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S H A R P S
S A F E T Y
long history of chronic back pain, opioid use, alcohol abuse and illegal drug use. A seasoned 64-year-old anesthesiologist, who refuses
to use safety needles or change his technique, performs a spinal
(subarachnoid) block. After injection of the local anesthetic, the
anesthesiologist's pager goes off as he tries to recap the needle. As
he reaches for the pager, the needle sticks his left forefinger.
A
nother needlestick resulting from recapping issues, but this
time the injury occurred during placement of a regional
block in a procedure area, a stark reminder that dangers do
exist outside of the OR.
The anesthesiologist was unwilling to
use a safety-engineered device, which
was his first mistake.
He also should have
used a single-handed
recapping technique.
Finally, he should
have ignored all distractions. When handling sharps, focus
only on the task at
J A N U A R Y 2013 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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