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The Case for Concurrent Cases - November 2018 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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2 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 S ame-day surgery is vulnerable to the risk factors of wrong-site blocks, notably time pressure to stay on schedule, distraction, inade- quate communication and hard-to-see site marks. Plus, in many facilities, anesthesia providers care for the same patients in the OR on whom they placed nerve blocks. Here are some tips from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority and Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists' "Principles for Reliable Performance of Correct-Site Nerve Blocks" (osmag.net/c6VUyA). Like most safety measures, it starts in pre-op. Pre-operative verification Confirm patient identity using at least 2 forms of patient identi- fication. Reconcile and verify the exact site and laterality of the surgi- cal procedure and the nerve block site using all forms of available pri- mary and confirmatory patient sources, including the surgical con- sent, the patient (or relative), the OR schedule, and the history & physical. If any sources differ, stop the process and alert the surgeon to resolve the disagreement. 1 Tips to Avoid Wrong-Site Nerve Blocks Regional anesthesia has its own set of safety principles. Anesthesia Alert Donald E. Martin, MD • PRE-NERVE BLOCK TIME OUT During the block time-out, both the anesthesia provider and the RN block team member should verify the pro- cedure and its laterality that are documented on the surgical consent.

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