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Electronic Counting of Used Swabs in the Operating Room – Trial Use of the "SC Smart Cart" Device in General Hospital Novo Mesto

Received: 28 March 2022     Accepted: 14 April 2022     Published: 28 April 2022
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Abstract

Leftover surgical materials in the body after surgery, including the surgical swab as the most commonly forgotten item, remain a considerable problem despite advances in surgical techniques. Alongside manual counting, in recent years electronic counting has also been introduced. This brings certain advantages. In this pilot study, electronic counting was experimentally introduced in the SB Novo mesto general hospital, Slovenia in cooperation with the company Smart-OR d.o.o. from Trbovlje, Slovenia. A "SC Smart cart", a special device for electronic counting, was used in 90 major procedures in various surgical specialities while traditional counting was simultaneously performed. We recorded the surgical team’s workflow, the net time needed to count swabs, and errors with and without the device. Although no errors were made with either counting method, time analysis showed faster work with the device with team members reporting reduced workloads. Counting with the device offered greater transparency in the operating room. The trial did not record any negative consequences of electronic counting. Electronic counting using the SC smart cart proved to be a safe and efficient alternative to the traditional manual counting of items with several other advantages – lower team workload, a faster workflow, greater patient safety, and more efficient organisation of the operating room.

Published in International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Clinical Science (Volume 8, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijbecs.20220802.11
Page(s) 15-18
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Swab Counting, Operating Room Safety, Machine Counting

References
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[5] Cima RR, Kollengode A, Garnatz J et al. Incidence and characteristics of potential and actual retained foreign object events in surgical patients. J Am Coll Surg 2008; 207: 80–87.
[6] Egorova NN, Moskowitz A, Gelijns A et al. Managing the prevention of retaine surgical instruments: what is the value of counting? Ann Surg 2008; 247: 13–18.
[7] Hariharan D, Lobo DN. Retained surgical sponges, needles and instruments. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2013; 95 (2): 87–92.
[8] Wan W, Le T, Riskin L, Macario A. Improving safety in the operating room: a systematic literature review of retained surgical sponges. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol 2009; 22: 207–14.
[9] Christian CK, Gustafson ML, Roth EM et al. A prospective study of patient safety in the operating room. Surgery 2006; 139: 159–173.
[10] Rashkovska, Aleksandra & Depolli, Matjaž & Tomašić, Ivan & Avbelj, Viktor & Trobec, Roman. (2020). Medical-Grade ECG Sensor for Long-Term Monitoring. Sensors. 2020. 1695. 10.3390/s20061695.
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  • APA Style

    Zoran Preveden, Lovro Bobic, Klemen Bedencic. (2022). Electronic Counting of Used Swabs in the Operating Room – Trial Use of the "SC Smart Cart" Device in General Hospital Novo Mesto. International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Clinical Science, 8(2), 15-18. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbecs.20220802.11

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    ACS Style

    Zoran Preveden; Lovro Bobic; Klemen Bedencic. Electronic Counting of Used Swabs in the Operating Room – Trial Use of the "SC Smart Cart" Device in General Hospital Novo Mesto. Int. J. Biomed. Eng. Clin. Sci. 2022, 8(2), 15-18. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbecs.20220802.11

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    AMA Style

    Zoran Preveden, Lovro Bobic, Klemen Bedencic. Electronic Counting of Used Swabs in the Operating Room – Trial Use of the "SC Smart Cart" Device in General Hospital Novo Mesto. Int J Biomed Eng Clin Sci. 2022;8(2):15-18. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbecs.20220802.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijbecs.20220802.11,
      author = {Zoran Preveden and Lovro Bobic and Klemen Bedencic},
      title = {Electronic Counting of Used Swabs in the Operating Room – Trial Use of the "SC Smart Cart" Device in General Hospital Novo Mesto},
      journal = {International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Clinical Science},
      volume = {8},
      number = {2},
      pages = {15-18},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijbecs.20220802.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbecs.20220802.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijbecs.20220802.11},
      abstract = {Leftover surgical materials in the body after surgery, including the surgical swab as the most commonly forgotten item, remain a considerable problem despite advances in surgical techniques. Alongside manual counting, in recent years electronic counting has also been introduced. This brings certain advantages. In this pilot study, electronic counting was experimentally introduced in the SB Novo mesto general hospital, Slovenia in cooperation with the company Smart-OR d.o.o. from Trbovlje, Slovenia. A "SC Smart cart", a special device for electronic counting, was used in 90 major procedures in various surgical specialities while traditional counting was simultaneously performed. We recorded the surgical team’s workflow, the net time needed to count swabs, and errors with and without the device. Although no errors were made with either counting method, time analysis showed faster work with the device with team members reporting reduced workloads. Counting with the device offered greater transparency in the operating room. The trial did not record any negative consequences of electronic counting. Electronic counting using the SC smart cart proved to be a safe and efficient alternative to the traditional manual counting of items with several other advantages – lower team workload, a faster workflow, greater patient safety, and more efficient organisation of the operating room.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - Leftover surgical materials in the body after surgery, including the surgical swab as the most commonly forgotten item, remain a considerable problem despite advances in surgical techniques. Alongside manual counting, in recent years electronic counting has also been introduced. This brings certain advantages. In this pilot study, electronic counting was experimentally introduced in the SB Novo mesto general hospital, Slovenia in cooperation with the company Smart-OR d.o.o. from Trbovlje, Slovenia. A "SC Smart cart", a special device for electronic counting, was used in 90 major procedures in various surgical specialities while traditional counting was simultaneously performed. We recorded the surgical team’s workflow, the net time needed to count swabs, and errors with and without the device. Although no errors were made with either counting method, time analysis showed faster work with the device with team members reporting reduced workloads. Counting with the device offered greater transparency in the operating room. The trial did not record any negative consequences of electronic counting. Electronic counting using the SC smart cart proved to be a safe and efficient alternative to the traditional manual counting of items with several other advantages – lower team workload, a faster workflow, greater patient safety, and more efficient organisation of the operating room.
    VL  - 8
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Author Information
  • Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Novo Mesto General Hospital, Novo Mesto, Slovenia

  • Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Novo Mesto General Hospital, Novo Mesto, Slovenia

  • Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Novo Mesto General Hospital, Novo Mesto, Slovenia

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