Hay Bach! The count was off....
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@mik said in Hay Bach! The count was off....:
The count is important.
Back in about 1988 I got sued because the count was off and it wasn't followed up on, leaving a needle in the patient. It was subsequently found and retrieved with no long-term morbidity.
But, since I was in the room, I was sued, even though I had nothing to do with the instrument count. Yeah, I was dismissed from the suit, but I had to meet with the attorney and make a second trip downtown for the deposition.
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20 minutes?
would have taken us three hours, and then give up and xray the patient in the room to make sure the needle wasn't inside. would have been found when cleaning for the next case
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20 minutes?
would have taken us three hours, and then give up and xray the patient in the room to make sure the needle wasn't inside. would have been found when cleaning for the next case
@bachophile I've been told that some places (Mayo?) do a post-op X-ray on every patient before they leave the OR.
Wonder what the cost/benefit of that is.
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I am laughing but I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
Reminds of a comedy skit from a guy called Steve Martin
“Ok, I don’t like to gear my material to the audience but I’d like to make an exception because I was told that there is a convention of plumbers in San Francisco this week – I understand about 30 of them came down to the show tonight – so before I came out I worked-up a joke especially for the plumbers. Those of you who aren’t plumbers probably won’t get this and won’t think it’s funny, but I think those of you who are plumbers will really enjoy this…
“This lawn supervisor was out on a sprinkler maintenance job and he started working on a Findlay sprinkler head with a Langstrom 7″ gangly wrench. Just then, this little apprentice leaned over and said, “You can’t work on a Findlay sprinkler head with a Langstrom 7″ wrench.” Well this infuriated the supervisor, so he went and got Volume 14 of the Kinsley manual, and he reads to him and says, “The Langstrom 7″ wrench can be used with the Findlay sprocket.” Just then, the little apprentice leaned over and said, “It says sprocket not socket!”
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It’s a very scary thing - your surgical team accidentally leaves a piece of equipment in you and sees you up. Hence the count to account for every single item.
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It’s a very scary thing - your surgical team accidentally leaves a piece of equipment in you and sees you up. Hence the count to account for every single item.
@mik said in Hay Bach! The count was off....:
Hence the count to account for every single item.
And the problem is when the needle count is off. Everyone searches through everything trying to find that missing needle. The "6-0" needle referred to in the picture is a very small needle, about ⅜" in size, and the suture attached to it is used for fine delicate work, like sewing a vein graft onto a coronary artery (though I've seen 7-0 used - even smaller).
Then there's the ophthalmologists who use 10-0 or 11-0.
We used to have one of these around - it's like a broom, but it's magnetic so it can, supposedly, pick up a missing needle.
I think I've only seen it work twice.
Needles find their way into the strangest corners, etc. Garbage bags, light handles (as in this thread), and the most-overlooked place: stuck to the sole of someone's shoe.
