THE CRITICAL VIEW OF SAFETY PREVENTS THE APPEARANCE OF BILIARY INJURIES? ANALYSIS OF A SURVEY

BACKGROUND: The risk of bile duct injury (BDI) during cholecystectomy remains a concern, despite efforts proposed for increasing safety. The Critical View of Safety (CVS) has been adopted promoting to reduce its risk. AIM: To perform a survey to assess the awareness of the CVS, estimating the proportion of surgeons that correctly identified its elements and its relationship with BDI. METHODS: An anonymous online survey was sent to 2096 surgeons inquiring on their common practices during cholecystectomy and their knowledge of the CVS. RESULTS: A total of 446 surgeons responded the survey (21%). The percentage of surgeons that correctly identified the elements of CVS was 21.8% and 24.8% among surgeons claiming to know the CVS. The percentage of surgeons that reported BDI was higher among those that incorrectly identified the elements of the CVS (p=0.03). In the multivariate analysis, career length was the most significant factor related to BDI (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of surgeons that correctly identified the Critical View of Safety was low, even among those who claimed to know the CVS. The percentage of surgeons that reported BDI was higher among those that incorrectly identified the elements of the CVS.