Comment Easier said than done. (Score 1) 269
Easier said than done. You really need to see the stuff we work with. The abdomen contains such a mass of organs that make it quite easy to loose the small stuff. For example, the small and large intestines are approximately 20 feet and 5 feet long respectively. As well, both are extremely floppy and slippery making it hard to see every aspect in the abdomen. Suture needles can be very small and when they break off, can be very hard to see. Added to this, there can be a lot of blood making things both stressful and messy - for example, I have been involved in dealing with many "salvage laparotomies" where the abdomen is filled with over 4 litres of blood. Further, surgeons often work in teams multitasking different aspects of the surgery with easily double digits of items inside the patient from sponges, clamps, sutures, ties, retractors and other equipment. So even though everyone is skilled, there are a lot of factors that can lead to such a potentially tragic error.