Study Reveals High Risk of Preventable Surgery Errors

A NEW cohort study conducted across 11 U.S. hospitals has found that nearly 40% of surgical patients experience adverse events during inpatient perioperative care. The study, which reviewed 1,009 randomly selected patients from 64,121 surgical admissions in 2018, sheds light on the frequency, severity, and preventability of such incidents.

The findings, published in a recent study, show that 38.0% of patients had adverse events, with 15.9% experiencing major events requiring significant intervention or prolonged recovery. More concerning, 59.5% of the identified adverse events were deemed potentially preventable, with 20.7% classified as definitely or probably preventable.

Surgical procedures were the most common source of adverse events, accounting for 49.3% of incidents, followed by adverse drug reactions (26.6%) and healthcare-associated infections (12.4%). These events occurred most frequently in general care units (48.8%) and operating rooms (26.1%), with attending physicians (89.5%) and nurses (58.9%) being the most frequently involved professionals.

The study’s findings underscore the importance of addressing patient safety in perioperative care. With a significant proportion of adverse events being preventable, the study advocates for improved safety protocols across all stages of surgery. These results highlight a critical opportunity for healthcare professionals to work together to reduce errors and enhance patient outcomes through more rigorous safety measures and collaborative care practices.

Reference: Duclos A et al. Safety of inpatient care in surgical settings: cohort study. BMJ. 2024;387:e080480.