Abstract
The incidence of drug administration errors in hospitals in India is not
known. We aimed to extract and investigate India-specific incidents of
intrathecal tranexamic acid (TXA) administration during spinal
anaesthesia. Our secondary aim was to identify any publications related
to national drug error and reporting systems for hospitals in India. We
analysed eleven published reports of tranexamic acid administration
intrathecally in place of heavy bupivacaine. The primary cause was the
availability of look-like TXA and local anaesthetic (heavy 0.5%
bupivacaine) ampoules in operating rooms. We found three manufacturers
designed, manufactured and supplied identical TXA and heavy bupivacaine
ampules. In addition, different manufacturers had similar products
available in operating rooms. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for
any publication on India’s national medication error reporting system
for hospitals. There was no publication on the national medication
safety system involving hospitals. It demonstrates there needs to be a
federal structure to report and monitor medication administration and
other types of errors in hospitals in India. We highlight potential
difficulties and barriers in creating a national system to notify,
monitor and prevent medication errors in hospitals in India.