Unintentionally Retained Foreign Objects: A Descriptive Study of 308 Sentinel Events and Contributing Factors.

Objective: Unintentionally retained foreign objects (URFOs) remain the sentinel events most frequently reported to The Joint Commission. The objective of this study was to describe reports of URFOs, including the types of objects, anatomic locations, contributing factors, and harm, in order to make recommendations to improve perioperative safety.

Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken of events involving URFOs reported to The Joint Commission from October 2012 through March 2018.

Unintentionally Retained Guidewires: A Descriptive Study of 73 Sentinel Events.

Background: Unintentionally retained foreign objects remain the sentinel events most frequently reported to The Joint Commission. Many of these objects are guidewires used to facilitate placement of catheters, tubes, and other devices. The purpose of this study was to describe reports of unintentionally retained guidewires in order to make recommendations to improve patient safety.

Retained surgical sponges: a descriptive study of 319 occurrences and contributing factors from 2012 to 2017.

Background: Unintended retention of foreign bodies remain the most frequently reported sentinel events. Surgical sponges account for the majority of these retained items. The purpose of this study was to describe reports of unintentionally retained surgical sponges (RSS): the types of sponges, anatomic locations, accuracy of sponge counts, contributing factors, and harm, in order to make recommendations to improve perioperative safety.