Determination of the risk of forgotten foreign objects in orthopedic surgery

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: Ensuring and maintaining patient safety in the operating room is very important. This study was conducted to determine the risk of forgetting foreign bodies in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted with 81 patients who underwent orthopedic surgery between 01.07.2024 and 02.03.2025 after receiving ethics committee approval. Data were collected using the "Surgical Material Tracking and Counting Form", "Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics Form" and "Risk Diagnosis Scale for Forgotten Foreign Bodies in the Operating Room" (YCURTÖ). Standard deviation, z score, mean, frequency distribution, percentage, Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality, Kruskal Wallis H, Bonferroni and Mann Whitney U tests were used to analyze the data. FINDINGS: The mean age of the patients who underwent orthopedic surgery (N=81) was 65,86±11.18, the mean BMI was 31,43±6,50, 85,2% were female, and it was determined that all of the patients were admitted to the ward with complaints of pain. It was observed that 74,1% (n=60) of the patients participating in the study underwent surgery with the diagnosis of Gonarthrosis, and 63% (n=51) of the patients underwent total knee replacement surgery. The reliability value of the scale's Foreign Body Forgetting Risk Diagnosis Scale was found to be 0,655 and it was found to be reliable. A p value below 0,05 was considered significant. The scale mean score was 10,33±1,48, and 96,32% (n=78) of the patients were determined to be in the risk group. It was observed that the total score of "YCURTÖ" increased with increasing age, longer hospital stay, duration of surgery, number of materials and surgical instruments used in surgery and length of surgical incision, and therefore the risk of YCU increased, at a statistically significant level (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: It was determined that most patients were in the risk group in terms of forgetting a foreign body. It is anticipated that taking the necessary precautions before and during surgery may reduce this risk.