Retained Surgical Items and Minimally Invasive Surgery

A retained surgical item is a surgical patient safety problem. Early reports have focused on the epidemiology of retained-item cases and the identification of patient risk factors for retention. We now know that retention has very little to do with patient characteristics and everything to do with operating room culture. It is a perception that minimally invasive procedures are safer with regard to the risk of retention. Minimally invasive surgery is still an operation where an incision is made and surgical tools are placed inside of patients, so these cases are not immune to the problem of inadvertent retention. Retained surgical items occur because of problems with multi-stakeholder operating room practices and problems in communication. The prevention of retained surgical items will therefore require practice change, knowledge, and shared information between all perioperative personnel

Fallopian tube insertion into the uterine cavity discovered accidentally during laparoscopic retrieval of a misplaced coil from the pelvic cavity

This article presents for the first time in the literature a case of fallopian tube insertion into the uterine cavity discovered accidentally during laparoscopic retrieval of a misplaced coil from the pelvic cavity

A levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system embedded in the omentum in a woman with abdominal pain: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The Mirena intrauterine system has been licensed as a contraceptive in the United Kingdom since May 1995. The use of an intrauterine system as a primary method of contraception among women has been slowly increasing over the last few years and they now account for about 3% of contraceptive use in England. The Mirena intrauterine system now also has a license for the management of idiopathic menorrhagia. Women may be informed that the rate of uterine perforation associated with intrauterine contraceptive use is low (0-2.3 per 1000 insertions). The rate of perforation reported with the Mirena intrauterine system in a large observational cohort study was 0.9 per 1000 insertions.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>In this case report, the diagnosis of an intraperitoneal Mirena intrauterine system was noted nearly four years after its insertion, despite the patient having had a vaginal hysterectomy and admissions to hospital in the interim with complaints of abdominal pain.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This case report demonstrates clearly that whenever there is a question of a intrauterine system having fallen out following an ultrasound scan report showing an empty uterus, clinicians should also perform an abdominal X-ray.</p