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The major contributory factor to the cost of anesthesia today are the increases in medical salaries that have kept pace with inflation, commanding 68% of the total expenditure. The current position has been compared with that of 20 years ago. This outline could be used as a framework for departmental budgeting.

Non-woven textiles are still not widely used in France, despite the great variety of their presentations. These products are clearly superior to traditional textiles in terms of a bacteriological barrier, which results in a lower rate of post-operative sepsis. It costs the same or less than classical textiles and it reduces the tasks of personnel and administration. Its presently limited used is essentially due to the reticence of surgeons, based on a poor understanding of the products and a psychological barrier which is difficult to overcome.

Review of insurance data indicates that approximately 1.5 claims are paid per 10,000 anesthetic procedures, a conservative estimate of the incidence of preventable serious injury associated with anesthesia. Insurance data permit estimation of the premium cost for the anesthesiologist and hospital, per operating room per year, of $69,429.00. We propose the use of an enhanced monitoring standard requiring a pulse oximeter, capnograph, spirometer, halometer, automatic sphygmomanometer, breathing circuit oxygen analyzer, stethoscope, electrocardiographic monitor, and temperature monitor. We suggest that this premium cost, together with the estimate that 50% of incidents would be avoided, predicts a resultant saving of over $27,000/operating room/year, a savings equal to the entire cost of the enhanced monitoring system in approximately 8 months, or a yearly savings of over five times the annualized expense of the monitoring system. Thus, in addition to the moral imperative to monitor a patient during anesthesia to avoid injury and death, there is an economic incentive to monitor effectively.