Bar coding may help locate sponges and surgical instruments during surgery
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
September 17, 2008
Staff members in the operating room lose count of sponges and surgical instruments used during the procedure 13% of the time, reports American Medical News, based on a study from the Annals of Surgery. Researchers studied 148 surgeries and watched how many times there was a discrepancy with the number of surgical instruments or sponges. Most often, the discrepancies indicated a misplaced item (59%) and not an error in the count or an error in documentation. Each time a discrepancy occurred, it took an average of 13 minutes to resolve the issue.
Some hospitals are using bar coding and RFID technologies to help them keep track of their surgical instruments and sponges, although nothing can replace a standardized process for monitoring, says the article.
To read the American Medical News article, click here. To read the abstract of the Annals of Surgery article, click here.
