"My hand was in the way
and he got me. It was an
accident," she says. In addi-
tion to hands-free passing
and double-gloving, Ms.
Stuckert couldn't help but
think that a retractable
blade would have prevented
the cut.
"There is a place for safe-
ty blades," she says. "But I
also think we need to be
aware that we're handling a
sharp piece of equipment.
We need to be careful and
pay attention to what we're
doing."
For certain surgeries,
safety scalpels may not be
ideal. Our respondents list-
ed tonsils, circumcisions,
plastic surgery and hand
surgery as cases that
require more precise cutting
and finer tips than they feel
safety devices can deliver.
"For the small hand surgeries, our hand specialist thinks they're
clumsier and more dangerous than a regular scalpel," says Ms.
Stuckert.
Ms. Johnson's facility follows a simple policy: Surgeons who are
4 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 1 9
11.24
% I don't believe they
provide the same level of
safety as a traditional non-safety scalpel.
Cost is not a factor.
17.98
% I don't believe they provide
the same level of safety as
a traditional non-safety scalpel and
because they cost more.
31.46
% I believe they provide the
same level of safety as a
traditional non-safety scalpel.
Cost is not a factor.
39.33
% I believe they are safer
than traditional non-safety
scalpels, but cost is a factor.
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery Magazine
Survey, April 2019, 187 respondents
For those of you who don't use safety
scalpels at your facility, which state-
ment best explains the reason why?
