A Sharpie Is A Great Investment
Having surgery soon? Better hope you don't get the wrong knee or kidney operated on. It happened to a guy I knew in Michigan: Luckily, they weren't removing a testicle or anything; just gunk from around his knee.
A suggestion for anybody going in for an operation, no matter where or by whom: invest 99 cents in a Sharpie -- one of those ubiquitous permanent magic markers -- and write "NOT HERE, IT'S THE OTHER ONE!" over the wrong knee, kidney, or whatever. Here's an excerpt from the link above to the NYTimes article by Michael Bakalar on "wrong-site surgery":
The study's authors propose a relatively simple four-step procedure for preventing wrong-site surgery: First, the surgeon should mark the spot with initials or with the word "yes." Next, preoperative verification should be performed by two medical staff members, who should also compare operating room schedules and informed-consent documents. And there should be a timeout before the incision to confirm that these procedures have been followed.Third, inconsistencies should be resolved by confirmation and agreement among the surgeon, the patient and at least one inspecting staff member. Finally, the right or left side of the body should be specified where required, and the location of the lesion to be removed should be identified as precisely as possible.
"Wrong-site surgery is one of the least-common types of adverse events a patient is likely to encounter," Dr. Kwaan said.
But, she added, patients should "understand the basics of the operation they are going to have, and should pay attention to what side of the body and what part of the body is involved. They should be able to communicate this, or have a family member communicate it, to caregivers on the day of surgery."
My dad had a kidney out at the University of Michigan hospital and it got to be comical with every other staff member checking for his name, why he was having surgery and on what part of the body.
When my friend had breast-reduction surgery, they drew all over her boobs with a Sharpie (as oppposed to a Sharpei, but that may have been a funnier story). I guess they needed to make sure that the nipples landed right-side up or something.
Harris Pilton at April 25, 2006 6:43 PM
agreed. a friend of mine had a ligament removed from the wrong side of his shoulder, which killed his football playing days.
on a morbidly humorous note, i read an article (but am too lazy to google) about a wounded iraqi freedom veteran who grabbed a sharpie and drew a dashed line around his leg and wrote 'cut below dashed line' before they amputated what was left of his leg.
g*mart at April 25, 2006 8:27 PM
I had emergency appendectomy last year at Cedar Sinai. I asked them in the pre op room what they were going to operate on (same kind a test to make sure they didn't mix me up with someone needing a bipass) they looked at me like I was crazy and said you don't know. I told them that I knew but I wanted to make sure they had the right guy.
Luckily it went perfectly. I couldn't of had a better hospital emergency surgery and stay story if I wanted one.
Thinking about surgery or emergencies? Cedar Sinai is the best!
alex the sea turtle at April 26, 2006 2:08 PM
>>Invest 99 cents in a Sharpie -- and write "NOT HERE, IT'S THE OTHER ONE!" over the wrong knee, kidney, or whatever.
Some hospitals already do that. About 10 years ago, there was a rash of botched amputations in the Tampa area. So they started writing "NO" on the item that was not to be removed.
Gary at April 27, 2006 12:24 PM
Wait--it's the patient's responsibility to tell the doctor what to do? I thought that was why they were paid so much.
Pamela at April 27, 2006 7:50 PM
I suggest leaving nothing to chance. What "should" be and what actually is are sometimes two very different things. Somebody's cutting me open, I'm going to get cranking on the wrong knee with a marker, just in case.
Amy Alkon at April 27, 2006 8:35 PM
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