Work in Partnership With Your Health Professional to Prevent Medical Errors

Prevent Medical Errors During Surgery

If you are having surgery, make sure that you, your health professional, and your surgeon all agree and are clear on exactly what will be done. Doing surgery at the wrong site (for example, operating on the left knee instead of the right) is rare. But even once is too often. Wrong-site surgery is completely preventable. Your surgeon or a nurse may mark directly on the site to be operated on before surgery. Consider telling your surgeon it is all right with you for the site of your surgery to be marked in this way if it will help prevent errors.

You can ask your surgeon the following questions about the surgery:

• Exactly what will you be doing?
• About how long will it take?
• What will happen after the surgery?
• How can I expect to feel during recovery?

Before surgery, talk to your health professional and ask questions. Ask your doctor who will manage your care while you are in the hospital. Be sure to tell the nurses, anesthesiologist, and your surgeon if you have ever had a bad reaction to anesthesia. It is also important to tell them about any medicines you are taking.

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Author:	Sabra L. Katz-Wise Ralph Poore	Last Updated: October 2, 2006
Medical Review:	Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
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