Safe surgery: analysis of physicians' adherence to protocols, and its potential impact on patient safety.

OBJECTIVES

: to identify surgeons' knowledge and compliance rate to the Safe Surgery Protocol, as well as to assess the incidence of surgery-related adverse events, including patients' knowledge about the protocol.

METHODS

this is a cross-sectional and prospective study. An instrument was developed to collect the socio-graphic characteristics of sixty-eight surgeons and residents, their knowledge and adherence to the safe surgery protocol. Eighty-two patients were assessed regarding their awareness about the surgical procedure. The operating environment was also evaluated. Descriptive statistics and the odds ratio are presented.

RESULTS

the surgeons, despite their previous contact with the protocol throughout the graduation period, were poorly compliant with it. Adverse events such as the use of uncalibrated equipments or the presence of foreign bodies in several equipments such as drills and cautery pens were identified. In addition, some of the adverse events were identified and fixed, after patients had already been anesthesized, but before the beginning of the surgical procedure. Patients demonstrated knowledge about the operation they would undergo, but they did not know about its duration, and they were not introduced to the surgical team.

CONCLUSION

there were failures in the dynamics and compliance regarding some phases of the protocol, which may impact the laterality errors and patient safety.