Background: Surgical debriefs help reduce preventable errors in the operating room (OR) leading to patient injury. However, compliance with debriefs remains poor. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of structured feedback to surgeons in improving compliance with and quality of surgical debriefs.
Materials and methods: Surgical cases at an 875-bed urban teaching hospital from January-June 2019 were audited via audio/video recording to evaluate debrief performance. Debriefs were evaluated for clinical completeness and teamwork quality via two structured forms. Surgeons received an evaluation of their debrief performance at two time points during the study period (February and April). Univariate and mixed-effects regression analyses were used to assess changes in debrief compliance and quality over time.
Results: A total of 878 surgical cases performed by 61 surgeons were reviewed: 198 (22.6%) cases during Period 1 (P1), 371 (42.3%) P2, and 309 (35.1%) P3. The rate at which a debrief occurred was 62.1% in P1, 73.0% in P2, and 82.2% in P3 (P < 0.001). Debriefs were 1.96 (95% CI 1.31-2.95, P = 0.001) times more likely to be completed during P2 and 3.21 (95% CI 2.07-5.04, P < 0.001) times more likely during P3 compared to P1. The percent of debriefs initiated by the lead surgeon increased from 59.8% in P1, to 80.0% in P2, to 81.5% in P3 (P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Providing structured feedback to surgeons on their debrief performance was associated with improvements in compliance and completeness with debriefing protocols, OR teamwork and communication, and leadership and accountability from the lead surgeons.
Keywords: Checklist; Debrief; Education; Feedback; Quality improvement; Safety.
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