What is it about?
This article examines preventable adverse outcomes in spine surgery by reviewing cases in which patients underwent unnecessary or inappropriate surgical interventions. By analyzing real-world examples, the study highlights how overreliance on imaging findings and insufficient comprehensive patient evaluation can lead to misdiagnosis and avoidable harm. The paper emphasizes the importance of integrating clinical history, physical examination, and broad differential diagnosis into surgical decision-making.
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Why is it important?
Spine surgery carries significant risks, and even small diagnostic errors can result in serious, long-lasting consequences for patients. This article is important because it shows that many adverse outcomes are not due to surgical technique, but to failures in preoperative evaluation and clinical reasoning. By drawing attention to preventable mistakes, the study promotes safer, more patient-centered care, helps reduce unnecessary surgeries, and provides valuable educational lessons for clinicians involved in spine care and surgical decision-making.
Perspectives
This work grew out of everyday clinical experience, where we repeatedly saw that preventable harm often stemmed from incomplete evaluation rather than technical error. By sharing these cases, we aim to emphasize the importance of comprehensive assessment and clinical reasoning in spine surgery.
Professor Tayfun Hakan
University of Health Sciences, İstanbul
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Preventable Adverse Outcomes in Spine Surgery: Insights from a Retrospective Case Series on Comprehensive Patient Evaluation, BOĞAZİÇİ TIP DERGİSİ, January 2025, Kare Publishing,
DOI: 10.14744/bmj.2025.74436.
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