An annual average of at least 16 people died of anesthesia-related accidents in Korea in recent years, a report showed Thursday, raising concerns over the safety of patients undergoing surgery.

According to Samsung Medical Center’s report, 82 out of 105 patients who suffered anesthesia-related accidents died between July 2009 and June 2014. The others suffered permanent physical disorders. The report was written by the center’s research team, led by anesthesiology professor Kim Duk-kyung.

“This only counts the cases that led to medical lawsuits. The actual number of anesthesia-related accidents is assumed to be more than 100 cases every year,” Kim said.

This is the first time that figures on anesthesia accidents have been released here. The research was published in the February issue of the Journal of Korean Medical Science.

One type of general anesthesia, which induces loss of protective reflexes and requires the use of a breathing tube, accounted for 48 percent of the deaths, the report showed. Sleeping anesthesia, which also induces sleep yet allows patients to breathe unassisted accounted for 37 percent, it added. The latter is known to be relatively safer than general anesthesia but still had a notable accident rate, the report said.

The Korea Society of Anesthesiologists, a doctors’ union, pointed out that about 43 percent of the cases would have been “preventable if standard anesthesia care was given.”

In case of sleeping anesthesia accidents, more than 90 percent of anesthesia injections were given by surgeons not by anesthesiologists, the report stated.

For sleeping anesthesia, an intravenously administered hypnotic agent called propofol was used 90 percent of the time. Propofol is known for its hallucinogenic effects and addictiveness. It has also been reported that propofol is likely to cause more respiratory depression than other types of sedation, experts said.

Despite the side effects of propofol, the majority of the concerned institutions did not record information about the anaesthetization of the victims, the report said. Very few hospitals recorded information on the use of anesthesia, it added.

Of the victims, about 83 percent were under the age of 60, it added.

Based on the report, the KSA is gearing up to urge the government to raise awareness and strengthen regulations on the use anesthesia. 

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)