[The efficacy of safety winged steel needles on needlestick injuries].
Safety winged steel needles were introduced at the University of Tokyo Hospital in January 2001. We studied their effect in needlestick injuries. A total of 952 'needlestick and sharp-object injuries were reported. From January 1999 to December 2004, Cases of injury with winged steel needles decreased dramatically soon after safety devices were introduced, from 19.8% in Apr.-Dec.2000 to 6.7% in 2001 and 5.5% in 2002 (p < .01). They began to increase, however, in July 2002, decreased again after medical staff members mere given lectures and notices by e-mail. Due to the introduction of safety devices, cases classified as a "while recapping a used needle" and "when puncturing rubber stoppers" decreased. Among 17 injuries with safety winged steel needles, the most common cases were "safety mechanism not activated". We estimated that 76.5% of cases with safety winged steel needles could be prevented if they were used properly. In conclusion, the introduction of safety winged steel needles effectively reduced cases of injury with such needles. It is thus important to regularly remind hospital staff of safety device techniques and information reduce the such injuries.
Suzuki
Rie
R
Department of Infection Control and Prevention, The University of Tokyo Hospital.
Kimura
Satoshi
S
Shintani
Yoshizumi
Y
Uchida
Miho
M
Morisawa
Yuji
Y
Okuzumi
Katsuko
K
Yoshida
Atsushi
A
Suganoy
Yukie
Y
Moriya
Kyoji
K
Koike
Kazuhiko
K
D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D009339:Needles; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011482:Protective Devices