Situate Detection System X

The purpose of this request is to purchase the Covidien Situate device. The device is used for counting sponges in the Operating Room. This device is needed to support the prevention of retained sponges in patients after surgery by helping ensure that all sponges are accounted for before the procedure is completed. AORN recommends that hospitals use adjunct technology to supplement the manual counting process for surgical soft goods as part of efforts to prevent retained surgical sponges. This unit is intended to support manual counting and help reduce the risk of human error.

This request is due to the change in practice in the operating room. To prevent sponges from being retained in a patient the operating room looked at several different devices to determine the one that would best support their practice. During a count if a sponge is missing an x-ray will only find the sponge 67 percent of the time and this also adds to the OR time and prolonged anesthesia exposure.