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Article: St. Vincent tracking surgical sponges; Chipping away at mistakes.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA)
- Article date:
- August 22, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Worcester Telegram & Gazette. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Aaron Nicodemus
WORCESTER -- Leaving sponges inside patients is one of the most common medical errors occurring in hospitals, and one of the most preventable.
It is estimated that sponges are left in patients in between 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 6,000 surgeries in the United States, according to a 2000 report published in the World Journal of Surgery.
The biggest step St. Vincent Hospital has taken to reduce the chances of leaving sponges in patients is the use of a new device that can detect a sponge before surgery is completed.
Using tiny chips embedded in a seam of each sponge, the RF Surgical Detection System can detect the ...