'Brain surgeons drilling holes on wrong side'

[Derek]

Hi all...

The topic heading was an actual article headline in todays Daily Telegraph, a quality daily British broadsheet newspaper, which albeit not wishing to be alarmist, I nevertheless thought it worthy of mention having regard to the well documented fact on this board that we all strive to take personal responsibility for our eventual treatment choice which should also include all aspects including the actual treatment process.

The article was based upon research within the UK by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) which in 2005 issued an alert to all UK neurosurgical units after an audit ascertained that there was no standard method of identifying which side of the head that patients were to have surgery performed, with some units marking with pen the side to be operated on and other units choosing to mark the side which was NOT to be subjected to the relevant surgical procedure.

Since then the NPSA reports that despite issuing the alert, 15 incidents have been reported in 25% of all 36 UK based neuro centres within the past 3 years whereby surgeons have commenced surgery on the wrong side of the head often involving drilling of the skull before the mistake was discovered. The report indicates that fortunately whilst none of the incidents resulted in death, all of them could have been avoided.

The UK Chief Medical Officer has indicated in the relevant article that such mistakes should never occur as earlier this year the World Health Organisation Surgical Safety Checklist was introduced and lists a series of checks that should be carried out to ensure the correct patient is in the operating theatre; the correct surgical procedure is about to be performed and on the correct body part.

I am sure that such occurrences are rare and not confined to the UK but thought that the article was worthy of mention. I personally will be ultra vigilent in ensuring that prior to any future treatment being undertaken, whether it be microsurgery or radiosurgery, I will ensure that I will personally be involved in carrying out my own final pre-surgery check!

Regards

Derek

[klangel]

wow! just about every nasty thing that could go wrong happened to me but i cant even imagine having to live with 2 holes in my head! anyway dont the docs usually have the pics hanging up all around? they did for my surgery.

[Derek]

Moderators...

Sorry... I've become so used to only posting in the 'watch & wait' forum these days...posted in wrong forum...can you switch this to the General Category forum under AN Issues please.

Regards

Derek

[sgerrard]

We can do that. 

I have heard of marking the side to be operated on; marking the side not to be operated on seems like it is asking for a mistake to be made.

Steve

[Jim Scott]

Derek:

This is almost absurd but unfortunately true...I've read similar stories.  It seems that having a standard of marking ONLY the side of the head to be operated on is the sensible way to resolve this.

 I agree that - as a patient - being your own advocate in matters you have some control over is crucial.  I was and my wife did the rest.  Fortunately, my surgeon knew what side my AN was on and this wasn't an issue. 

Jim

[yardtick]

I was also asked to verify which side of the head I was being operated on, before surgery.

Anne Marie

[Jackie]

This issue of drilling on the wrong side could easily happen if you are like me with multiple problems like an AN on the Right side, A Meningioma on the left and an Anuerysm in the middle! Whew, what a scary thought for those also that are NF-2. We must be active in the procedural part of our care!
Jackie

[NL]

I had "YES" written in huge letters on the correct side just below the ear. It took forever to get the ink off - but I'm not complaining.

Nancy

[Nancy Drew]

I reminded the docs right before my GK.......LEFT SIDE.  They said it wouldn't be an issue since they had the MRI and CAT scan to go by when making the treatment plan.  However, when they were putting the head frame on, one of the docs said, "That looks a little crooked."  Fortunately it was the first screw, and they hadn't gotten in very far with it.  PLEASE don't freak out those of you who are contemplating GK.  The head frame was no big deal.  And, Steve, they used the cordless drill to take the screws out, but they put them in with what looked like a regular screw driver.  At that moment, I didn't care if it was a Craftsman!!!  

Whenever I have had surgery in the past, I have always asked the anesthesiologist and surgeons if they were out partying the night before!!!  Joking with them, and I think they took it at that.  Still, I needed to make a point!

Nancy

[Pooter]

I was asked REPEATEDLY to verify it the morning of.  They wrote on that side with a marker.  They did everything short of putting a waving flag in my ear on that side to be sure it was the right side before the surgery even began.  I would have been livid if they'd gotten it wrong and ended up having to drill twice.

How's that for a visual?

Brian

[mimoore]

I shaved my own head to avoid such an issue. Yep I shaved too much but only one hole. 
Michelle 

[cheza]

HI,

I like michelle moved my hair, not quite to the extreame of shaving my head but i tied it to the right side in a pleat, leaving the left side exposed, but to be honest i was asked about 100 times to verify that it was the left side and I too was drawn on with a big black marker, they drew an arrow pointing up on my neck i felt like a parcel being delivered the only thing missing was the "open this side only" message.

I agree that you should be in control of your own treatment but you must also have trust in your surgeons, if your pre surgery I really don't suggest reading articals with headings such as 'Brain surgeons drilling holes on wrong side' if I'd of read that pre surgery i'd of been in pieces on the op dat, it was scary enough without having that running through my mind (pardon the pun)

Cheryl. XxX 

[Joef]

Yep, I thought of this too ... the day before my surgery, they marked my AN ear... the morning of .. the mark was gone!! (came off in the shower) I made them put it back!!.. they  smiled and gladly did it  plus they shaved my head while I was awake .. so I knew they were on the right side.... 

[Syl]

I was asked several times by different people which side was to be operated. Then the Dr. marked my AN ear with a red marker.

Syl

[Derek]

Just clarifying that the original article was not specific to AN sugery and appeared to be relevant to all aspects of  brain surgery and applicable in the main to those patients who, by reason of age or mental / physical incapacity or who have been involved in accidents / incidents whereby they have been admitted to hospital in a coma / semi comatosed state, are vulnerable and unaware of the procedures that are about to transpire in the operating theatre.

Derek