Avoiding Surgical Mistakes
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - When the stories come out they are usually horrific -- a surgical procedure done on the wrong leg, the wrong organ removed from the body, or a sponge left within the body of a person after an operation. These are horror stories in surgery.
But, according to a report from the Netherlands, problems like this could be avoided in many cases by using a checklist to check out safety issues. The checklist includes preoperative, operative, recovery, and post-operative care needs.
In their study the researchers found that by using a simple checklist they reduce the number of complications from 15% to 10%. Perhaps the most important point is that the researchers stressed attention to detail as the key way to avoid problems.
Reported By Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio Medical Editor