Surgical Safety Checklist Implementation, Adaptation, and Perioperative Outcomes: Scoping Review with ☸️SAIMSARA

Name: SAIMSARA Evidence Object longevity::SURGICAL_SAFETY_CHECKLIST_PM
Creator: SAIMSARA
License: https://saimsara.com/license/

SAIMSARA

doi:10.62487/saimsara6c3c6bc4

SAIMSARA Journal

Machine-Readable Science • ISSN 3054-3991

Surgical Safety Checklist Implementation, Adaptation, and Perioperative Outcomes: Scoping Review with ☸️SAIMSARA

Longevity & Public Health

Issue 2, Volume 1, 2026

Chat with this issue

DOI: 10.62487/saimsara6c3c6bc4

Editorial note

• Last update: 2026-07-10 21:19:07

What is this paper about

This review shows that the surgical safety checklist improves perioperative safety only when it is used as a real team communication tool, not as paperwork. Across 404 references and 663 original studies, it maps where checklist implementation reduces harm, where compliance fails, and why meaningful use matters more than checkbox completion.

Human-verified editorial review Verified by World ID proof-of-human. This editorial layer was submitted from a SAIMSARA account verified as a unique human.

Generated with SAIMSARA v5.3

Video summary generated from this ☸️SAIMSARA evidence map. Full reference-linked paper and evidence JSON are available after purchase.

Abstract: To map and synthesize original research on the surgical safety checklist, with emphasis on patient outcomes, implementation fidelity, team communication, compliance measurement, barriers to meaningful use, specialty adaptations, digital approaches, and patient-facing checklist models. The review uses 402 references and builds its evidence map from 663 original studies with 17089790 total participants/sample observations (topic-deduplicated ΣN). This scoping review indicates that the surgical safety checklist is most plausibly associated with safer perioperative care when used as a meaningful, verbalized, team-inclusive verification process rather than a documentation exercise, with foundational evidence showing mortality falling from 1.5% to 0.8% and benefit concentrated where completion is full and timely. A recurring signal is the gap between documented and observed compliance, where administrative records can substantially overstate actual engagement, suggesting that measurement of fidelity matters as much as the checklist itself. The evidence also supports a role for local adaptation, implementation support, and safety culture, though effects appear inconsistent across contexts and resource settings. Practically, this highlights that hospitals should prioritize observed, engaged use over checkbox completion. Future research should link directly observed checklist fidelity, participation, and timing to patient outcomes to clarify when and why benefit is realized.

Keywords: Surgical safety checklist; Patient safety; Perioperative care; Checklist implementation; Postoperative complications; Surgical mortality; Operating room teamwork; Team communication; Checklist compliance; Safety culture

Review Stats

Final search date and database lock: 2026-07-10 21:48:35 CEST
Plan: Pro (expanded craft tokens; source: PubMed)
Source: PubMed
Total Abstracts/Papers: 1340
Downloaded Abstracts/Papers: 1340
Included original and non-original Abstracts/Papers (all): 960
Included original Abstracts/Papers (Vote counting by direction of effect): 663
Reference Index (links used in paper): 402
Total participants/sample observations (topic deduplicated ΣN): 17089790

Get access to the full paper

Unlock the full evidence map

Full paper access includes the complete human-readable review, figures, reference index, PDF export, and machine-readable Evidence JSON download.
Evidence JSON can also be purchased separately if you only need the LLM-ready object for agent, AI, or RAG workflows.
Institutional or library access? Sign in with your institution email to open all available SAIMSARA papers under your institution access arrangement.
Need a SAIMSARA review on your own topic? ☸️Request.

Reference Index (402)

[1] A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. — https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmsa0810119
[2] The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis. — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2017.08.002
[3] Perioperative nurses' experiences in relation to surgical patient safety: A qualitative study. — https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12390
[4] Development and validation of patients' surgical safety checklist. — https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07470-z
[5] The surgical safety checklist: a quantitative study on attitudes and barriers among gynecological surgery teams. — https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-07130-8
[6] Feasibility of implementing a surgical patient safety checklist: prospective cross-sectional evaluation. — https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-023-01277-3
[7] Surgical safety checklist compliance process as a moral hazard: An institutional ethnography. — https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298224
[8] Surgical safety checklist in obstetrics and gynaecology. — https://doi.org/10.1016/s1701-2163(15)31055-0

Unlock the full paper to view the complete Reference Index.