John Starling1, Brett M Coldiron2. 1. Skin Cancer Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. Electronic address: johnthree@gmail.com. 2. Skin Cancer Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; Department of Dermatology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patient safety is emerging as an integral part of the overall strategy to improve health care in the United States. Wrong site surgery is correctly noted to be a sentinel event and great efforts must be made to avoid it. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the incidence of wrong site surgery after implementation of a preoperative protocol in patients presenting for treatment of skin cancer at a high-volume, Joint Commission-accredited, tertiary referral center for dermatologic surgery. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed of 7983 cases performed on patients presenting for treatment of skin cancer in the office setting. RESULTS: There were no cases of wrong site surgery. There were, however, 18 cases of failure to identify the original biopsy site (cancer site). LIMITATIONS: This was a retrospective study done at one cancer center. CONCLUSION: Integration of a correct surgery site protocol into a daily patient care model is a useful step in preventing occurrences of wrong site dermatologic surgery.
BACKGROUND:Patient safety is emerging as an integral part of the overall strategy to improve health care in the United States. Wrong site surgery is correctly noted to be a sentinel event and great efforts must be made to avoid it. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the incidence of wrong site surgery after implementation of a preoperative protocol in patients presenting for treatment of skin cancer at a high-volume, Joint Commission-accredited, tertiary referral center for dermatologic surgery. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed of 7983 cases performed on patients presenting for treatment of skin cancer in the office setting. RESULTS: There were no cases of wrong site surgery. There were, however, 18 cases of failure to identify the original biopsy site (cancer site). LIMITATIONS: This was a retrospective study done at one cancer center. CONCLUSION: Integration of a correct surgery site protocol into a daily patient care model is a useful step in preventing occurrences of wrong site dermatologic surgery.
Authors: Allen G Strickler; Payal Shah; Shirin Bajaj; Richard Mizuguchi; Rajiv I Nijhawan; Mercy Odueyungbo; Anthony Rossi; Désirée Ratner Journal: J Am Acad Dermatol Date: 2021-01-23 Impact factor: 15.487