The importance of a safety checklist and strategic rest breaks in gynaecological laparoscopy

Abstract

This study focuses on the importance of a safety checklist for gynaecological laparoscopic surgeries. Although several general safety checklists are used in practice (e.g.: The WHO Safety Checklist), there is no dedicated safety checklist for gynaecological laparoscopic surgeries. Our aim is to introduce a safety checklist dedicated to gynaecological laparoscopy. It is based on our experience in performing various gynaecological laparoscopic surgeries in a tertiary care center with a substantially high workload. It has been compiled after studying the complications occurring in areas covered by the aforementioned checklist. We present data from 776 cases performed over 4 years at the Professorial Unit in Obstetrics and Gynaecology affiliated to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, at Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila, Sri Lanka. The mean surgical time and complications associated with patient positioning have been assessed. Complications associated with the areas assessed were found to be of low incidence. However, we believe that these can be reduced further by the introduction of a checklist specifically tailored for gynaecological laparoscopy.