Anaesthesia manpower and services in private hospitals in Ilorin, Nigeria: a preliminary survey

Background: While in the developed world, the specialty of anaesthesia is well advanced, in the developing world, patients have little access to anaesthetic services. Objectives: The objective of this study was to carry out a survey to determine the type of personnel providing anaesthetic service among others. Methodology: A preliminary questionnaire survey of anaesthetic manpower and services was carried out in 30 privately-owned hospitals in Ilorin, Nigeria between March and April 2009. Results: The results showed that 20 (66.7%) hospitals had anaesthetic personnel coverage on part-time basis while 10 (33.3%) hospitals did not have. Eleven (36.7%) hospitals had anaesthetic machines while 19 (63.3%) did not have. Fourteen (46.7%) hospitals performed intra-abdominal surgeries with endotracheal general anesthesia being the commonest technique . Twenty (66.7%) hospitals performed caesarean sections with ketamine as the sole anaesthetia being the commonest technique. Conclusion: General anaesthesia was the technique in 50% of the intra-abdominal operations in this study ,while ketamine as a sole anaesthetic was the commonest technique in caesarean surgeries. Though ketamine has a wide safety profile, its use as a sole anaesthetic for intra-abdominal and caesarean surgeries may not be without its problems. KEY WORDS: anaesthesia manpower, anaesthetic techniques, private hospitals, Ilorin, Nigeria