• Katherine M Marsh, Florence E Turrentine, Karen Knight, Elaine Attridge, Xizhao Chen, Stephany Vittitow, and R Scott Jones.
• Department of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
• Ann. Surg. 2022 Jun 1; 275 (6): 106710731067-1073.

ObjectiveOur objective was to determine the extent surgical disciplines categorize, define, and study errors, then use this information to provide recommendations for both current practice and future study.Summary Of Background DataThe report "To Err is Human" brought the ubiquity of medical errors to public attention. Variability in subsequent literature suggests the true prevalence of error remains unknown.MethodsIn January 2020, PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched. Only studies with Oxford Level of Evidence Level 3 or higher were included.ResultsOf 3064 studies, 92 met inclusion criteria: 6 randomized controlled trials, 4 systematic reviews, 24 cohort, 10 before-after, 35 outcome/audit, 5 cross sectional and 8 case-control studies. Over 15,933,430 patients and 162,113 errors were represented. There were 6 broad error categories, 13 different definitions of error, and 14 study methods.ConclusionsReported prevalence of error varied widely due to a lack of standardized categorization, definitions, and study methods. Future research should focus on immediately recognizing errors to minimize harm.Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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