I have had surgery twice in the past few years

both times I had "met" the surgeon in his office for a pre op

both times (it was knee and ankle ops)...in the preop area the nurses
brought over a Sharpie..and in the surgeon's presence...the appropriate
joint was marked "YES" and the other marked "no"..

this was standard protocol...

perhaps one needs to be carefule where procedures

I have never ever NOT met a surgeon prior to op...in office..for preop exam
etc

I would NEVER let a "stranger" take a knife to me

just my h.o.

Don't become the victim of a surgical error

Story Highlights
You can take steps to lower the chances you'll be the victim of a
surgical error

Choose a doctor and hospital very familiar with the type of surgery
you're having

Make your doctor initial your surgical site

Have an advocate with you

By Elizabeth Cohen
CNN Medical Correspondent
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- I thought my husband was crazy.

When our 2-year-old daughter had hernia surgery, he insisted on seeing
the surgeon minutes before to remind him that the hernia was on her
right side, not her left.

The nurses weren't happy; it wasn't protocol to have the surgeon meet
with parents immediately before a procedure.

"Maybe this is overkill," I said to my husband. "He knows what side
the hernia's on. He's already seen her twice in his office. Plus,
we've told the pre-op nurses 10 times it's on the right side."

But experts tell me my husband was right on. Mistakes do happen, no
matter how great the surgeon, and it behooves you to help them get it
right. Witness these headlines: Minnesota doctors remove the healthy
kidney of a cancer patient while leaving the diseased one behind;
California doctors remove the appendix of the wrong patient; one of
the most experienced surgeons in a Boston, Massachusetts, hospital
operates on the wrong side of a patient. All of these mistakes
happened in the past year. Empowered Patient: Surgical errors »

Solid numbers are hard to come by, because most states don't require
doctors to report surgical errors. To make sure you're not the next
victim, you might have to get pushy, like my husband did.

"You need to be that thorn in their side," said Dr. Samuel Seiden, an
anesthesiologist who's co-author of a study on surgical errors. "You
will catch things. You might also frustrate the nurses, but you have
to look out for yourself."

Of course, looking out for yourself can be tough when you're
anesthetized. But Seiden and other surgical errors experts say there
are steps you can take to lower the chances you'll become the next
headline.

1. Check out your doctor and hospital

Specifically, ask your doctor how many times he or she has done this
procedure, and compare that with other physicians.

You can check out the hospital by going to HealthGrades or The
Leapfrog Group, which rank hospitals by specialty. (For example, you
can find good places to get hip surgery in Topeka, Kansas, or to have
a baby in New York.) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
has detailed information about procedures performed at different
hospitals.

2. Tell everyone who you are and why you're having surgery.

You may feel like an idiot, but tell all the nurses and doctors your
name, your date of birth, and what surgery you're having (for example,
"I'm John Smith, I was born 10/21/70, and I'm having arthroscopic
surgery on my left knee."). This can help prevent you receiving a
surgery intended for someone down the hall. (Of course, if your name
really is John Smith, you might want to give your address, too).
Consumer Tips Blog: Surgical errors

3. Make sure your doctor initials your site

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons urges its members to sign
their initials directly on the site before surgery (shown in the
group's public service ads, like the one pictured above). Make sure
your surgeon -- not somebody else -- does the signing and that it's in
the right place.

4. Confirm the surgery site with the surgeon right before the
procedure

You may have already told the nurses, but it's the surgeon who's doing
the actual cutting, so you need to tell him or her directly, says Dr.
James Beaty, past president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons.

"You should say, 'I'm not going back to surgery until I see my doctor
and we confirm that this is the right site,' " he said.

5. Train someone to be your advocate

Don't just bring a friend or family member to your surgery; train them
to advocate for you. You're likely to be anxious and a little addled
before the surgery (not to mention asleep during it), so you'll need
help.

"Equip them with the information they need," advised Ilene Corina,
president of PULSE of New York, a patient advocacy group. For example,
your advocate can help you check the initials on the surgical site or
help you contact your surgeon.

So, how did my husband know to follow Tip No. 4, before he had the
chance to read his lovely wife's column? He says it was just common
sense -- and his submarine training. When you give an order in a
submarine, the other person repeats it back to you, and then you
repeat the order again. In engineering lingo, it's called creating a
"closed loop."

Our daughter had a successful surgery, and I'm sure the surgeon would
have gotten the correct side even without our involvement. Still, it
can't hurt to check.

After checking, as they were wheeling our precious baby into surgery,
my husband looked the surgeon in the eye, put his hand on his arm and
said, "I know you've done this hundreds of times. But for us, she's
our only one."

I'm sure that didn't hurt, either.

Senior producer Jennifer Pifer contributed to this report.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/07/17/ep.surgical.errors/index.html?eref=rss_health

? 2008 Cable News Network