The world’s largest cleft-focused organization
Smile Train, and the safer surgery global nonprofit, Lifebox, have urged health care systems and equipment standard guidelines, including those set by the World Health Organization (WHO) globally, to include a capnograph as an essential anesthesia monitoring equipment, to improve safety for millions of people undergoing surgery each year.
Demonstrating its commitment to closing the global capnography gap, Smile Train has announced donation of additional capnographs valued at over $300,000 to their partner hospitals around the world.
This brings Smile Train’s total commitment to delivering capnography to well over $600,000, not counting the leadership investment made in bringing the project to fruition.
President and CEO of Smile Train, Susannah Schaefer, noted that “Through our partnership with Lifebox, we have seen firsthand, the life saving impact of capnography in surgical settings. We believe that inclusion of a capnograph by professional societies and national health authorities as an essential anaesthesia monitoring equipment in operating rooms will catalyse its adoption worldwide, ultimately saving countless lives.”
A capnograph is the best tool for detecting a leading cause of anesthesia-related complications and deaths in low-resource settings: the misplacement of the breathing tube supplying oxygen to the patient. Without an oxygen supply, the patient will suffer catastrophic harm in a matter of minutes, including brain damage and death. The risk of a misplaced breathing tube is greater in children.
According to Director of Programs Safety at Smile Train, Dr. Elizabeth Igaga, the capnography has been staple in operating rooms in high-income countries for more than three decades. Despite its introduction in the United States in 1991 leading to a dramatic decline in anesthesia-related complications and deaths, it has remained largely unavailable across most low-resource-setting operating rooms. Research has shown there is often a 100% gap between the need for capnography and its availability in low-income countries.
“Working without capnography has been deeply concerning. Its like navigating a dark path without a flashlight; you know the dangers are there, but you’re unable to see them until it is potentially too late.
“The absence or such a critical role not only increases the risks to our patients, but places an enormous amount of.pressure on healthcare providers to anticipate, identify and manage complications without delay. Including it on essential operating room equipment guidelines will revolutionalize our approach to patient safety,, allowing us to detect and respond to potential complications before they become life threatening.
Lifebox Global CEO Kris Torgeson noted that capnography shouldn’t be a privilege, but a standard for surgical patient safety.
“Inclusion for example in operating room checklist as an essential piece of equipment would represent a monumental step in making surgery safer for every patient regardless of where they live.”
