When it comes to surgical devices, what is really broken?

Surgery has changed rapidly with a higher reliance upon surgical devices. Surgeons trust that the devices have been tested and are safe to use. However, malfunctions do happen and many of us have had these occur during operations. When misadventures occur, the focus usually is on fixing the problem and we are trained to do this. However, most surgeons do not know what should be done about the malfunctioning device; do we need to report this? To whom do we report this? Should we save the device for analysis? Surgeons feel inclined to do something as we realize there is a responsibility to the public to ensure that faulty devices do not harm other patients.

Source: American Journal of Surgery - March 29, 2021 Category: Surgery Authors: Kenneth W. Gow Source Type: research