One-year experience with day-of-surgery pregnancy testing before elective orthopedic procedures.

Background: Elective surgery is generally postponed in pregnancy. A policy of testing for urine human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in all women of childbearing age on the day of surgery was initiated at an elective orthopedic surgery facility. This is a retrospective report of our 1 yr experience and the associated costs.

A new approach to preanesthetic site verification after 2 cases of wrong site peripheral nerve blocks.

Objective: We discuss the importance of a "preanesthetic site verification" and highlight 2 significant modifications to a policy developed at our institution in 2003.

Case Report: The report describes 2 cases of wrong site peripheral nerve blocks that initiated protocol amendments to address shortcomings of the original policy. Two specific limitations were identified to improve upon.

Two cases of a wrong-site peripheral nerve block and a process to prevent this complication.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a system to prevent laterality errors while performing peripheral nerve blockade.

Case Report: The report depicts 2 cases of peripheral nerve blocks being performed on the wrong (nonoperative) extremity. An analysis of the circumstances in each case reveals distractions, schedule changes, and communication breakdown, which contributed to the error.