30/05/2026
During multiple concurrent procedures on a patient, using one combined running count may reduce the risk of addition or subtraction errors and allow the perioperative team to validate that items have not been retained in the patient.
The AORN “Guideline for the prevention of unintentionally retained surgical items” conditionally recommends that perioperative teams count all items together during the final count when the operative or other invasive procedure involves multiple procedures or sterile fields. The recommendation further clarifies that perioperative teams should maintain sterile technique when counting items used during operative or other invasive procedures for which multiple procedures are performed or sterile fields are used.
For more guidance on preventing retained surgical items during procedures with multiple sterile fields, read this month’s Clinical Issues.
https://aornjournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aorn.70085
Author: Zach Swartz, MHI, BSN, RN, EBP-C, CNOR