ReviewAnesthesia related mortality? A national and international overview

•Anesthetic risk is a small but relevant proportion of the total surgical risk.•There is no exact definition of anesthesia-related death.•Anesthesia related mortality differs between studies.•Human factors play a pivotal role in causing accidents in anesthesia treatment.•Checklists help to reduce errors in the medical process.

The anesthetic risk is estimated only to be a very small proportion of the total risk of the surgical procedures, but with an estimated 230 million anesthetic procedures taking place worldwide annually, anesthetic peri-operative mortality represents a small but relevant proportion of cases. Mortality, although death is a clearly definable end point, must often be regarded as a rather crude risk estimate because of its relative rarity. A comparison of death rates is feasible only when using the same criteria for the numerator, the time period under investigation, and the denominator. Herein lies the problem when interpreting data and studies reporting the incidence of mortality, even if based on the best available data, differ widely, possibly as a result of differences in the definitions used and sources studied.This review gives an overview of the available data, their source and quality on perioperative anesthetic mortality.