BBC News reports that a list compiled by the World Health Organization designed to cut the risk of surgical complications will be issued to doctors world-wide. This list is being compiled due to a Lancet study that found that safety measures across hospitals are commonly overlooked.
The Harvard School of Public Health has aided WHO in drawing up this list and its main aim is to reduce the following complications during surgery: preventable infections, preventable complication from bleeding, and safety in anesthesia. The list includes six very basic steps in surgical care including verification of the patient, ensuring that equipment is not neglected and left inside the patient, and administering an antibiotic before making an incision which reduces the risk of infection by at least 50%.
Worldwide, about one million people die a year following major surgery, so hopefully this list can serve an intervention to help prevent common mistakes made in surgical care.
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