Surgical adverse events in audiovisual media: a documentary study

ABSTRACT

Objective

to analyze surgical adverse events reported by a Brazilian media.

Method

documentary and qualitative research. The source of information consisted of audiovisual reports on damages resulting from surgical interventions, reported in a Brazilian media. For searches on the electronic portal, those published until June 2019 were considered. Bardin's framework was used in the thematic analysis. The aforementioned incidents were classified according to the safety barriers contained in the Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) of the World Health Organization.

Results

a total of 16 cases presented through 17 reports were analyzed. Of the total number of failures committed (n = 16), the majority (n = 13) could be prevented by checking items contained in the SSC. In the thematic analysis, three categories emerged: i. incident related to surgical intervention; ii. physical, psychological and socioeconomic resulting damage; iii. ethical-professional and/or legal consequences.

Conclusion and implications for the practice

the adverse surgical events disclosed by the reports greatly impacted on the lives of patients, in physical, emotional and socioeconomic aspects. They also brought implications for the professionals and health institutions involved. It is believed that the safety barriers contained in a globally recognized verification instrument are important tools to be used to promote the safety of surgical patients and save lives.

Keywords:
Surgical Operative Procedures; Patient Harm; Audiovisual Media; Checklist; Patient Safety