title: Wrong-Site Surgery in California, 2007-2014.
abstract: Objective The implementation of a universal surgical safety protocol in 2004 was intended to minimize the prevalence of wrong-site surgery (WSS). However, complete elimination of WSS in the operating room continues to be a challenge. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and etiology of WSS in the state of California. Study Design A retrospective study of all WSS reports investigated by the California Department of Public Health between 2007 and 2014. Methods Prevalence of overall and specialty-specific WSS, causative factors, and recommendations on further improvement are discussed. Results A total of 95 cases resulted in incident reports to the California Department of Public Health and were included in our study. The most common errors were operating on the wrong side of the patient's body (n = 60, 62%), performing the wrong procedure (n = 21, 21%), operating on the wrong body part (n = 12, 12%), and operating on the wrong patient (n = 2, 2%). WSS was most prevalent in orthopedic surgery (n = 33, 35%), followed by general surgery (n = 26, 27%) and neurosurgery (n = 16, 17%). All 3 otolaryngology WSS cases in California are associated with the ear. Conclusion WSS continues to surface despite national efforts to decrease its prevalence. Future research could establish best practices to avoid these "never events" in otolaryngology and other surgical specialties.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Omid
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Moshtaghi
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Yarah M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Haidar
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sahyouni
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Afsheen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moshtaghi
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Yaser
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ghavami
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Harrison W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.|2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Hamid R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Djalilian
mesh_terms: D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: complications; errors; surgery; surgical mistakes; timeout; wrong side; wrong site