Really straightforward one this week. I just wanted to share an interesting article from BMJ Quality & Safety. It turns out that just about 1 in 4 errors in ORs were caused by machines. In a review of multiple studies the authors noted that “failures of equipment/technology accounted for a median 23.5% (IQR 15.0%–34.1%) of total errors.” Each procedure saw just under one equipment problem. Equipment failures were further subdivided into:
- availability (37.3%)
- configuration and settings (43.4%)
- direct malfunctioning (33.5%)
Finally they noted that “checklists (or similar interventions) reduced equipment error by mean 48.6% (and 60.7% in three studies using specific equipment checklists).”
It may be behind institutional access, but definitely worth a look, as this is the kind of article the mass media likes to latch onto.
Check it out here – BMJ
