Book excerpt: Put patient safety at the center of your surgical protocol—with this essential case-based guide Despite many advances in the practice of surgery, surgical complications continue to cause significant patient morbidity and mortality. Now more than ever, it is the responsibility of every surgeon to take the lead in understanding and mitigating complications and adverse events. Surgical Patient Safety: A Case-based Approach is your blueprint for putting this goal within reach. This timely resource gives you all the insights needed to effectively manage patient safety, covering everything from sharpening communication skills to establishing shared decision-making with patients and their families. Supplementing this important content are numerous case-based examples and exercises, supported by color illustrations, tables, figures, radiographs, and algorithms. Taken as a whole, this new textbook represents a one-stop, hands-on patient safety primer that no other sourcebook can match. Surgical Patient Safety represents a vital call to action—one designed to inspire a physician-driven initiative fostering a global culture of patient safety. Features • The latest practical patient safety tools for surgeons in training, including surgical safety checklists, intraoperative “rescue” strategies, and the global implementation of new regulatory compliance guidelines • Case-based scenarios examining technical challenges and bail-out options in the operating room • Bulleted “pearls and pitfalls” that take you through the decision-making process for diagnostic work up and revision of specific complications • Insights from renowned experts that explain how to handle malpractice lawsuits; navigate the modern dangers of electronic health records; apply the pragmatic “IKEA approach” for patient advocacy; and much more • A must-read for all practicing surgeons, independent of the surgical subspecialty