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The Archives of Surgery asks the question if wrong-site surgeries are preventable.

By Steve Lombardi

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They are and the article concludes reducing the shame associated with these events will need to be addressed.

"Results The NPDB recorded 5940 WSPEs (2217 wrong-sidesurgical procedures and 3723 wrong-treatment/wrong-procedureerrors) in 13 years. Florida Code 15 occurrences of WSPEs number494 since 1991, averaging 75 events per year since 2000. TheASA Closed Claims Project has recorded 54 cases of WSPEs. Analysisof WSPE cases, including WSPE cases submitted to http://www.wrong-side.org,suggest several common causes of WSPEs and recurrent systemicfailures. Based on these findings, we estimate that there are1300 to 2700 WSPEs annually in the United States. Despite asignificant number of cases, reporting of WSPEs is virtuallynonexistent, with reports in the lay press far more common thanreports in the medical literature. Our research suggests clearfactors that contribute to the occurrence of WSPEs, as wellas ways to reduce them.^"

"Conclusions Wrong-side/wrong-site, wrong-procedure, andwrong-patient adverse events, although rare, are more commonthan health care providers and patients appreciate. Preventionof WSPEs requires new and innovative technologies, reportingof case occurrence, and learning from successful safety initiatives(such as in transfusion medicine and other high-risk nonmedicalindustries), while reducing the shame associated with theseevents.^"

Archives Of Surgery

Wrong-Side/Wrong-Site, Wrong-Procedure, and Wrong-Patient Adverse Events

Are They Preventable?

Samuel C. Seiden, MD; Paul Barach, MD, MPH

Arch Surg. 2006;141:931-939.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on October 27, 2008 (boomark / email).

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