Improving peri-operative patient care: The surgical safety checklist

Patient safety in the peri-operative period: Is the implementation of an evidenced based checklist a sustainable method of improving patient safety?

In the United Kingdom over eight million operations were carried out in 2004 alone (more than one operation for every seven inhabitants) with a mortality estimated at 20 000 – 25 000 patients. [1-2] The peri-operative period, encompassing pre-operative assessment, surgical and anaesthetic interoperative care and postoperative recovery therefore represents a significant area of risk to patients,...

Peri‐operative management of the obese surgical patient 2015

Guidelines are presented for the organisational and clinical peri-operative management of anaesthesia and surgery for patients who are obese, along with a summary of the problems that obesity may cause peri-operatively. The advice presented is based on previously published advice, clinical studies and expert opinion.

Peri‐operative management of the surgical patient with diabetes 2015

Diabetes affects 10-15% of the surgical population and patients with diabetes undergoing surgery have greater complication rates, mortality rates and length of hospital stay. Modern management of the surgical patient with diabetes focuses on: thorough pre-operative assessment and optimisation of their diabetes (as defined by a HbA1c < 69 mmol.mol(-1) ); deciding if the patient can be managed by...

The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist.

Minimising the risk of infection: a peri-operative checklist.

The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a seven-step checklist that could help in minimising the risk of PJI. The check list includes strategies that can be implemented pre-operatively such as medical optimisation, and reduction of the bioburden by effective skin preparation or actions taking during surgery such as administration of timely and appropriate antibiotics or blood ...