This document discusses developing patient safety practices in surgery. It notes that 234 million operations are performed globally each year, but surgical complications occur in 3-16% of cases, resulting in up to 1 million deaths annually. Checklists have been shown to reduce mortality, complications, surgical site infections, and reoperations. Proper site marking and a surgical timeout are emphasized to perform the right procedure on the correct patient. Non-technical skills like communication, leadership, and situation awareness are also important for safety. The document calls for recognizing surgery as a public health issue, increased outcome surveillance, and applying existing safety knowledge to improve practices.
4. Background facts
Under recognized Public health Issue
234 million operations are done globally each year
An estimation of the global volume of surgery: a modelling strategy based on available data Weiser, Lancet 2008
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100,000,000
150,000,000
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5. Background facts
• Known surgical
complications ~ 3-16%
• Known death rates
~ 0.4-0.8%
At least 7 million disabling
complications –
including 1 million deaths –
worldwide each year
=
6. Background facts
~1500- 2500 wrong site surgery incidents every year in the US.¹
Giving antibiotics within one hour before incision can cut the risk of surgical site
infection by 50%¹
In a survey of 1050 hand surgeons, 21% performed wrong-site surgery at least once in
their career.²
Communication is a root cause of nearly 70% of the events reported to the Joint
Commission from 1995-2005.2
¹ Seiden, Archives of Surgery, 2006.
² Joint Commission, Sentinel Event Statistics, 2006.
7. Wrong patient/ Wrong site
Wrong Patient
errors in diagnosis(56 %)
errors in communication (100 %)
Wrong site
errors in judgment (85 %)
lack of performing a surgical “timeout”(72 %)
Stahel PF, Wrong site and wrong patient procedures in the era of the Universal Protocol – analysis of a prospective database of
physician self-reported occurrences. Arch Surg. 2010;145:78–84.
8. Site marking
Member of the surgical team
Pre operative
Involve patient
Unambiguous with initials of marking
person
Permanent marker
YES, GO, CORRECT SITE (not a cross,
X)
9. Safe Surgery Objectives: WHO
1. Operate on the correct patient at the correct site.
2. Use methods known to prevent harm from administration of anesthetics
3. Recognize and effectively prepare for life-threatening loss of airway or
respiratory function
4. Recognize and effectively prepare for risk of high blood loss
5. Avoid inducing an allergic or adverse drug reaction for which the patient
is known to be at significant risk.
10. Safe Surgery Objectives: WHO
6. Consistently use methods known to minimize the risk for surgical site
infection
7. Prevent inadvertent retention of instruments or sponges in surgical
wounds
8. Secure and accurately identify all surgical specimens
9. Effectively communicate and exchange critical information for the
safe conduct of the operation
10.Hospitals and public health systems will establish routine
surveillance of surgical capacity, volume and results
16. CHECK LIST IMPLEMENTATION
Baseline Checklist P value
Cases 3733 3955 -
Death (Mortality) 1.5% 0.8% 0.003
Any Complication(Morbidity) 11.0% 7.0% <0.001
SSI 6.2% 3.4% <0.001
Unplanned Reoperation 2.4% 1.8% 0.047
Haynes et al. A Surgical Safety Checklist to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in a Global Population. NEJM 360:491-9. (2009)
18. Using The Check List
We have to make that possible a mission.
The Onus is on Surgeons as “Captain of the Ship” and Team leader
Currently, hospitals do
MOST of the right things,
on MOST patients,
MOST of the time.
The Checklist helps us do
ALL the right things,
on ALL patients,
ALL the time
19. Surgical Skills
Technical
Surgical Skills
Non technical(NOTSS)
communication
teamwork
leadership
situation awareness
decision-making
problem-solving
managing fatigue and stress
task analysis
23. Way Forward
Recognition: Recognize as a public health issue
Surveillance: Produce data on surgery and outcomes
Attitude: Use existing safety know-how
Editor's Notes
Patient safety day : September 17
1 in 3 million: aviation
1 in 300;medicine
degradation of the UP(Universal protocol” to a pure “robotic” ritual
Institute can have its own protocol
By the Team: perspective
“Awake time Out “ with the patient
NOTSS are Cognitive and Social Skills as surgical field has complex decision making situations
Technical and Non technical Errors, system errors may line up to give untoward result
“Reason"
Harmful behaviours within health systems @ Donaldson