Impact of Adverse Healthcare Events on Patients After Gastrointestinal Surgery

What is the impact of adverse healthcare
events on patients who have undergone
gastrointestinal surgery?

Contents
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................3
Aim and Objectives........................................................................9
Research question........................................................................10
REFERENCES................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Adverse events are broadly defined as all those incidents and injuries that are caused to
individuals who are seeking medical and healthcare in healthcare settings (Pearse and et.al,
2014). There are various types of adverse events that can be caused at the time of surgical
interventions and other procedures. Some of these adverse events can be prevented by
implementing effective strategies and plans. Although there are many surgical pre-operative and
post-operative adverse events that takes place in gastrointestinal surgery but these are some of
the common adverse events that generally takes place in healthcare settings (Collaborative,
2014). Adverse events are selected on the basis of frequency with which they occur and the
evidence which is required to measure and monitor them accurately. Common adverse healthcare
events in gastrointestinal surgery are surgical wound, infection, anastomotic leak, deep vein
thrombosis and surgical mortality. There are many types of adverse events that can take place in
gastrointestinal surgery. Events such as surgical errors, diagnosis errors, medication errors and
wrong site and patient surgical errors (Basch and et.al, 2014). Surgical errors can be defined as
those mistakes in surgery that can be prevented to maximum extent if proper medical practices
are adopted by all the physicians and surgeons. In almost all the surgeries there is certain risk
involved which depends on the type of surgical intervention a person is going through. This is
the reason it is very difficult for all the relatives and partners to sign the consent form before the
surgery of the patient. The form which is signed by relatives and family members is known as
consent form and it includes that surgical errors are unexpected and are preventable up to a
certain extent. In case of gastrointestinal surgery there can be many adverse events related to
surgery which should be taken care of (Pucher, Aggarwal and Darzi, 2014). One of the most
common surgical error that can take place in gastrointestinal surgery is injury to the specific
nerve during the injury. In many cases it is noticed that due to incompetence surgeon fails to
perform the surgery in correct manner. In cases of failure of surgical procedure it is possible that
the surgeon has not performed the surgery many times and was not aware of procedures to be
implemented while performing gastrointestinal surgery. Other reason for increased number of
surgical errors in surgery is insufficient pre-operative planning by physicians and other surgeons.
It is expected that surgeons prepared themselves prior to surgery so that chances of
complications are not increased during the procedure (Sjöström and et.al, 2012). If surgeons are
not prepared for the surgery then chances of complications increases to maximum. Nurses and
other individuals who will be assisting in surgical procedure should also keep all the equipments

ready so that it is available when surgeons need it at the time of surgery. Improper work process
can also be one of the surgical errors that can be seen in surgery. In majority of the cases it is
noticed that in order to complete the surgery in short span of time many surgeons take shortcuts
which proves to be costly to the patient as well as the physicians.
There are many types of surgical wound infections that can be caused to patient who has
undergone gastrointestinal surgery. Wound infection can be defined as the secretion of pus or
serous fluid which contains large amount of pathogens and bacteria surrounded to them. The
infections are also associated with immunodeficiency (Mavros and et.al, 2014). There are many
factors which influences the cause of infection prior and after the surgery. If the wounds or the
incision part after the surgery is not sealed or stitched properly then there are chances that pus
will discharge leading to contamination of the wound to a higher extent. Chances of wounds
increases more in individuals who are above the age of 70 years. In case of gastrointestinal
surgery there are increased chances of occurrence of urinary tract infection in both males and
females (Vester-Andersen and et.al, 2014). There are ways through which these infections can be
prevented before and after gastrointestinal surgery. It is very necessary for all the surgeons to use
aseptic methods and avoid the use of antibiotics so that surgical site infection is reduced to
maximum. Other surgical errors can be caused due to poor communication, fatigue and influence
of drugs and alcohol. Miscommunication or poor communication can also cause different errors
in gastrointestinal surgery (Valero III, and et.al, 2015). For example a surgeon may detect a
wrong site of surgery or may fail to ensure that all the surgical equipments are available in the
surgical room prior to surgery. There can be medication error or a doctor on duty may prescribe
wrong dosage to the patient which may lead to fatal effects on his/her health. Fatigue is one of
the most common issue which is faced by surgeons who are working under long shift and are not
able to get rest due to their schedule. As compared to well rested surgeons, practitioners or
surgeons who do not take rest are likely to make more mistakes during any type of surgery.
Although surgeons and other physicians do not consume alcohol when they are on medical duty
but it is surprising to see that many surgeons are under the influence of drugs and alcohol to cope
with underlying stress (Sjöström and et.al, 2012). The influence of different substance and
alcohol can lead to major surgical errors during gastrointestinal surgery. Other surgical errors can
be neglecting different aspects which are very necessary to be considered when performing a
major organ surgery on patients. Due to irresponsible behaviour or negligence, surgeons may
forge to ensure that all the surgical instruments are working in proper conditions prior to surgery.
Sometimes, due to negligence surgeons may use defective surgical instruments which can cause