WHO Surgical Complication Prevention Checklist: a Comparative Analysis of Two Clinics

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the adherence to the WHO surgical safety checklist.Material and methods. A comparative analysis of the performance of the surgical departments in two clinics was carried out: in the first clinic the WHO checklist was applied to control the performance of the surgical department; in the second clinic these recommendations were not used. The results of 3012 (first clinic) and 3527 surgical interventions (second clinic) were analyzed. The authors studied the frequency of postoperative complications, the effectiveness when using all the points of the recommendations.Results. The frequency of antibiotic prophylaxis during general surgical operations in clinic I was 89.3%, in clinic II - 63.7%, the frequency of infection in the area of ​​surgical intervention was by 13.2% and up to two times higher in clinic II, mortality rates after surgery were also significantly higher in clinic II; consequently, the duration of inpatient treatment was 8.7 in clinic I versus 16.4 days in clinic II.Conclusion. The adherence to the surgical safety checklist can effectively reduce the number of postoperative complications, mortality, and reduce the time of inpatient treatment.