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Needlestick and sharps injuries in orthopedic surgery residents and fellows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2019

Joseph E. Snavely Open the ORCID record for Joseph E. Snavely [Opens in a new window] ,
Benjamin C. Service ,
Daniel Miller ,
Joshua R. Langford  and
Kenneth J. Koval
Joseph E. Snavely*
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Orlando Health, Orlando, Florida
Benjamin C. Service
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Orlando Health, Orlando, Florida
Daniel Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Orlando Health, Orlando, Florida
Joshua R. Langford
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Orlando Health, Orlando, Florida
Kenneth J. Koval
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Orlando Health, Orlando, Florida
*
Author for correspondence: Joseph E. Snavely, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective:

Needlestick and sharps injury (NSSI) is a common occupational hazard of orthopedic surgery training. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence and surrounding circumstances of intraoperative NSSI in orthopedic surgery residents and fellows and to examine postexposure reporting.

Design:

A 35-question cross-sectional survey.

Setting:

The study was conducted by orthopedic surgery residents and faculty at a nonprofit regional hospital.

Participants:

The questionnaire was distributed to US allopathic orthopedic surgery residency and fellowship programs; 300 orthopedic surgery trainees participated in the survey.

Results:

Of 223 trainees who had completed at least 1 year of residency, 172 (77.1%) sustained an NSSI during residency, and 57 of 63 trainees (90.5%) who had completed at least 4 years sustained an NSSI during residency. The most common causes of NSSI were solid needles, followed by solid pins or wires. The surgical activity most associated with NSSI was wound closure, followed by fracture fixation. The type of surgery most frequently associated with NSSI was orthopedic trauma, followed by hip and knee arthroplasty. Of 177 trainees who had sustained a prior NSSI, 99 (55.9%) failed to report all events to their institution’s occupational health department.

Conclusions:

The incidence of NSSI during residency training is high, with >90% of trainees in their fifth year or later of training having received an injury during their training, with a mean of >4 separate events. Most trainees with an NSSI did not report all of their events, which implies that changes are needed in the incident reporting process universally.

Type
Original Article
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 40 , Issue 11 , November 2019 , pp. 1253 - 1257
Copyright
© 2019 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. 

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