Hey! That's the wrong knee, doctor

THURSDAY, July 18, 2019 (HealthDay News) – Suppose you have a knee surgery and the surgeon is operated on the wrong leg. Or you have been given a medicine to which you know you are allergic.

It happens. In fact, about 1 in 20 patients experience preventable medical errors, and 12% of these cases result in permanent disability or death, the researchers said.

Most preventable damage is caused by medications and other treatments (49%) and by invasive procedures, the study revealed.

Preventable medical errors are more common in surgical and intensive care units than in general hospitals, and weakest in obstetric units, said British researchers. They were led by Maria Panagioti from the NIHR Greater Manchester Translational Center for Patient Safety.

According to the study, avoidable damage causes additional health care costs of about $ 9.3 billion.

The results are based on data from 70 observational studies involving more than 337,000 mostly adult patients. Of these, over 28,000 were victims of harmful incidents and more than 15,000 were victims of preventable harm.

The findings suggest that reducing avoidable patient harm could lead to significant improvements in medical care and considerable savings for healthcare systems around the world, said Panagioti and his colleagues.

The study says "that preventable harm to patients is a serious problem in healthcare facilities," the researchers wrote. They added that "the priority areas are the mitigation of the main sources of preventable harm to patients [such as drug incidents] and greater concentration on advanced medical specialties. "

It is also important to gather evidence in medical specialties such as primary care and psychiatry, vulnerable patient groups and developing countries, they added.

The study was published on July 17 in the BMJ.

In an accompanying editorial, experts from the London School of Economics and Harvard Medical School said the study "reiterated how medical harm prevailed in all health systems and, more importantly, again, drew attention to what it was possible to avoid. "

The editorialists said that the ability to measure preventable damage needs to be improved. "This includes promoting a culture that allows more systematic capture of near-misses, identifying damage in multiple health care settings and countries, and empowering patients to ensure a safe and effective health system," they said in a press release.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers advice on how to prevent medical errors.