title: Needle in a haystack: Intraoperative breakage of pediatric minimal access surgery instruments.
abstract: The search for tiny bits of broken pediatric minimal access surgery (MAS) instruments in an operative field is akin to the search for a needle in a haystack. With the extension of MAS to the pediatric age group, instruments are becoming smaller and equitably more prone to breakage. When breakages occur, retrieval, especially in the pediatric abdominal cavity, can be challenging. Inability to do so would affect patient safety and also lead to a web of medico legal and ethical issues. We present two cases of intraoperative breakage: An eyeless 3-0 polyamide suture needle and a 2-mm grasper blade both of which were successfully retrieved and fortuitously escaped becoming retained surgical items.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Parelkar
authors.forename: B V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Sanghvi
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Shetty
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Athawale
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Oak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009339:Needles; D010372:Pediatrics; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D013536:Suture Techniques; D016896:Treatment Outcome