Surgeons need more training to prevent sharps injuries: study

Ann Arbor, MI – Despite widespread knowledge of the risks that lead to sharps injuries, surgeons often lack knowledge of the latest practices and technology to help prevent them, concludes a new article from the University of Michigan Health System.

The article outlines a variety of research on sharps injuries among surgeons, who as a group incur one-quarter of the nearly 400,000 sharps injuries in the United States each year.

Researchers cited studies showing medical students and residents face a higher risk of sharps injuries because of fatigue and inexperience, and 70 percent of surgeons say they rarely or never report sharps injuries.

While stressing the importance of injury reporting, researchers recommended providing programs during medical school to educate surgeons about sharps safety.

The article was published in the April issue of the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.