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S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
a.
suture needles
c.
broken drill bit tips
b.
sponges
d.
instruments
Answer:
b
The most frequently occurring RFOs during surgery are the 18" x 18" laparoto-
my sponge and the 4" x 4" raytex sponge. According to a study in the Journal
of the American College of Surgeons
( tinyurl.com/mulkg3a)
, surgical sponges
are left inside patients most often perhaps because the blood-soaked items are
difficult to see when they're pushed inside the body cavity. Surgical towels,
which are often used as padding to protect tissue under retractor blades, are
also often implicated as RFOs. While sponges have been left behind in surgical
wounds of all sizes, the most common sites are the chest, abdomen and pelvis.
The cost of hospital care after
an RFO is as much as ________.
a.
$50,000
c.
$100,000
b.
$75,000
d.
$200,000
Answer:
d
In addition to the legal fees and compensation payments, the hospital would
also have to cover the cost of the surgery and aftercare for the patient. In 2008,
the CMS deemed foreign objects unintentionally retained after surgery to be
"never events" and therefore not reimbursable.
The most common root cause of
an RFO during surgery is ______.
a.
the lack of defined policies and procedures outlining count practices
b.
a loud, chaotic surgical environment
c.
changing personnel during surgery
R E T A I N E D O B J E C T S
