Colour-coded syringe labels: A modification to enhance patient safety

摘要

Editor—Medication errors during anaesthesia are being reported in the literature from time to time. Misidentification of a drug because of look alike/sound alike drugs, syringe swap, confusing, inaccurate, or incomplete drug labels have been found responsible for these errors on many occasions.1 Up to 86-94% anaesthesiologists have agreed for the need of standardized drug labels to decrease the incidence of medication errors.Simple labels made from white adhesive tape or paper often fail to distinguish the different group of drugs, especially in critical situations. To prevent incidences of drug errors as a result of syringe and ampoule swap, Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) have recommended the standardized colour code for different anaesthetic drugs used in the operating theatre.3 Wassef and colleagues4 in a publication emphasized high speed and accuracy of drug administration because of colour coding in simulated high stress situations.