5 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 1 6
How many medication errors are
being made every week at your
facility? I'd bet that it's more
than you realize. I'd also bet
that using pre-packaged, pre-
filled syringes has the potential
to reduce the number — maybe
dramatically.
Getting back to the question:
If you're typical and if you
assume that self-reported data
is accurate, you might be looking at a relatively small (but still concerning) number of errors.
Studies in South Africa, China and the United Kingdom have pegged the average numbers of
medication errors at 4 per 1,000 drug administrations, 7 per 1,000, and 8 per 1,000, respectively.
But a landmark recent study (osmag.net/ydEHH2) in the United States pegged the number at
an eye-opening 20 errors per 1,000 administrations. Why so much higher? Maybe because the
U.S. study used third-party observation, rather than self-reporting.
Of course, that can work both ways. In the U.S. study, which was done at a large academic
hospital, people knew they were being watched, so they might have been nervous and more like-
ly to make mistakes. Then again, they were also probably trying to be extra careful. Either way,
the fact is that over the course of 277 operations and 3,671 medication administrations, 193
errors were observed. Of those, 153 were considered preventable, and of those, 99 were consid-
ered serious, 51 were considered significant and 3 were classified as life-threatening.
Scary, right? Another very recent study (osmag.net/KGvJ2q) compared pre-filled syringes to
traditional "self-filled syringes" and found that pre-filled have the "potential to improve system
safety and work efficiency."
— Steven Vitcov, MD
Medication Errors
Pre-Filled Syringes Shine in Safety Studies
• RIGHT STUFF? In a landmark recent study, observers documented 20 med-
ication errors per every 1,000 medication administrations in the OR.
