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Retained foreign bodies after surgery.

Amy E Lincourt1, Andrew Harrell, Joseph Cristiano

  • 1Department of General Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina 28203, USA.

The Journal of Surgical Research
|February 6, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Retained foreign objects after surgery, such as sponges or instruments, are linked to multiple procedures and incorrect counts. Identifying these risk factors can improve operating room policies and reduce surgical errors.

Area of Science:

  • Surgical Safety
  • Medical Error Analysis
  • Patient Outcomes

Background:

  • Medical errors during surgery are understudied.
  • Risk factors for retained surgical foreign objects require definition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define risk factors associated with retained foreign objects after surgery.
  • To utilize a case-control analysis to identify these factors.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of medical records (ICD-9 code 998.4) and incident reports from 1996-2005.
  • Matched 30 cases of retained foreign objects with 131 control patients undergoing similar procedures.
  • Analyzed data for associations between patient characteristics, surgical factors, and retained objects.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Retained foreign objects occurred in 30 patients, most commonly sponges (52%) and instruments (43%), often in the abdominal cavity (46%).
  • Patients with retained objects had more concurrent major procedures (2.7 vs. 1.8) and multiple surgical teams (13% vs. 2%).
  • Incorrect instrument/sponge counts (13% vs. 2%) and total major procedures (OR 1.6) and incorrect counts (OR 16.2) were significant risk factors.

Conclusions:

  • Retained foreign objects are associated with performing multiple major surgical procedures simultaneously.
  • Incorrect instrument or sponge counts are a significant predictor of retained foreign objects.
  • Case-control analysis identifying these risk factors can inform operating room policies to reduce surgical errors.