Study on needle stick injuries during surgery and blunt needle use for reducing occupational exposure and hygiene benefits

Abstract

Background: The conventional round suture needle poses a significant risk of needle stick injuries among surgical physicians, identified as a global occupational hazard by the World Health Organization, increasing hospital costs and exposure to bloodborne pathogens. While novel blunt suture needles have shown promise in reducing these risks, their adoption is limited domestically, prompting a study to compare their efficacy against traditional sharp needles in reducing needle stick injuries among surgical physicians.

Objective: To investigate suture needle stick injuries among surgical doctors during operations and assess the application effectiveness of a novel blunt suture needle.

Methods: A total of 106 surgical department physicians from March 2021 to February 2023 participated in the study. After completing a questionnaire survey on suture needle injuries during surgery, the participants were divided into two groups. Over a 6-month intervention period, the control group used regular round needles while the study group utilized novel blunt suture needles. Subsequently, suture needle injury incidence rates and economic hygiene benefits were compared between the two groups.

Results: The suture needle injury questionnaire survey showed that over the past 6 months, among 106 surgical department physicians, 20 needle stick injuries occurred, yielding an incidence rate of 18.87%. The highest incidence (65.00%) was during suturing incisions longer than 10 cm, primarily when visibility was poor (70.00%). Surgeons linked most injuries (60.00%) to prolonged surgical duration causing fatigue. Although 85.00% detected injuries within 1 minute, only 40.00% were reported, often due to perceived reporting complexity. Following intervention, the study group had significantly fewer injuries per surgery and lower occupational exposure costs compared to the control group (p< 0.05).

Conclusion: Surgical department physicians commonly sustain suture needle injuries while suturing incisions of 5-10 cm length under poor visibility, exacerbated by prolonged surgical duration. Despite detecting most injuries within 1 minute, only 40% are reported. The implementation of novel blunt suture needles significantly decreases injury rates, resulting in reduced occupational exposure costs and favorable safety and economic hygiene outcomes.

Keywords: Operating room; blunt suture needle; economic hygiene benefits; surgical physicians; suture needle stick injury.

Figure 1.

Incidence of suture needle stick injuries for different incision lengths.

Figure 2.

Timing of suture needle stick injuries and their proportions.

Figure 3.

Causes of suture needle stick injuries and their proportions.

Figure 4.

Time to physician detection of suture needle stick injuries and their proportions.

Figure 5.

Number of occurrence of suture needle stick injuries (^∗∗∗p< 0.001).