Page 48 - CASA Bulletin 2019 Vol 6 No 4

CASA Bulletin of Anesthesiology

国际麻醉交流

Anaesthesia in Hong Kong

Dr Anne Kwan

Consultant, Department of Anaesthesiology,
The University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospitaland Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong

Introduction

Anaesthesia in Hong Kong has come a long way since its
introduction to the then British colony in 1889. The standard

of care provided by the specialist anaesthesiologists
in Hong Kong is recognized to be at the same level as
the developed world. The training, work practices and
continuous medical education (CME) of all specialist
anaesthesiologists working in both the Hospital Authority
(HA) and private hospitals are very similar to western
countries such as Britain and Australia where references
were taken. A territory wide anaesthesia morbidity and mortality audit was conducted in Hong
Kong from 2003 to 2005. The “Triennium Anaesthesia Morbidity and Mortality Audit in Hong
Kong” report released in 2006 showed that the anaesthesia related mortality in Hong Kong
was comparable to that of Australia, England and some European countries. The audit used

the same methodology as that of Australia and England.

History of anaesthesia in Hong Kong

The earliest operation with anaesthesia in Hong Kong was first documented by Dr JM
Atkinson at the Government Civil Hospital in 1889. It was before the time when chloroform
was discovered in 1892. By 1901, cocaine was commonly used as local anaesthesia (LA) for
eye surgery. Although there was plan to set up a university in 1908, it was not until 1937 when
Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) was built and became the teaching hospital of the University of
Hong Kong (HKU). Two years later (1939), Dr HPL Ozorio started the preliminary training
program in anaesthesia at HKU. In 1954, Dr Zoltan Lett came to Hong Kong from the United

Kingdom (UK) as the first government employed Specialist Anaesthesiologist. In the same
year, the Society of Anaesthetists of Hong Kong (SAHK) was registered. The first chairman
of SAHK was Dr HPL Ozorio. From that year onwards, there were regular cardiac anaesthesia
performed at QMH and the Kowloon Hospital. Subsequently more hospitals were built and
increasing numbers of doctors chose the specialty of anaesthesia and qualified as Specialist

48