Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie
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Wrong-site, wrong-procedure and wrong-patient surgeries are catastrophic events for patients, medical caregivers and institutions. Operating room (OR) briefings are intended to reduce the risk of wrong-site surgeries and promote collaboration among OR personnel. The purpose of our study was to evaluate 2 OR briefing safety initiatives, "07:35 huddles" (preoperative OR briefing) and "surgical time-outs" (perioperative OR briefing), at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ont. ⋯ Structured communication tools, such as 07:35 huddles and surgical time-outs briefings, especially for the nursing personnel, change the notion of individual advocacy to one of teamwork and being proactive about patient safety.
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The decision to perform laparotomy in blunt trauma patients is often difficult owing to pelvic fractures; however, once the decision is made, delay or failure to perform laparotomy could affect morbidity and mortality. We sought to identify predictors of laparotomy and mortality in polytrauma patients with pelvic fractures. ⋯ Among the polytrauma patients with pelvic fractures, 14.3% underwent laparotomy, and mortality was higher among these patients than among those who did not have the procedure. The predictors of laparotomy and mortality are similar to those anticipated in patients without pelvic fractures.