A review of 6978 consecutive admissions to the recovery room at a university hospital.

Recovery from anaesthesia is a time of potential danger to the surgical patients. A retrospective audit of all recovery room admissions over a period of 18 months was carried out at the Aga Khan University Hospital. During this period 6978 patients were admitted to the recovery area and 695 had one or more complications. The complications were recorded by the recovery room nursing staff in a recovery log book. The breakdown of complications according to different physiological systems is discussed. Several surveys have reviewed complications in the western population, but in contrast, no study is available in Pakistani patients. It is recommended that since one in ten patients is likely to have a problem in the early post-operative period, the local hospitals should provide adequate facilities meeting the criteria laid down for the recovery rooms in modern anaesthetic practice.