The results of a multi-year, independent clinical research study on retained surgical sponges showed that the institution implementing the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge System eliminated the occurrence of retained surgical sponges and the costs associated with these preventable surgical errors.
The study details two, randomized, controlled trials conducted at a high-volume surgical practice, the subsequent implementation of the Safety-Sponge System across all of the 128 operating rooms at the affiliated institution and a comprehensive evaluation of the solution after 18 months of use.
The evaluation considered variables including system effectiveness on reducing retained surgical sponges, efficiency, impact on operative time, ergonomics and staff satisfaction.
The SurgiCount Safety-Sponge System is a complete sponge counting and documentation system shown to help prevent the occurrence of retained sponges by assuring a more accurate accounting of those items before and after surgery.
The system helps to prevent users from incorrectly counting the individual sponges and unintentionally leaving one inside the patient, by labeling each sponge with an identifier.
The Safety-Sponge System is a proprietary product provided by SurgiCount Medical, the wholly-owned operating subsidiary of Patient Safety Technologies, and distributed by Cardinal Health.