[Spanish Society of Anaesthesia (SEDAR) guidelines for pre-anaesthesia checking procedures]. / Directrices de procedimientos de comprobación y validación («chequeo¼) previos a la anestesia de la Sociedad Española de Anestesiología.

We present this document as a guide to preparing a specific institutional pre-anaesthesia checklist, as recommended in the Helsinki declaration on patient safety in anaesthesiology. Also, the recently recommended WHO "safe surgery check-list" includes a check-list for anaesthesia. A working group was established in accordance with the charter of the Spanish Society of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation (Sociedad Española de Anestesiología y Reanimación [SEDAR]). The new patient safety culture introduced into medicine, and the recommendations of European anaesthesia societies has led us to design and update protocols in order to improve results in this important part of our speciality. We have prepared these recommendations or guidelines using, as examples, updates of pre-anaesthesia check-lists by other American (ASA), British, or Canadian societies of anaesthesia. With that aim, we enlisted the help of anaesthesia ventilator experts and the participation and advice of experienced anaesthesiologists from all parts of Spain. After various corrections and modifications, the document was available at www.sedar.es, so that any anaesthesiologist could propose any correction, or give their opinion. Finally, these guidelines have been approved by the SEDAR Board of Directors, before it was sent for publication in this journal. The aims of this document are to provide: a guideline applicable to all anaesthesia machines, a descriptive pre-anaesthesia check-list that include everything necessary for the anaesthesia procedure, and a resumed check-list to be available in all the anaesthesia machines or other equivalent, but prepared for each institution, which should include anaesthetic equipment and drugs. So, in order to ensure the aims and requirements of the European Board of Anaesthesiology, the European Society of Anaesthesiology, and the WHO are met, each institution should have a protocol for checking equipment and drugs. These guidelines are applicable to any anaesthesia equipment, enabling every institution to develop their own checking protocols, adapted to their anaesthesia machines and their procedures. With the consent of the SEDAR, this group will collaborate with anaesthesia machines providers in order to develop specific checklists for each of their models that will be available at www.sedar.es.

Directrices de procedimientos de comprobación y validación («chequeo») previos a la anestesia de la Sociedad Española de Anestesiología / Spanish Society of Anaesthesia (SEDAR) guidelines for pre-anaesthesia checking procedures

Este documento que presentamos pretende servir de guía para la elaboración por cada centro de una lista de chequeo previo a la anestesia o pre-anestesia, tal y como recomienda la reciente declaración de Helsinki sobre seguridad del paciente en anestesia. Además, la reciente implantación del «check-list quirúrgico de la OMS» (safe surgery check-list) incluye un epígrafe de chequeo de anestesia. El grupo de trabajo se constituyó con este fin según los estatutos de la Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Tratamiento del Dolor (SEDAR). La nueva cultura de seguridad del paciente que se está implantando en la práctica médica y las recomendaciones de las sociedades europeas de anestesia nos obligan a actualizar y realizar protocolos que mejoren los resultados en este aspecto fundamental de nuestra especialidad. Tomando como ejemplo las actualizaciones de las listas de comprobación de diferentes asociaciones de anestesiólogos como la americana, británica o canadiense, hemos elaborado esta propuesta. Para ello hemos contado con la ayuda de expertos en respiradores y la colaboración y consejos de anestesiólogos expertos de todas las comunidades autónomas. Después de sucesivas correcciones, fue publicada en la página web de la SEDAR para que cualquier anestesiólogo pudiera aportar sus correcciones o su opinión. Finamente el documento ha sido aprobado por la junta directiva de la SEDAR, antes de ser enviado para su publicación en esta revista. Los objetivos de este documento son: proporcionar unas directrices o recomendaciones de comprobación aplicables a todos los sistemas de anestesia, realizar un listado descriptivo de comprobación que incluya todos los elementos necesarios para el procedimiento anestésico y aportar un listado con los elementos del chequeo en forma de esquema para disponer de él en cada equipo de anestesia o de otro similar realizado por cada centro, que incluya respirador, monitores, material auxiliar y fármacos. Por tanto, para cumplir con las recomendaciones de seguridad del paciente del European Board of Anaesthesiology (EBA), European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA) y de la OMS, cada centro debe elaborar una lista de comprobación y verificación (en adelante «chequeo») previo a la anestesia. Este documento proporciona unas directrices aplicables a todos los sistemas de anestesia de tal manera que cada departamento pueda desarrollar sus propios protocolos de comprobación, adaptados a sus equipos de anestesia y a sus procedimientos de trabajo. De acuerdo con la directiva de la SEDAR, este grupo de trabajo colaborará con los fabricantes de equipos de anestesia para desarrollar listas de comprobación específicas de cada uno de sus modelos para que estén disponibles en www.sedar.es(AU)

We present this document as a guide to preparing a specific institutional pre-anaesthesia checklist, as recommended in the Helsinki declaration on patient safety in anaesthesiology. Also, the recently recommended WHO "safe surgery check-list" includes a check-list for anaesthesia. A working group was established in accordance with the charter of the Spanish Society of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation (Sociedad Española de Anestesiología y Reanimación [SEDAR]). The new patient safety culture introduced into medicine, and the recommendations of European anaesthesia societies has led us to design and update protocols in order to improve results in this important part of our speciality. We have prepared these recommendations or guidelines using, as examples, updates of pre-anaesthesia check-lists by other American (ASA), British, or Canadian societies of anaesthesia. With that aim, we enlisted the help of anaesthesia ventilator experts and the participation and advice of experienced anaesthesiologists from all parts of Spain. After various corrections and modifications, the document was available at www.sedar.es, so that any anaesthesiologist could propose any correction, or give their opinion. Finally, these guidelines have been approved by the SEDAR Board of Directors, before it was sent for publication in this journal. The aims of this document are to provide: a guideline applicable to all anaesthesia machines, a descriptive pre-anaesthesia check-list that include everything necessary for the anaesthesia procedure, and a resumed check-list to be available in all the anaesthesia machines or other equivalent, but prepared for each institution, which should include anaesthetic equipment and drugs. So, in order to ensure the aims and requirements of the European Board of Anaesthesiology, the European Society of Anaesthesiology, and the WHO are met, each institution should have a protocol for checking equipment and drugs. These guidelines are applicable to any anaesthesia equipment, enabling every institution to develop their own checking protocols, adapted to their anaesthesia machines and their procedures. With the consent of the SEDAR, this group will collaborate with anaesthesia machines providers in order to develop specific checklists for each of their models that will be available at www.sedar.es(AU)

[Efficacy of the EMLA cream in the reduction of pain caused by venipuncture in children premedicated with oral midazolam]. / Eficacia de la crema EMLA en la disminución del dolor a la venopunción en niños premedicados con midazolam oral.

OBJECTIVE: EMLA cream, a lidocaine-prilocaine mixture, penetrates skin easily. Our aim was to compare EMLA and placebo to assess the efficacy of EMLA in decreasing the pain of venipuncture in children premedicated with oral midazolam 0.5 mg/kg. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study enrolling 100 children 3 to 9 years of age (5.6 +/- 2) randomly distributed in 2 groups of 50. EMLA cream was applied in group 1 while placebo was applied in group 2 (control group). All were premedicated with oral midazolam. Either EMLA or placebo was applied at least 30 minutes before transfer to the operating theater and the area was covered with a transparent dressing. Parameters recorded upon arrival in the operating room and upon hand puncture with a 22-G needle were systolic and diastolic arterial pressures (SAP and DAP) and heart rate (HR). Pain was assessed on a behavior scale, a visual analog scale evaluated by the anesthesiologist (VAS-anesthesiologist) and a VAS evaluated by a nurse (VAS-nurse). Adverse events were also recorded. A Student t-test and a Mann-Whitney U-test were used for statistical analysis; the level of significance was p < 0.05. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in mean age or weight between the 2 groups. In the area EMLA was applied, 2 children presented erythema and 2 pruritus. Mean scores on the pain scales were lower in the EMLA group (p < 0.05) than in the control group: behavior scale 1.8 +/- 1.3 versus 3.2 +/- 1.7; VAS-anesthesiologist 2.8 +/- 2.3 versus 5.1 +/- 2.7; VAS-nurse 2.7 +/- 2.1 versus 5.9 +/- 1.9. HR increased in both groups (with placebo from 105 +/- 16 to 118 +/- 19, and with EMLA from 99 +/- 19 to 109 +/- 21), but the increase in SAP was statistically significant only in the placebo group, in which it rose from 113 +/- 11 to 125 +/- 16. CONCLUSION: EMLA cream decreases the pain of hand venipuncture in children premedicated with oral midazolam.