This pocket book lists 186 errors commonly made by attendings, residents, interns, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants when working with surgical patients on the ward or in the operating room, emergency room, or intensive care unit. The book can easily be read immediately before the start of a rotation or used for quick reference on call. Each entry includes an explanation of the clinical scenario in which the error can occur and the relevant anatomy and pathophysiology. Illustrations of pertinent anatomy, instruments, and devices are included.

Table of Contents:
Tube, Drain, Line, and Catheter Snafus Emergency Room Snafus Operating Room Snafus Ward Snafus Laboratory Snafus Medication Snafus Surgical Subspecialty Snafus Miscellaneous Snafus Have a high index of suspicion for incarcerated or strangulated hernia if a patient has a bowel obstruction and no previous abdominal surgery Consider aortic injury or thoracic great vessel injury if a patient has fractures of the first or second ribs Evaluate the patient for mediastinal or heart injuries if a sternal fracture is present Admit a knee dislocation for observation if an arteriogram is not performed to rule out popliteal artery injury Have a high index of suspicion for nerve injures in humeral fractures and dislocations Look for a rupturing or dissecting aneurysm with any patient who complains of flank pain Make the opening sufficiently wide to adequately drain and pack the cavity when performing an incision and drainage of an abscess Promptly dispose of your own sharps after doing a bedside or emergency room procedure Close the galea as a separate layer when repairing a full thickness laceration to the scalp. Treat crepitus on physical exam as a surgical emergency that requires definitive debridement in the operating room Do not shave the eyebrow when repairing a laceration to this area Do not rule out intraabdominal trauma by clinical exam if the patient is intoxicated or has altered sensorium Do not allow a "negative CT" to prevent you from taking a case of suspected appendicitis to the operating room if the diagnosis is supported clinically Do not remove a knife that is penetrating tissue unless you have a direct intraoperative vision and control Avoid undue traction on the left renal vein to expose the neck of an aortic aneurysm Do not hesitate to convert a laparoscopic cholecystectomy to an open cholecystectomy Use the left side when harvesting a full-thickness skin graft from the groin area or lower abdomen Remember when reviewing Doppler ultrasound results that the superficial femoral vein is a component of the "deep" venous system Consider gastric dilatation when a patient is having respiratory difficulty Do not debride a dry/black eschar overlying a decubitus ulcer in a bedridden patient that has no evidence of underlying cellulitis Consider an addisonian state if it "looks like sepsis and smells like sepsis" but you can not identify a causative microbe. Go above the rib when placing a chest tube or needle into the chest cavity Prescribe Lactobacillus (or other probiotic therapy) when a patient receives any dose of antibiotics Make sure the heparin is removed from the intravenous flushes if a patient is diagnosed with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia Obtain a pregnancy test on every female between the ages of ten and fifty years. Do not call the anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists “anesthesia” or “Dr. Anesthesia”