| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2009 | Volume
: 2
| Issue : 2 | Page : 80-84 |
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Medical errors and consequent adverse events in critically ill surgical patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Delhi
Sunil Kumar1, Sujata Chaudhary2
1 Department of Surgery, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Shahdara, Delhi-110 095, India
2 Department of Anesthesiology, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Shahdara, Delhi-110 095, India
Correspondence Address:
Sunil Kumar
Department of Surgery, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Shahdara, Delhi-110 095
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0974-2700.50740
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Background: Medical errors and adverse events (AE), though common worldwide, have never been studied in India. We believe that though common these are under reported. Aim: The aim of this study was to study medical errors and consequent AE in patients presenting with trauma and bowel perforation peritonitis. Methods: Five hundred and eighty-six consecutive patients with trauma or peritonitis, presenting to surgery emergency of UCMS-GTBH, were prospectively studied using review form (RF) 1 and 2. AE was defined as an outcome not expected to be part of the illness. RF 1 was filled for all and indicated if AE was present or not. RF2 was filled when RF 1 indicated presence of AE; it further confirmed the occurrence of AE and pointed to the type of medical error and resultant disability. All results were expressed as percentage. Results: There were 500 (85%) males. Mean age of the patients was 31 years. There were 332 patients with peritonitis and 254 with trauma. AE and its consequences were present in 185 (31.5%) and 183 (31.2%) patients, respectively. Consequences were as follows: disability - 157 (85%), increased hospital stay and/or increased visits in the OPD - 28 (15.3%) and both-101 (55.2%) patients. Disabilities were: death - 62 (40%), temporary disability - 90 (58%) and permanent disability - 05 (3.1%) patients. AE in 133 (71.8%) patients was definitely (level of confidence 6) due to error in healthcare management. All AE were considered preventable. Error of omission accounted for AE in 122 (65.9%) patients. System and operative errors were the commonest, 84.3% and 82.7%, respectively. One hundred and sixty-seven (90%) patients had multiple errors. Conclusions: The study proves that medical errors and AE are a serious problem in our set-up and calls for immediate system improvement. |
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