Erreur de côté lors de la réalisation d'un bloc périphérique

As the use of nerve block is increasing, there is mounting evidence of a rise in inadvertent wrong site nerve block. There have been tremendous advances in prevention of complications of regional anaesthesia, mainly local anaesthetic toxicity and nerve injury. Wrong site nerve block is now a persistently reported anaesthesia related critical incidence and remains as a constant risk due to its multifactorial origin. The risk can only be minimised if a system of check is in place. The World Health Organization (WHO) safety checklist is a patient safety tool, which has reduced surgical complications but is ineffective to prevent a wrong site nerve block as the 'time out' happens after patient is anaesthetised and nerve block is administered. The key elements of prevention are pre-procedure verification, site marking and time out. At our institute, we introduced a guideline based upon the three key elements of safety checklist. In order to improve the use of the guideline, an alert card is launched. This card has a warning sign on one side with a brief guidance on the other side. Once attached to the nerve identification equipment, it acts as a final reminder to the anaesthetists, who is about to perform the nerve block.