title: Neurosurgical checklists: a review.
abstract: Morbidity due to avoidable medical errors is a crippling reality intrinsic to health care. In particular, iatrogenic surgical errors lead to significant morbidity, decreased quality of life, and attendant costs. In recent decades there has been an increased focus on health care quality improvement, with a concomitant focus on mitigating avoidable medical errors. The most notable tool developed to this end is the surgical checklist. Checklists have been implemented in various operating rooms internationally, with overwhelmingly positive results. Comparatively, the field of neurosurgery has only minimally addressed the utility of checklists as a health care improvement measure. Literature on the use of checklists in this field has been sparse. Considering the widespread efficacy of this tool in other fields, the authors seek to raise neurosurgical awareness regarding checklists by reviewing the current literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
authors.forename: Cain S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Dewan
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Morone
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mocco
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000601:surgery; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000592:standards*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000592:standards; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods; D013131:Spine / Q000601:surgery