patient Safety Foundation, GPO Box 400, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia; research{at}apsf.net.au Background: Irrigation of closed body spaces may lead to substantial perioperative fluid and electrolyte shifts. A syndrome occurring during transurethral resection of prostate (TURP), and a similar syndrome described in women undergoing transcervical endometrial ablation (TCEA) are both characterised by a spectrum of symptoms which may range from asymptomatic hyponatraemia to convulsions, coma, and death. Such potentially serious consequences require prompt recognition and appropriate management of this "water intoxication" syndrome.

Objectives: To examine the role of a previously described core algorithm "COVER ABCD–A SWIFT CHECK", supplemented by a specific sub-algorithm for water intoxication, in the management of this syndrome occurring in association with anaesthesia.

Methods: The potential performance of this structured approach for each of the relevant incidents among the first 4000 reported to the Australian Incident Monitoring Study (AIMS) was compared with the actual management as reported by the anaesthetists involved.

Results: From the first 4000 incidents reported to AIMS, 10 reports of water intoxication were identified, two from endometrial ablations under general anaesthesia and eight from male urological procedures under spinal anaesthesia. The "core" crisis management algorithm detected a problem in seven cases; however, it was deficient in dealing with neurological presentations. Diagnosis of the cause of the incident would have required a specific water intoxication sub-algorithm in eight cases and a hypotension algorithm in a further two cases. Corrective strategies also required a specific sub-algorithm in eight cases, while the hypotension and cardiac arrest sub-algorithms were required in conjunction with the water intoxication sub-algorithm in the remaining two.

Conclusion: This relatively uncommon problem is managed poorly using the "core" crisis management sub-algorithm and requires a simple specific sub-algorithm for water intoxication.

Keywords: general anaesthesia; regional anaesthesia; anaesthesia complications; water intoxication; crisis management

Relevant Article

Crises in clinical care: an approach to management

W B Runciman and A F Merry
Qual. Saf. Health Care 2005 14: 156-163. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W B Runciman, M T Kluger, R W Morris, A D Paix, L M Watterson, and R K Webb Crisis management during anaesthesia: the development of an anaesthetic crisis management manual Qual. Saf. Health Care, June 1, 2005; 14(3): e1 - e1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]