New Technology may Reduce Physician Mistakes

Each year, about 1,500 surgical patients have an object accidentally left inside them after the surgery. This equates to approximately 1 in every 10,000 operations involving an open body cavity.

About two-thirds of the time, the item left behind was a surgical sponge. Surgical sponges can be especially problematic for surgeons, because during surgery they can become indistinguishable from the surrounding tissue, says Dr. Steven DeJong of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. When left in a patient, the sponge can cause significant pain, infection, problems in healing, and longer hospital stays.

Until now, the procedure for tracking sponges involved a baseline count when the surgery begins, a second count before the surgeon begins to close the incision, a third when the wound is closed, and a final count before closing the skin. X-rays are also required at most hospitals before the patient leaves the operating room.

Patients are especially susceptible to having a sponge or another surgical item left inside them during emergency surgeries, transplants, or any surgery lasting longer than five hours.

But a new technology is being utilized at Loyola to help its surgical teams keep track of all the sponges used during the procedure. Loyola has developed a bar code scanning device to help count the sponges both before the surgical procedure begins and after it is completed to ensure that no sponges are left in the patient.

Another technology, being developed by doctors at Stanford University, involves a radio-frequency identification devices (RFID) tagged surgical sponge that allows doctors to wave a wand over the patient following a surgery that will detect any sponges left inside. RFID technology is the same technology that has been used for tagging pets and wild animals.

The first study using this technology found it to be effective 100% of the time. The surgeons were able to detect all sponges within about three seconds, without a single false-positive or false-negative results. The RFID technology has received FDA clearance.


Bookmark and Share

©2010 Michael S. Weisberg, P.C., All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
Attorney website design by Foster Web Marketing, the best attorney website design solution on the Web offering search engine optimization for attorneys, lawyer website design, video for attorneys, and more.
Get SEO Tips from The Attorney Internet Marketing Blog
Virginia personal injury attorney, Norfolk VA nursing home abuse neglect, VA car accident lawyer, Virginia Beach truck crash help, Tidewater medical malpractice, Virginia DUI arrest, Norfolk criminal defense law firm

Served By: A