WHO releases checklist for safer operations

World Health Organization recently released a list of best practices to make operations safer.

The surgical guidelines aim at reducing infections and minimising surgical deaths. WHO involved professional groups from different countries to prepare the surgical checklist.

The team conducted a pilot research in different countries to identify whether the checklist would help reduce the surgical risks. The report showed that the use of checklist increased the adherence to standards to 68 percent from 36 percent.

Here are some of the guidelines:

• Identifying roles and responsibilites of the surgical team involved
• Marking the correct site for surgery
• Operating the correct patient
• Following the correct procedure
• Giving an antibiotic within sixty minutes of incision
• Checking for drug allergies
• Checking for blood supply
• Ensuring the correct number of sponges and needles post surgery

The checklist is passed through several revisions before the final version.

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