How Negligence Can Turn A Surgical Sponge Into A Deadly Object

CHICAGO, IL, June 08, 2012

In hospitals throughout Illinois and the rest of the United States, about one in every 6,000 surgical patients faces a common complication: Surgeons mistakenly sew up a patient while leaving a foreign object inside the surgical site, often a surgical sponge.

The consequences of this surgical error can be painful and even deadly, because the body reacts unfavorably to a foreign object. For example, one victim suffered increasing pain after abdominal surgery, complaining repeatedly to his doctors until they finally reopened his incision five months later and discovered a retained surgical sponge.

In this instance, the sponge had begun to rot and the body's defenses had attempted to wall it off. The decay inside the man's body permanently damaged a portion of his intestines. The patient reached a confidential settlement agreement with the hospital for his injuries.

How Do Surgical Sponge Errors Occur?

Scenarios like this are the result of neglect by the surgical staff. Operating room nurses are usually responsible for keeping an accurate count of the sterile sponges used to absorb fluids during surgery. The traditional procedure entails manually counting sponges as they are unpackaged and handed to the surgeon, and then counting the used sponges again when they are removed from the patient's body.

The operating room environment can be fast-paced and demanding, and communication lapses between physicians and nurses often occur when inexperienced staff members stray from established protocols. Failure to properly account for every single sponge is the unfortunate result too many times, with devastating consequences to patients. Patients are helpless victims of these mistakes, as they are unable to protect themselves while under the effects of anesthesia.

Leveraging Technology To Avoid Surgical Mistakes

For many years, surgical sponges have contained radio-opaque threads which show up on x-rays. On the bright side, several new kinds of technical sponge monitoring systems have recently been developed. These improved processes can significantly reduce the rate of error. One has been in use in a branch of the Mayo Clinic since 2009 with excellent results -- no recorded incidents of a retained sponge since the system was implemented.

The Mayo Clinic's process works like a supermarket checkout scanner, using bar codes. Each package of surgical sponges is marked with a bar code, as are the individual sponges the package contains. A nurse scans each package and each individual sponge as the package is opened and the sponges taken out. After surgery, the used sponges are scanned again as they are manually counted. If any sponges are missing, it is easy to tell before the patient is sewn back up. Mayo will be expanding use of the detection system to more of its clinics.

Another system for keeping track of sponges uses a wand to detect microchips embedded in the sponges. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved both the bar code system and the process that uses radio frequency detection. These systems will deliver better medical care and accountability without unduly increasing costs. The system used at Mayo adds only about $2 to the cost of each surgery, according to a clinic representative.

Technology Cannot Completely Override Negligence

While these systems should help to improve a patient's chances of experiencing a complication-free surgery, operating-room staffs should not become too reliant upon technology. Strict adherence to a surgical checklist is a surgeon's and hospital's best tool for preventing surgery errors. If you or a loved one has been seriously harmed by a surgical mistake, contact an experienced Chicago medical malpractice attorney to discuss your legal options.

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