Wrong-site surgery

This study, admittedly a solitary example, at the very least shows that well intentioned efforts to engage patients need to be viewed with some caution and may also introduce new risks. Introducing an unreliable safety check is likely to be worse than having no check at all, potentially even increasing the chance of wrong site surgery because the absence of a NO mark could be a prompt to operate there, even though it is simply an omission by the patient. 

DiGiovanni, C.W., Kang, L. and Manuel, J. (2003) Patient compliance in avoiding wrong-site surgery. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery of America, 85-A(5), 815-819. 

Factors Contributing to Human Error in Surgical Pathology and Causes of Wrong-Site Surgeries... 

Mulloy, D. R, Hughes, R. G., Wrong-Site Surgery A Preventable Medical Error, in Patient Safety and Quality An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses, edited by R. G. Hughes, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland, 2008, Chapter 36, pp. 1-11. 

Surgical events Inappropriate surgeries, wrong-site surgery, etc. 

Canale, S. T, and others. Report on the Task Force on Wrong-Site Surgery. (Rev. ed.) Rosemont, 111. American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 1998. 

Preventable adverse event Wrong site surgery Allergic drug reaction to a drug in a patient with known allergy... 

Van Den Bos J. Rustagi K, Gray T. Halford M. Ziemkiewicz E. Shreve J The 17.1 billion problem the annual cost of measurable medical errors. Health Aff 2011 30 596-603. Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Quarterly update on the preventing wrong-site surgery project. PA Patient Saf Advis 2010 7 108-110. 

Signing the surgical site to eliminate wrong-site surgery... 

---