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Surgeons & Their Tools
Study: U.S. Surgeons Leave Tools In 1,500 Patients A Year
BOSTON {AP}
Surgical teams accidentally leave clamps, sponges and other tools inside about 1,500 patients nationwide each year, according to the biggest study of the problem yet.
The mistakes largely result not from surgeon fatigue, but from the stress arising from emergencies or complications, discovered on the operation table, the researchers reported.
It also happens more often to fat patients, simply because there is more room inside them to lose equipment, according to the study.
Both the researchers and several other experts agreed that the number of such mistakes is small compared with the roughly 28 million operations a year in the United States. 'But no one in any role would say it's acceptable,' said Dr. Donald Berwick, president of the Boston-based nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
The study was done by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Heath, both in Boston. It was published in Thursday's New Engand Journal of Medicine.
The researchers checked insurance records from about 800,000 operations in Massachusetts for 16 years ending in 2001. They counted 61 forgotten pieces of surgical equipment in 54 patients. From that, they calculated a national estimate of 1,500 cases yearly. A total of $3 million was paid out in the Massachusetts cases, mostly in settlements.
BOSTON {AP}
Surgical teams accidentally leave clamps, sponges and other tools inside about 1,500 patients nationwide each year, according to the biggest study of the problem yet.
The mistakes largely result not from surgeon fatigue, but from the stress arising from emergencies or complications, discovered on the operation table, the researchers reported.
It also happens more often to fat patients, simply because there is more room inside them to lose equipment, according to the study.
Both the researchers and several other experts agreed that the number of such mistakes is small compared with the roughly 28 million operations a year in the United States. 'But no one in any role would say it's acceptable,' said Dr. Donald Berwick, president of the Boston-based nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
The study was done by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Heath, both in Boston. It was published in Thursday's New Engand Journal of Medicine.
The researchers checked insurance records from about 800,000 operations in Massachusetts for 16 years ending in 2001. They counted 61 forgotten pieces of surgical equipment in 54 patients. From that, they calculated a national estimate of 1,500 cases yearly. A total of $3 million was paid out in the Massachusetts cases, mostly in settlements.
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