Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 10 TSC 227 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
What Gets Counted
The idea
A traditional surgical count covers four classes of items: sponges, sharps, small miscellaneous items and instruments.
In practice
Take the classes one at a time. First, sponges: soft cotton items with an X-ray detectable marker, such as laparotomy pads, gauze sponges and small dissecting sponges, and surgical towels. Second, sharps: suture needles, scalpel blades, hypodermic needles and similar items. Third, small miscellaneous items: often single-use and often not visible on X-ray, such as vessel loops, electrosurgical tips and scratch pads, and suture packaging parts. Fourth, instruments: clamps, needle holders and retractors, with every component part of a multi-part instrument counted singly, such as each blade and screw of a retractor.
Where people slip
Items that are not counted still have to be accounted for. Dressings, devices and broken fragments are tracked by other means, because a drain tip or a broken piece of instrument can be left behind as easily as a sponge.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- 228When Counts Happen
- 230Radiopaque Sponges
- 234Broken Instruments and Parts
- 312Instrument Sets and Trays
- 322A Missing Retractor Blade
- 332Arranging the Back Table
- 497Needle Counts and Sharps
- 501Surgical Staplers
- 515Sponges and Their Types
- 516Small Miscellaneous Items
- 532Return Every Instrument to Its Place
- 535Sponging the Field
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Tech in Surgery Prep