New campaign targets operative site identification
September 1, 1998 less than 1 minute read
New campaign targets operative site identification
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surg eons in Rosemont, IL, launched a campaign this spring to prevent wrong-site surg ery. Orthopedic surgeons are being encour aged to have their initials placed on the correct site with an indelible pen before surgery.
There were 225 wrong-site surgery claims in orthopedics between January 1985 and December 1995, more than twice the 106 claims for all other surgical specialties combined, says the Physicians Insurers Association of America in Rockville, MD.
The task force that developed the campaign reports that it doesn’t matter whether the person marking the site is the patient, nurse, resident, or surgeon. However, the initials should not be draped out of the operative field. The surgeon should operate through or next to the initials. The mark comes off in about five days.
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