Analysis of orthopedic surgery-related incidents in operating rooms using a nationwide incident reporting database

Patient safety is crucial in high-risk specialties such as orthopedic surgery due to the significant incidence of preventable adverse events. Analyzing extensive databases of orthopedic surgery-related incidents in operating rooms is vital for enhancing medical safety and identifying targeted interventions. This study analyzed orthopedic surgery-related incidents in operating rooms using a nationwide incident reporting database in Japan to identify risk factors associated with severe harm. We extracted orthopedic surgery-related incidents in the operating room from the Japan Council for Quality Health Care's database, which contained 127,207 near-miss and adverse event reports recorded between January 1, 2010 and September 30, 2022. We analyzed 882 incident cases, focusing on patient demographics, incident timing, surgical site, incident causes, and severity levels. The most incidents involved surgeons (93.3 %) with an average of 16.0 ± 8.5 years of experience. The frequent causes were “failure to check” (48.0 %) and “misjudgment” (24.0 %), which were non-technical errors. “Errors in methods/procedures” accounted for 37.1 % of incidents, possibly due to a wide variety of surgical approaches and implants used in orthopedic surgeries. Regarding severity, 86 % were critical incidents that threatened patients' livelihoods or lives. Surgeries involving surgeons had a significantly higher risk of severe harm than those involving healthcare professionals other than surgeons (odds ratio: 3.311, 95 % confidence interval: 1.858–5.901). This study revealed that most of orthopedic surgery-related incidents in operating rooms involved experienced surgeons and resulted in severe patient harm. The frequent causes were failure to check, misjudgment, and errors in methods/procedures. These highlight the crucial role of orthopedic surgeons in actively contributing to medical safety databases and fostering a culture of reporting within their field.