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Equipment Improvisation
This case report describes an unexpected event that was an absence of breath sounds on auscultation. This
took place as a result of using improvised equipment. case study has application beyond the immediate dis-
The patient, a 16-year-old female undergoing complex cussion of bilateral pneumothorax, serving as a cau-
oral surgery, suffered bilateral pneumothorax follow- tion about the unintended consequences of equipment
ing the improper use of an airway support device. improvisation. In addition to highlighting the hazards
During the immediate postoperative period with the of providing patient care with a non-standard device,
patient still intubated, oxygen tubing was attached this study also provides a powerful example of the
to a right angle elbow connector with the port closed human factors that can contribute to medical errors in
and 10 L/minute oxygen flow was administered to the the healthcare setting.
patient in a manner that did not allow the patient to
exhale. Within seconds, pneumothorax was apparent Keywords: Equipment improvisation, human factors,
as the patients vital signs deteriorated, visible swell- normalization of deviance pneumothorax, right angle
ing was noted in the shoulders and neck, and there connector.
A
16-year-old, 162 cm, 86-kg female with a surgical day and operating rooms were at a premium so
history of fibromyalgia and temporomandib- the team needed to vacate the operating room rather than
ular joint pain underwent bilateral sagittal remain until the patient was more fully awake.
ramus osteotomies with rigid fixation, total The CRNA clinical coordinator instructed the team to
maxillary osteotomy with graft, and advance- take the patient to the childrens surgical center recovery
ment genioplasty with turbinectomy under general anes- room. This unit is located a short walk down the hallway
thesia. Preoperatively, the patient received midazolam from the main operating room area and is commonly
2 mg, dexamethasone 8 mg, and a 900 mg clindamycin used for low acuity pediatric outpatient surgery cases,
drip infused 1 hour prior to incision. Following preoxy- such as tonsillectomies and hernia repairs.
genation, the patient was induced with propofol 250 mg, The patient was transported to the childrens center
1 mg midazolam, and 100 g fentanyl. Vecuronium 10 PACU via stretcher with the nasoendotracheal tube in
mg and xylocaine 30 mg were administered prior to plac- place and spontaneous respirations. Oxygen was admin-
ing a 7.0 nasoendotracheal tube x 1 attempt. Following istered en route. As was the custom at this facility, the
verification of placement by end-tidal CO2 and bilateral right angle elbow connector from the breathing circuit
breath sounds, the tube was secured, eyes taped, and the was left attached to the NET for postoperative oxygen
anesthetic was maintained with isoflurane, oxygen, air administration.
and nitrous oxide, fentanyl, and vecuronium. Metoclo- When the patient arrived to the pediatric outpatient
pramide 10 mg was administered shortly after induction. surgery recovery room, the exhaust port on the right
The patients intraoperative course was uneventful with angle elbow connector was closed and the PACU nurse
stable vital signs and minimal blood loss. Dexamethasone placed the oxygen tubing tightly within the lumen of
8 mg and ondansetron 4 mg were administered during the the connector as she set the oxygen flow meter at 10
case. Hydromorphone 0.5 mg and midazolam 2 mg were L/minute. Upon admission to the PACU, the modified
given near the end of the anesthetic. The muscle relaxant Aldrete score was 9 with a blood pressure of 116/77,
was reversed at the end of the case with neostigmine 4 mg pulse 103, and respirations 16. The SaO2 was 100 and the
and glycopyrrolate, and the patient was somnolent with EKG showed sinus tachycardia.
spontaneous respirations and good oxygen saturation. While the report was being given, the patient was
The procedure lasted approximately 7.5 hours. noted to have swelling in the upper chest and face.
The certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA) Cyanosis developed rapidly with concomitant tachycar-
called for a bed in the main recovery room but the dia, hypotension, and decreasing SaO2. Chest auscultation
postanesthesia care unit (PACU) was full. It was a busy revealed minimal or absent breath sounds and expanding
Figure 2. Right Angle Connector with Port Open and Figure 3. Traditional T-piece with Oxygen Tubing
Oxygen Tubing Inserted Attached
A key predisposing factor in this case was the presence mental culture. The improvised t-piece in this case study
of a latent error that had been dormant in the system for had been in place for at least a decade without apparent
a long time. It was customary at this hospital to transport harm to patients; thus, the continued successful outcome
intubated patients to the recovery room with the curved gave the impression of low risk to patients and clever
connector from the anesthesia breathing circuit attached cost-saving ingenuity. The perceived risk of using this
to the endotracheal tube. The port cap for end-tidal CO2 invention dissipated with the gradual acceptance of the
monitoring during anesthetic administration was always abnormal as normal.
left open or removed. In the PACU, green oxygen tubing In human beings, performance is not constant; rather,
was pushed into the open end of the curved connector it varies because it is affected by many factors, such as
and the other end was connected to the oxygen flow fatigue, stress, distraction, and production pressure.
meter (Figure 2). These realities in the operating room environment may
This improvised equipment was referred to as a t- have played a role in causing the human error of leaving
piece by the staff. In contrast, a traditional t-piece is a the port closed on the curved connector (Figure 4).
plastic t with a plastic corrugated tube attached to one Clinicians do not consciously sacrifice safety to cut
side and the other side attached to a humidified jar that costs or get the next case completed faster. Rather, pro-
is connected to the oxygen source (Figure 3). Exhaled air duction pressure and resource constraints become insti-
flows freely out of the corrugated tubing. tutionalized into operating room culture. Although in
Lacking correct equipment in a hospital is not un- retrospect it is easy to see that using this piece of equip-
common. The improvised t-piece in this case study can ment for a purpose for which it was not designed was
be viewed as a concrete example of the normalization a bad decision, the equipment was used successfully in
of deviance described by Vaughan11 in reference to the this manner for years without patient harm and became
Challenger disaster. In the case of both rocket science an established norm. Through repeated use, acceptance
and hospital procedure, production pressure and the persisted until the combination of this latent error and
institutional goal to reduce costs become part of depart- human factors led to a critical incident.
Procedural Level
tive environment, the resources available to the CRNA
Reassess the patient include self, other personnel, equipment, cognitive aids,
Check breath sounds and external resources.
Call for help In this case, the CRNA detected the problem and de-
Abstract ployed critical resources to intervene before it progressed
Respond to unanticipated cues
to a potentially fatal outcome. While giving report, the
CRNA used parallel processing (giving report and ob-
Respond to new information about the patients condition
serving the patient at the same time). The anesthetists
Collaborate to solve the problems, ie, chest tubes, ICU decision making at this point involved multiple levels of
admission
activity (Table 2).12
Table 2. Levels of Activity in Crisis With the possible exception of inserting a large-bore
intravenous catheter into the pleural space to immedi-
Other environmental factors leading to this event ately treat the pneumothorax, the handling of this event
were the people and location of the care. The Registered was successful based on universally accepted algorithms
Nurse (RN) and the CRNA involved in the care of the and abstract reasoning for an optimum result. The chest
patient had not worked together before. The recovery x-ray confirmed the clinical diagnosis but was not essen-
room location was unexpected and somewhat unfamiliar tial in an unstable patient.
to the CRNA; she was directed at the end of the case to When the CRNA detected that something was wrong
change the postoperative plan and proceed to the pediat- with the patient, fixation errors13 (Table 3) were not
ric PACU rather than to the PACU adjacent to the main a factor as the CRNA moved immediately to active re-
operating room. This last-minute change in plans was a source management. This is consistent with the precon-
distraction that took the CRNAs attention away from the ditioned response of an expert vs a novice anesthetist.
routine action of removing the cap on the curved connec- Reevaluate. Successful dynamic problem solving re-
tor. Similarly, the PACU RN involved in the case felt that quires frequent reevaluation because the available cues do
she was not familiar with caring for adult-like patients not always identify a problem. Had the CRNA reevaluated
undergoing adult procedures. This insecurity was par- the nasoendotracheal tube and the connector during trans-
tially responsible for the nurses decision not to question port of the patient, the problem may have been detected
the airway equipment set up. sooner. Prior to connecting the oxygen is a good time to
Resources. Effective management of critical inci- reevaluate the entire oxygen delivery system for patency
dents when they occur is the key to preventing evolu- and correctness.
tion to an adverse outcome. Resource management is an After the critical event occurred, frequent reevaluation
essential skill for nurse anesthetists. Within the context of the patient took place, including repeated auscultation
of detecting and correcting problems in the periopera- of the chest, rechecking vital signs, obtaining pertinent lab