Smile Train-Lifebox tackle major gap in anesthesia safety in low-resource setting operating rooms
NAIROBI, Kenya and NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahead of World Anesthesia Day, the world's largest cleft organization, Smile Train, and safer surgery nonprofit, Lifebox, come together to highlight and address a 30-year access gap that puts the lives of people undergoing surgery in low-resource settings at significant risk.
- Yet, capnography remains largely unavailable across most low-resource setting operating rooms with research showing there is often a 100% gap between the need for capnography and its availability in low-income countries.
- Increasing available capnography will significantly bridge the gap in anesthesia safety for people—including children—undergoing surgery in low-resource settings.
- This work is part of the Smile Train-Lifebox Safe Surgery and Anesthesia Initiative to strengthen the safety of pediatric anesthesia and surgical care in low-and middle-income countries.
- Furthermore, the WHO's Surgical Safety Checklist must include a capnograph—in addition to a pulse oximeter—as anesthesia monitoring equipment required for safe surgery.