Childhood Gynecological Surgeries Have Higher Error Rates, Study Finds

Girls who have gynecological surgeries have four times the risk of having surgical objects left inside them, compared with children who have other surgeries, according to a study published in the Archives of Surgery, MyHealthNewsDaily/MSNBC reports. Although cases of surgical objects being left inside children are rare, the study's findings suggest that some procedures -- such as ovarian cyst removal -- carry a higher risk.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center analyzed more than 1.9 million U.S. hospital records of surgeries on children from 1988 to 2005. Cases of foreign objects left in a child's body occurred in 0.02% of the surgeries, or 413 cases. Most of the errors, 21.5%, occurred during gastrointestinal surgeries. However, the rate of errors was much higher among pediatric gynecological surgeries at 0.96 errors per 1,000 patients, compared with 0.13 errors per 1,000 gastrointestinal patients.

Although having foreign objects left inside the body did not increase the death rate, children who experience these medical errors spent an average of eight more days in the hospital. They also accumulated more than $35,000 in additional hospital charges than children who did not experience errors.

Study researcher Fizan Abdullah said more frequent errors occurred in gynecological surgeries "because of the anatomic considerations in that part of the body." He said the pelvic area includes more difficult-to-reach areas where surgeons are more likely to lose objects, such as sponges or small instruments. Hospital protocols, such as having staff count sponges and instruments, can help prevent such errors (Rettner, MyHealthNewsDaily/MSNBC, 11/15).


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