Pre-operative Anaesthesia visit: Problems and Prospects in a University Teaching Hospital in Enugu, South East Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Pre-anaesthetic evaluation is a basic component of safe anaesthetic practice and ends with the establishment of an anaesthetic plan of action for individual patients. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to assess the difficulties encountered by the anaesthetist during such visits and suggest ways they can be overcome SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The ‘activity book’ of anaesthetic resident doctors in the hospital was reviewed retrospectively for documented problems they encountered during the pre-operative visit. The problems listed were then subjected to analysis using the SPSS 17. RESULT: The commonest problem was the unavailability of the patient for review 73.1% followed by very busy schedule (7.4%) and unfit patients (6.9%) CONCLUSION: Anaesthetists still do encounter problems during the pre-operative visit. Exposing such problems creates the necessary awareness for improvement of patient care.