ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews three specific areas relevant to virtually all surgical procedures and surgeons: (1) infection prophylaxis; (2) deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis; and (3) universal precautions. Universal precautions facilitate the protection of surgeons and their assistants, medical and nursing, and of patients. Preoperative and postoperative checklists now form a vital part of risk reduction. James Reason, CBE, formulated the “Swiss cheese theory” of risk, based on a piece of Swiss cheese with holes in it. The more slices one puts in the cheese, the less likely it is that an arrow could fly through the holes, and thus the holes are less likely to tally with each other. Therefore the more layers of checking that one puts in pre- and postoperatively, the less likely it is that the antibiotic prophylaxis will be forgotten or the postoperative DVT prophylaxis will not be given. A simple checklist is given. The purpose of any such checklist is to systematically and efficiently ensure that all operative conditions are optimal with respect to patient safety. The hope is that by completing such a checklist, the lives and well-being of surgical and thus gynaecological patients will be minimized as errors in patient identity, site, and type of procedure are avoided completely.
