Minimising risk in gynaecological surgery

Having established the basic principles, we consider the approach to gynaecological surgery that minimises risk by ensuring adequate assessment, explanation of risk and that the surgeon and the surgical team are appropriately trained to undertake the task and deal appropriately with problems that arise. The reactive element of reducing risk is to acknowledge adverse outcome as it occurs and to have in place a system to report with a trigger list of events relevant to gynaecological surgery. Then, the root causes which are generally organisational rather than individual are identified to improve practice by learning from the analysis.