[Introduction of a checklist to reduce adverse events in urologic surgery: our experience]

The main purpose of our study was to determine, through the introduction of a checklist in the operating room, the incidence rate of adverse events and their predictability in a representative sample of patients admitted to our Urology unit and undergoing surgery.

The study includes 324 patients. The checklist includes 3 phases (Sign In, Time Out, Sign Out), 20 items with checks to be performed during surgery and the marking of boxes after a successful check. All the staff in the operating room has been specifically trained with a theoretical and practical 20-hour course.

The overall average incidence of adverse events reported was determined by 4.8%, is consistent with the expectations of the study protocol, and is at a lower level than the average median rate of international studies (8.9%). The overall complication rate fell from 11% to 7.9%, the rate of intra-hospital mortality from 1.7% to 0.9%, the rate of surgical site infection decreased from 8.2% to 4.7%.

The results were consistent with the results of other international studies similar in scope in terms of study (definition of the rate of adverse events) and epidemiological study (retrospective study). The variability of the results obtained in our inquiry is likely attributable to varied factors occurred during the study.