Reducing Preventable Patient Harm Due to Retained Surgical Items: The RSI Bundle

Patient Safety Innovation May 29, 2024 Retained surgical items (RSIs) cause severe yet preventable patient harm. RSIs are the most common category of surgical never events.1 An RSI occurs when a needle, sponge, or surgical instrument is unintentionally left behind in a patient after incision closure.2 Ascension Data Science Institute, a part of Ascension health system that provides data analytic support, determined that a patient was harmed from an RSI at their facilities every eight days on average. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/clinical-areas