Impact of a World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist Implementation During Urgent Operations on Compliance with Basic Standards of Care and Occurrence of Complications

Abstract

Surgery has become an integral part of global health care, with an estimated 234 million operations performed yearly. Surgical complications are common and often preventable. Use of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has been shown to be associated with significant reductions in complications and deaths. A 19-item surgical safety checklist was implemented  to  reduce complications and deaths associated with surgery as well as increase the compliance with basic standards of care .The aim of this study is to assess the effect of implementation of a 19-item World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist in urgent operations on compliance with basic standards of care as indicated by adherence to 6 selected safety measures and rates of complications at National Bank Hospital for the integrated care affiliated to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population. To fulfill this aim a prospective pre- and post intervention study design was used.  A total of 60 adult male & female patients undergoing urgent operations are recruited to this study divided into two equal and matched groups (study& control). Three tools were utilized for data collections; 1) Socio-demographic and operative data sheet, 2) Complications monitoring sheet and 3) Performance of the 6 specified safety measures check list. More information can be found in the full paper.