Malpractice Counsel: Cervical Spine Injury
Emergency Medicine. 2015 October;47(10):452-454 | DOI: 10.12788/emed.2015.0019
October 1, 2015|Emergency Medicine
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Commentaries on cases involving a missed cervical spine fracture in an 83-year-old man and an alleged case of a forgotten tourniquet in a 33-year-old woman
In a review of recovery room incidents, Salman and Asfar2 identified two cases of forgotten tourniquets out of approximately 7,000 patients. Potential strategies to avoid this mistake include: (1) only documenting procedures after they have been completed (eg, tourniquet removal); (2) double-checking that the tourniquet has been removed prior to leaving patient bedside; and (3) the use of extra-long tourniquets so the ends are more clearly visible.
