handle different components of the same surgery, according to Julie
Cerese, RN, MSN, group senior vice president of performance and
national networks at Vizient, a healthcare consulting firm based in
Irving, Texas.
Surgical sponges account for most RTIs, according to a study in
the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, and they're most
often left behind in the abdomen. That's not surprising. The 4-by-4-
inch squares are hard to spot and easy to miss after surgeons tuck
them deep into the surgical cavity to soak up blood during proce-
dures.
Technology can help find missing sponges or augment the manual
count, which is especially useful when you consider that research has
shown nearly 90% of RTIs occur when the surgical team believes the
final count is correct.
One system includes sponges embedded with proprietary radiofre-
quency tags. A body scanner is placed under the patient and staff pass
a handheld scanner over the patient's operative site at the end of the
case. Both scanning devices detect tagged sponges that remain in the
patient.
Another system features sponges affixed with unique barcodes and
a tablet with a built-in scanner that can be hung on an IV pole during
surgery. Staff scan the barcode on each sponge during the "in"
count, and the system automatically records the sponges that are
registered for use during the case. Nurses rescan the sponges as
they come off the field. The system does not permit nurses to scan
sponges twice or scan sponges that weren't entered into the system
at the beginning of the case. It's a way to augment the manual count,
not replace it.
Investing in the technology on the front end could save you the
expense of extra time spent in the OR conducting X-rays to look for
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