Patient safety in surgery
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Patient safety in surgery · Jan 2012
Development of a surgical safety checklist for the performance of radical nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy.
⋯ A standardized surgical checklist may help to increase the perioperative safety of patients undergoing radical nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy. Future validation studies are required to determine the clinical feasibility and post-implementation safety profile of this new checklist.
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Patient safety in surgery · Jan 2012
Are urological procedures in tetraplegic patients safely performed without anesthesia? a report of three cases.
Some tetraplegic patients may wish to undergo urological procedures without anaesthesia, but these patients can develop autonomic dysreflexia if cystoscopy and vesical lithotripsy are performed without anaesthesia. ⋯ These cases show that tetraplegic patients are likely to develop autonomic dysreflexia during cystoscopy and vesical lithotripsy, performed without anaesthesia. Health professionals should educate spinal cord injury patients regarding risks of autonomic dysreflexia, when urological procedures are carried out without anaesthesia. If spinal cord injury patients are made aware of potentially life-threatening complications of autonomic dysreflexia, they are less likely to decline anaesthesia for urological procedures. Subrachnoid block or epidural meperidine blocks nociceptive impulses from urinary bladder and prevents occurrence of autonomic dysreflexia. If spinal cord injury patients with lesions above T-6 decline anaesthesia, nifedipine 10 mg should be given sublingually prior to cystoscopy to prevent increase in blood pressure due to autonomic dysreflexia.