The Economics of Patient Surgical Safety

Abstract

Adverse surgical events are a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and disability worldwide. Serious reportable events, such as wrong site surgery, retained foreign bodies, and surgical fires, are preventable adverse events that have significant consequences. These "never events" are costly to the patient, health care systems, and society and have led to many efforts to reduce their occurrence. However, these costly events still occur, and more research is needed to obtain a better understanding of their causes and how to prevent them.

Keywords: Retained foreign bodies; Surgical fires; Surgical never events; Surgical safety; Wrong-site surgery.