An urgent necessity under general anaesthesia – surgical gloves made into re-breathing bag

Abstract

Anaesthetic practice in resource-poor countries often requires a lot of improvisation on the part of practitioners in order to meet the needs of patients. Disposables in a low-resource environment are usually stretched beyond the manufacturer's recommended life span. While anaesthetizing a six-month-old baby with cleft lip, the reservoir bag was accidentally torn and was replaced with latex surgical gloves. In the absence of a spare bag this replacement served the patient throughout the period of surgery.