[Safety in surgery]

Abstract

The effectiveness of the World Health Organization's (WHO) surgical safety checklist (SSCL) in decreasing mortality and morbidity of surgical procedures was firstly suggested in 2009; the checklist is now strongly recommended internationally for adoption as a highly effective yet economically simple intervention. However, since 2009 several published studies have reported inconsistent results, besides many issues concerning local implementation. Drawing on the recently published experience carried out in Ontario, a concise overview of the current debate is presented, with some comments on implications for the national healthcare system in Italy. More generally, the need to include the implementation of the SSCL in a larger effort addressing safety in surgery is pointed out.