Spinal surgery complications: an unsolved problem-Is the World Health Organization Safety Surgical Checklist an useful tool to reduce them?
Barbanti-Brodano G, Griffoni C, Halme J, et al. Spinal surgery complications: an unsolved problem-Is the World Health Organization Safety Surgical Checklist an useful tool to reduce them? Eur Spine J. 2019. doi:10.1007/s00586-019-06203-x.
Checklists are one tool for improving communication and reducing risk of adverse outcomes. The World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist has been previously studied in various surgical specialties; this study sought to determine its effectiveness in spinal surgeries. The authors conducted a retrospective analysis comparing the incidence of complications pre-checklist and post-checklist in a single center and found a significant reduction in the overall incidence of complications after the introduction of the checklist.