Surgical safety checklist is associated with improved operating room safety culture, reduced wound complications, and unplanned readmissions in a pilot study in neurosurgery

Abstract

Communication between the surgeon and the anesthesiologist was enhanced, and safety-related issues were better covered when the checklist was used. Unplanned readmissions fell from 25% to 10% after the checklist implementation (p = 0.02). Wound complications decreased from 19% to 8% (p = 0.04). The consistency of documentation of the diagnosis and the procedure improved. The use of the checklist improved safety-related performance and, contemporarily, reduced numbers of wound complications, and readmissions were observed.