Opportunities to enhance perioperative patient safety: 2013 and beyond

Excerpt

We are pleased to dedicate this special theme issue of the Journal to the important topic of perioperative patient safety. Anesthesiologists take justifiable pride in the development and implementation of robust patient safety initiatives throughout the world. At the same time, many of us are challenged daily in caring for patients with ever-increasing medical complexity. We provide anesthesia for routine and complex surgical and interventional procedures in the operating room and “remote settings” within the context of an ever-complex working environment. In considering these contemporary and patient-focused challenges, some months ago, our editorial team invited experts from Canada and internationally to address current key issues in perioperative patient safety in a series of brief review articles. I acknowledge with special thanks our Board Member, Dr. Alan F. Merry, for his thoughtful input and contribution to this issue, and for his instrumental role as co-editor and editorialist.1 According to Journal policy, these articles have all been externally reviewed and edited, and for the benefit of our readers, we have harmonized the outline of each article to include a structured abstract, a list of key words, and two or three multiple choice questions to guide readers’ attention to the key points. …