Information transfer and communication in surgery: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Healthcare communication
• Patient safety
• Surgical care

Background:

• Communication breakdowns are a significant cause of surgical errors and adverse events.
• Interprofessional information transfer and communication (ITC) is critical in hospital settings, particularly in surgical and anesthetic care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review published literature on interprofessional information transfer and communication (ITC) in hospital surgical and anesthetic care.
• To understand the scope and impact of ITC in perioperative processes.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
• Screening of 4027 citations, with 38 articles retained for data extraction.
• Data extraction focused on objectives, clinical domain, methodology, results, and limitations of included studies.

Main Results:

• Information transfer failures are prevalent across the surgical care continuum, leading to errors and patient harm.
• Most studies focused on ITC in the operating room, with limited attention to the entire surgical process.
• Standardized communication tools (checklists, proformas, technology) show promise in improving ITC and patient outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Deficits in interprofessional information transfer and communication (ITC) negatively impact patient care.
• There is a need for standardized measures to evaluate ITC processes.
• Effective, standardized communication during perioperative care enhances surgical safety.