Patient safety is paramount in the operating room. Because it’s such a high-risk environment – where even minor errors can have serious or life-threatening consequences – the first and last thing surgeons will think about is how to minimise risk and keep the process as smooth and secure as possible.
This involves following the best and most important practices. Below, we’ve listed out the three most crucial practices that surgeons adhere to, demonstrating how patients are kept safe in 2024.
The Surgical Time-Out
Before they even make an incision, the first thing a surgical team will do is participate in a ‘time out’, making sure they have confirmed all the key details. This will include the patient’s identity, the surgical procedure they are about to perform, the surgical site, and any other critical patient information – such as allergies or non-related health defects.
With the healthcare system as it is now – with an increased demand on surgeons with staff shortages – this part of the surgery process has become even more crucial. Essentially, it gives surgeons an opportunity to take a breath, assess the patient, and make sure everything they are about to do is correct.
Tools to Reduce Infection
It’s also important for surgeons to maintain strict hygiene protocols. This has become easier in recent years, especially with the growing use of the self-retaining surgical retractor. For those unaware, this is a medical tool that improves access to the surgical site and results in fewer staff in the operating room.
Using tools that can achieve this has become a common practice, and for good reason. Over the last couple of decades, more evidence has been released that fewer staff in the operating room has a positive effect on reducing infection risk. By replacing the number of individuals close to an open wound – and reducing instrument clutter at the incision – the risk of contamination is improved, and the process becomes safer as a result.
Aseptic Techniques
With hygiene protocols in mind, every operating room will also maintain strict aseptic techniques throughout the surgery. This includes proper hand hygiene, the use of sterile gloves and gowns, and the continuous sterilisation of all instruments.
Sterile draping is also important. Before the surgery, surgeons will cover the patient in sterile drapes to leave only the surgical site exposed, thus creating a barrier that protects the incision area from surrounding non-sterile surfaces. Equipment in close proximity to the surgical site will also be draped, while advanced airflow systems are now used to circulate filtered air in a unidirectional flow, reducing the number of airborne particles that could contaminate the surgical field.
Conclusion
These are three of the best practices that are maintaining patient safety in the operation room, but there are many more.
Whether it’s through the use of antimicrobial skin preparations, autoclaving instruments, ‘no-touch’ passing, or the practices mentioned above, the operation room has become safer than ever over the last few decades. As technology and techniques continue to advance, the focus on patient safety will also grow stronger, but it will always be up to practitioners to adhere to these safety measures to ensure every surgery is a success.
