Shocking surgical items that have been left inside patients!

Other than removing the wrong kidney or something like that, the worst thing a surgeon could possibly do is leave something inside of you that doesn’t belong there! While this is rare, almost 800 patients have had surgical instruments left inside of them, leading to readmission, additional surgeries, abscesses, intestinal fistulas, obstructions, visceral perforations and even death.

Studies have estimated that this happens once in every 5500 to 7000 surgeries, and a typical hospital has about two of these incidents each year.

It is not surprising that these mistakes are expensive ones. In 2007, the average price of removing one of these items was $63 631 plus let’s not forget the lawsuits which can run from about $2 million to $5 million.

The most common item that is left behind is usually a surgical sponge, those small squares of gauze that are used to mop up blood. Traditionally, nurses keep track of sponges by counting them before and after surgeries. But sponges can be hard to find when they are soaked in blood and tucked away out of sight; they are often left in the abdomen, pelvis and thoracic cavity.

In the past, hospitals used X-rays and bar codes to help detect lost material, but the best detection system is radiofrequency! Each piece of gauze has a tiny chip sewn into a pocket and operating room personnel can use a wand to detect whether a sponge has been left inside.

A recent study found that this technology helped locate 23 sponges left behind in nearly 3000 patients over 11 months.

However, sponges are not the only items being left inside patients. Equipment like sponges, towels, needles, instruments, retractors and other small items and fragments of tools have been found in patients.

In one of the most shocking cases, 16 objects were left in the body of a German patient named Dirk Schroeder. After a routine prostate cancer surgery, Schroeder experienced poor recovery and intense pain. It took several weeks for doctors to discover that objects had been left inside his body. These included a needle, a six-inch roll of bandage, a compress, swabs and even part of a surgical mask.

It seems like it is time for stricter, more standardised counting systems that involve all member of the hospital team, including surgeons, nurses, techs, anaesthesiologists, and radiologists.

Looking for quality, affordable medical instruments? Take a look at Supply Doctor's online medical store and place your order - just make sure not to leave them inside your patients!

Surgical Instrument Trays: Making an Informed Choice

When working with specific medical procedures it is convenient to have everything you need all in one easy to access tray. Surgical instrument trays are designed with just this in mind, easy access to the basic and advanced instruments and medical equipment supplies you need to treat the patient. There are several different styles and designs of surgical trays allowing you to choose the one that is right in the particular surgical theatre or treatment area.

One very popular style of surgical instrument tray is the stand type. The stand itself is adjustable so you can locate the tray right at the level you need it to be at for easy access to the materials. These instrument stands with the trays are typically made of stainless steel, which is very easy to clean and sterilize. The tray itself is fully removable from the stand allowing for easy tray preparation and cleaning as needed. The stand and tray are designed to be tip resistant with braces that prevent the stand from tipping forward with the weight of the tray or with pressure on the tray itself.

A perforated instrument tray is a must in the operating room, with the small holes along the bottom and sides allowing for immediate cleaning and drying of instruments and equipment. The trays typically have a slightly raised or rolled bead to prevent the supplies from sliding or being knocked off the edge of the tray. Easy to clean and sterilize these trays are durable and long lasting, resistant to any type of damage and most types of wear. Drying trays, which come in a wide variety of sizes, have a flat, solid bottom and sides and are very practical to store, clean and use in any type of operating or treatment room.

Surgical instrument trays may also be designed with a much taller and more pronounced side or edge. This type of tray can be covered to keep items sterile and clean prior to the procedure. The covered tray is also important for being able to stack and store surgical materials when not in use. The deeper design of the covered trays allows larger equipment and instruments to be secured and maintained than the shorter sided drying trays. Like the other types of trays there are different sizes in covered styles, each with a corresponding cover.

Supply Doctor remains dedicated to providing the very best and the very latest in medical supplies and equipment.  Order your medical products from us today!

What is best to eat and drink after you’ve had you tonsils out?

Your tonsils are lumps of lymphoid tissue that are found on the sides of the mouth roof toward the back of the tongue. Tonsils can get too large or become infected; this can cause problems like struggling to breathe and sore throats, which often requires their surgical removal.

Here are the best things to eat and drink after you’ve had you tonsils out…

Common Post-Operative Symptoms
You can expect to be under anesthetic for between 20 and 60 minutes. After waking up, you may be disoriented or irritable. Sleepiness is also common if a sedative was used. Nausea and vomiting may affect your ability to eat and drink immediately after surgery, but this should be gone within a day. You can expect significant throat pain for 5 to 12 days after the surgery, which may affect your ability and desire to eat. This effect is worse for adults than children.

Foods to Eat
Soft and liquid food will feel best, especially right after the surgery. From a health perspective, the temperature of the food doesn’t matter, and dairy is acceptable. That being said, cold foods are pleasantly soothing on the throat and are something of a treat. Choose foods such as ice cream, slush puppies, yoghurt and sports drinks. These won’t provide full nutrition, so foods such as soup or meal-replacement milkshakes are a good idea. More solid foods are usually fine, though anything sharp or brittle should be avoided!

Foods to Avoid
Definitely don’t eat anything that is particularly acidic or based on citrus fruit. These will cause pain as acid hits your healing tonsils. Similarly, pretzels, chips or anything else crispy will scratch your sensitive throat and should be avoided!

TIPS
- Chewing gum is a good idea as it will increase your mouth’s saliva production and help your throat to heal faster
- Drink a lot of fluids to help your heal faster
- Dairy products aren’t definitely a problem, but they can cause mucus buildup in some people

Many people removed their tonsils as a child, when tonsil infections are most common. If you still have your tonsils and you plan on removing them soon, read the above tips ad be careful what you eat until your throat heals properly.

Take a look at Supply Doctor's website for a wide variety of medical supplies and equipment, we can offer anything from surgical instruments and defibrillators to BP meter and disposables. 

The differences between forceps and hemostats

Doctors need many tools to perform their jobs, especially for surgeons. To complete a surgery, a physician needs many other instruments, usually more than one. Two important tools are forceps and hemostats. Without them, many surgical procedures could not take place…

FORCEPS
Forceps can either be tweezer-like implements or tools that resemble scissors. Forceps that look like tweezers are pinched in the center to make the tips meet to grasp objects. Other forceps pivot like scissors, but have a locking ratchet on the inside of the handles causing the forceps to lock. Some forceps have smooth tips, and others have ridged tips that create a tight grip. Forceps can come in many different sizes with various tips. They are usually made of a stainless steel alloy, although plastic forceps can sometimes be used. Each type has a specific function to assist surgeons in all areas of the human body.

Uses:
Forceps can be used to touch sterile bandaging when a physician cannot touch it. Forceps can also hold onto small pieces of tissue during surgeries or in areas where the fingers cannot reach or fit. Intestinal forceps have a very long and narrow tip. Its design was to prevent damage to the intestines while blocking off the bowels. Another type was designed to hold organs like the bladder.

HEMOSTAT
A hemostat is essentially a type of a forceps. It is built similar to a pair of scissors, except it does not cut. The hemostat also has the locking function found on other forceps. They can have straight tips or curved. One difference is that the tip can be much smaller than those of forceps. This is called a mosquito hemostat. A carmalt hemostat has a straight tip, but has a rough surface for gripping certain tissues. All hemostats are made of the same materials as other forceps. Like forceps, the type of the hemostat serves an individual function.

Uses:
The primary use of a hemostat is to clamp and hold onto blood vessels. It is important to block off blood vessels during surgery so that the patient does not bleed to death. In fact, the beginning of the word, hemo, is a Latin prefix word that means blood. There are many types of hemostats that handle all the different types of blood vessels in the body.

Surgeons have important jobs and they need many different tools to do them properly. Forceps and Hemostats are two of the most vital instruments to a medical professional, so knowing exactly what they are used for is beneficial.

For all your medical supplies and equipment, order from Supply Doctor today! They have everyhting you need, from first aid supplies and BP meters to surgical instruments and AEDs.

How to sterilize your medical equipment

All medical offices that perform procedures need to sterilise every single surgical instrument, and it needs to be done properly!  Surgical instruments are sterilised to avoid infecting patients by transferring germs and bacteria from one person to another.

Most sterilisations are usually done with an autoclave machine, which sterilizes using heat and pressure to destroy all microbes and bacteria. Supply Doctor has a wide range of autoclave machines and other medical supplies. Take a look at their online store.

What you will need:

- Detergent
- Autoclave
- Sterilisation sheets
- Gauze
- Sterilisation tape
- Sterilisation indicator strips

Instructions:

 - Use an approved medical detergent to pre-clean and soak all your used medical instruments beforehand to get rid of any bodily fluids etc. Scrub the instruments to remove any debris. Open any closed medical instruments and scrub the hinges and locks properly. After, inspect each instrument to make sure they are clean.

- Remove the instruments from the detergent and allow them to air dry on a towel. Ensure that all instruments are properly dry before handling them. Arrange the instruments on the appropriate surgical sets or kits and wrap them in either sterilisation sheets or bags for processing.

- Lay two sterilisation sheets on a flat surface. Place the gauze, instruments and a sterilisation indicator in the middle of the top sheet. Wrap all the instruments appropriately, secure the outside edges with sterilisation indicator tape to keep the edges closed.

- Open the sterilisation bag (if you are using one), place the instruments, gauze and sterilisation indicator strip inside the bag. Then make sure that you seal it properly with sterilisation tape.

- Place the wrapped instruments inside the autoclave machine. Process your instruments according to the sterilisation guidelines and recommendations for the specific autoclave machine. Inspect each package for wet spots or surfaces, once autoclaving is complete. Reprocess wet packs by first letting them dry and then process in the autoclave machine.

Surgical instruments always need to be cleaned and sterilised properly. If the appropriate sterilisation is not done, dangerous bacteria and germs can be spread!