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LETTER TO EDITOR
Year : 2016 | Volume
: 10
| Issue : 4 | Page : 480-481
Use of WhatsApp for sharing preanesthesia evaluation form among anesthesiologists
Abhijit S Nair, Ravi Kiran Mudunuri, Muthuswamy Ganapathy, Venugopal Kulkarni
Department of Anesthesia, Pain and Critical Care Medicine, Citizens Hospital, Serilingampally, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Abhijit S Nair
Department of Anesthesia, Pain and Critical Care Medicine, Citizens Hospital, Serilingampally, Hyderabad - 500 019, Telangana
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1658-354X.177332
| Date of Web Publication | 21-Sep-2016 |
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How to cite this article:
Nair AS, Mudunuri RK, Ganapathy M, Kulkarni V. Use of WhatsApp for sharing preanesthesia evaluation form among anesthesiologists. Saudi J Anaesth 2016;10:480-1 |
How to cite this URL:
Nair AS, Mudunuri RK, Ganapathy M, Kulkarni V. Use of WhatsApp for sharing preanesthesia evaluation form among anesthesiologists. Saudi J Anaesth [serial online] 2016 [cited 2022 Aug 16];10:480-1. Available from: https://www.saudija.org/text.asp?2016/10/4/480/177332 |
Sir,
Every patient who is scheduled to undergo a surgery or a procedure under anesthesia has to undergo a preanesthesia evaluation or a preanesthesia checkup (PAC). The patient and the patient's relatives meet the anesthesiologist for the 1st time during PAC. As per the practice advisory published by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) taskforce, PAC is defined as the process of clinical assessment that precedes the delivery of anesthesia care for surgery and for nonsurgical procedures.[1] The initial PAC involves history taking, general and relevant systemic examination, any known drug allergy, airway and spine examination, review of patient's medical records (ongoing medications, doses, duration), and noting the investigations already done on surgeons advice. At times, the anesthesiologists ask for specialist consultation (cardiology, nephrology, pulmonology, etc.) depending on the severity of systemic disease. Sometimes additional investigations are requested such as pulmonary function test, liver function test, and arterial blood gas on room air.[2],[3] The patient is certified fit under suitable ASA grade by the anesthesiologist after reviewing all the advised consultations and additional investigations. The patient is explained the anesthetic technique (general, regional, minimum alveolar concentration), risks involved, possible issues such as ventilatory support, intensive care unit stay, blood transfusion, etc. Everything is documented in the PAC form, and the patient is asked to visit the surgeon to finalize the date of surgery.
In several hospitals, the PAC form is scanned for Departmental use after clearing the patient for anesthesia, or after the patient has recovered from anesthesia, or while getting discharged. Usually, all team members are not aware of a particular case unless it is a high-risk case involving meticulous perioperative care involving invasive lines. The anesthesiologist anesthetizing the patient might not necessarily be the same who cleared the patient during PAC. In such situations, the anesthesiologist sees the patient and knows the details after reviewing the PAC form in the operation theater premises.
In our department, we use WhatsApp to circulate all PAC forms cleared for surgery under anesthesia among all departmental members. Everyone can go through the PAC form a day prior to surgery once the list is published by the operation theater manager and emailed to everyone.[4] We have made a PAC group on WhatsApp were everyone including Head of Department, senior consultants, and registrars are members. Whenever any anesthesiologist clears a patient after PAC, a snap is taken and posted on the PAC group. In this way, everyone has a record of all patients who are certified fit for anesthesia under appropriate ASA grade and knows about the patients' comorbidities, other areas of difficulty (poor venous access, difficult airway or spine, need for invasive lines), which is highlighted in the PAC form. The image gets stored in the gallery of the smartphone and can be easily accessed whenever the anesthesiologist wants to know about the patient and the underlying problems important from anesthesia point of view.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | Committee on Standards and Practice Parameters, Apfelbaum JL, Connis RT, Nickinovich DG; American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Preanesthesia Evaluation, Pasternak LR, Arens JF, et al. Practice advisory for preanesthesia evaluation: An updated report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Preanesthesia Evaluation. Anesthesiology 2012;116:522-38.  [ PUBMED] |
| 2. | Kitts JB. The preoperative assessment: Who is responsible? Can J Anesth 1997;44:1232-6. [ PUBMED] |
| 3. | Zambouri A. Preoperative evaluation and preparation for anesthesia and surgery. Hippokratia 2007;11:13-21. [ PUBMED] |
| 4. | Thota RS, Divatia JV. WhatsApp: What an app! Indian J Crit Care Med 2015;19:363-5. |
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