Anesthetic Practices at the Main Level II Military Hospital of Guinea-Bissau

Anesthesia is at high risk in developing countries. Guinea Bissau is one of the countries where health is facing many difficulties. It has been an unstable country for more than two decades in political terms impacting several areas, including health. Three military forces namely Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Senegal are deployed for peacekeeping. The main task of the Senegalese force is to deploy the Level II military hospital. The main objective of this study is to analyze anesthetic practice at the Bissau Main Level II Military Hospital. It is a descriptive, transversal and analytical study conducted over a period from January 2016 to December 2016. The constants, the number of anesthetists and their qualification, the qualification of the surgeon, the existing means of surveillance, the incidents and accidents, and the duration of hospitalization were evaluated. We collected 941 patients who received anesthesia. The majority is young with 87.8% under 40 years old and predominantly 85.54% female. In our study urgent surgery was the most representative with 796 patients or 84.6%. The main surgical activity was gynecology and obstetrics, which accounted for 81.7% of cases. Anesthesia consultation was performed in 15.6% of cases. Anesthesia was performed by paramedical staff in 67.48% of cases. Among the 213 patients under general anesthesia, 182 patients underwent anesthesia with orotracheal intubation. Intraoperative hemodynamic complications are most common with arterial hypotension which was predominant in 70.76%. Three deaths were recorded, representing a mortality rate of 0.32%. The practice of anesthesia in Guinea-Bissau is a real public health problem. Support from ECOWAS countries would be useful to raise the health level.