Medical litter

In this fascinating article JoNel Aleccia reports on the phenomena of medical litter; fragments of medical devices that are left inside patients.

Since 2003, reports of 72 deaths and 4,675 injuries associated with “unretrieved device fragments,” or UDFs, have been logged in the FDA database that tracks adverse events.

The most common problem occurs when wire guides for catheters used in heart operations break or fracture, leaving the device or fragments behind.

Click here to review the full story.

 

Other stories

• New extravasation guidelines
• Heparin update New Zealand
• PICC infection rates
• Skin-tunnelled catheter care
• Intravenous implanted port fixation
• TimestripIV distributed by Vygon
• CLABSI literature review
• CareFusion IV pump alert
• Neonatal procedure pain
• Frequency of needlestick injuries
• Antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease
• Reduction of CLABSI guidelines

Add IVTEAM to Technorati Favorites