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A safety checklist for transoesophageal echocardiography from the British Society of Echocardiography and the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists

Echo Research & Practice volume 2, pages G25–G27 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the Surgical Safety Checklist in 2008. The introduction of this checklist resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of complications and death in patients undergoing surgery. Consequently, the WHO Surgical Safety checklist is recommended for use by the National Patient Safety Agency for all patients undergoing surgery. However, many invasive or interventional procedures occur outside the theatre setting and there are increasing requirements for a safety checklist to be used prior to such procedures. Transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) is an invasive procedure and although generally considered to be safe, it carries the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening complications. Strict adherence to a safety checklist may reduce the rate of significant complications during TOE. However, the standard WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is not designed for procedures outside the theatre environment and therefore this document is designed to be a procedure-specific safety checklist for TOE. It has been endorsed for use by the British Society of Echocardiography and the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists.

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Funding

This guideline did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals, Liverpool, UK

    Vishal Sharma MD FRCP FESC, Susan Alderton BSc, Helen McNamara BSc MBChB FRCA & Adrian Chenzbraun MD FRCP FESC

  2. Liverpool Womens’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK

    Helen McNamara BSc MBChB FRCA

  3. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospital Birmingham NHS foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK

    Richard Steeds MD FRCP FESC & Will Bradlow MD

  4. Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moore?s University, Liverpool, UK

    David Oxborough PhD

  5. Nottingham University Hospital, Nottingham, UK

    Thomas Mathew MBBS MD DM FRCP

  6. Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Portsmouth, UK

    Richard Jones MBBS FRCP & Katherine Collins MSc

  7. University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK

    Richard Wheeler MBChB FRCP

  8. Cardiac Ultrasound, Leeds, UK

    Julie Sandoval DCR DMU MA

  9. Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK

    Guy Lloyd MD FRCP

  10. King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Kevin O’Gallagher MRCP

  11. UCL Centre for Cardiovascular Imaging, University College London, London, UK

    Daniel Knight BSc MBBS MRCP

  12. West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trustm, Bury St Edmonds, UK

    Liam Ring MBBS

  13. Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK

    Niall O’Keeffe MB BAO BCH FRCA FFICM

  14. St Georges University Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Nick Fletcher MBBS FRCA FFICM

  15. Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Allan Harkness MBChB FRCP

  16. Cardiology Department, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK

    Bushra Rana MBBS FRCP

Authors
  1. Vishal Sharma MD FRCP FESC
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  2. Susan Alderton BSc
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  3. Helen McNamara BSc MBChB FRCA
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  4. Richard Steeds MD FRCP FESC
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  5. Will Bradlow MD
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  6. Adrian Chenzbraun MD FRCP FESC
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  7. David Oxborough PhD
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  8. Thomas Mathew MBBS MD DM FRCP
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  9. Richard Jones MBBS FRCP
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  10. Richard Wheeler MBChB FRCP
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  11. Julie Sandoval DCR DMU MA
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  12. Guy Lloyd MD FRCP
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  13. Kevin O’Gallagher MRCP
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  14. Daniel Knight BSc MBBS MRCP
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  15. Liam Ring MBBS
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  16. Katherine Collins MSc
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  17. Niall O’Keeffe MB BAO BCH FRCA FFICM
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  18. Nick Fletcher MBBS FRCA FFICM
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  19. Allan Harkness MBChB FRCP
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  20. Bushra Rana MBBS FRCP
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vishal Sharma MD FRCP FESC.

Additional information

V Sharma, S Alderton and H McNamara are the lead authors

B Rana is the Guidelines Chair

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Sharma, V., Alderton, S., McNamara, H. et al. A safety checklist for transoesophageal echocardiography from the British Society of Echocardiography and the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists. Echo Res Pract 2, G25–G27 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1530/ERP-15-0035

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/ERP-15-0035

Key Words

  • transoesophageal echocardiography
  • safety checklist

Echo Research & Practice

ISSN: 2055-0464