Frequency of Hypoxia in patients handed over between operating room team and post anesthesia Care Unit team using PATH (Post-Anesthesia Team Handover) Checklist.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of hypoxia in patients handed over from Operating Room (OR) team to Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU) team using Post-Anesthesia Team Handover (PATH) checklist. Study Design: Observational Study. Setting: Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Shifa International Hospital. Period: 6 months from 25^th March 2025 to 25^th September 2025. Methods: A total of 2016 patients were included. Data was collected for Pre and Post Implementation phase when patients were handed over using institutional practices and PATH Checklist respectively. Frequency of hypoxia was noted as primary outcome. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS v27.0. Results: Mean SpO2 was 94.0±4.7% in Pre Implementation phase in contrast to 94.9±2.9% in Post Implementation phase. Frequency of Hypoxia was noted to be 11.2% during the whole study period. Before implementation of PATH Checklist, it was 16.2% while after implementation of PATH Checklist for handover in PACU, it was reduced to 6.9%. The decline in frequency of hypoxia was statistically significant. (p<0.001). Conclusion: Use of PATH checklist significantly reduces frequency of Hypoxia in PACU.