Todd N. Hendrickson Blog

The World Health Organization has outlined simple steps that hospitals can take to reduce surgical mistakes, reported the New York Times. Simple procedures like utilizing a “time out” in which all members of the surgical team, before any incision, agree on the identity of the patient, the type of procedure that is being performed and, if appropriate, identifying the correct limb involve, such as right knee v. left knee. Many of these steps, such as getting an accurate count of needles and sponges during the procedure and identifying that the same number of have been removed from the patient after the procedure, have been standard procedure in American hospitals for years. But introducing these simple steps to hospitals world-wide will reduce infections and iatrogenic injuries world-wide.