First-year analysis of the operating room Black Box study (January 2020)

Summary

This study in the Annals of Surgery aimed to characterise errors, events and distractions in the operating theatre, and measure the technical skills of surgeons in minimally invasive surgery practice. The authors of the study implemented the use of an operating room (OR) Black Box, a multiport data capture system that identifies intraoperative errors, events and distractions.

The study found that the OR Black Box identified frequent intraoperative errors and events, variation in surgeons’ technical skills and a high number of environmental distractions during elective laparoscopic operations.