Reducing and Preventing Retained Surgical Items (RFOs)
Official title: Retained Foreign Object Reduction and Mitigation (ReFORM)
Funded at Medical University of South Carolina · NIH-11421132 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A patient-facing look at a project that aims to reduce retained surgical items by studying and improving how surgical counts and teamwork work in operating rooms.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Medical University of South Carolina NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Charleston, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $491,812 |
| NIH project number | 5R18HS029637-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11421132 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients undergoing surgery may benefit from safer counting processes and reduced risk of retained items.
✕Less likely to help
Some patients may not directly benefit if their procedure is unaffected by the new counting methods or if implementation takes longer.
What this research studies
This grant funds a Patient Safety Learning Lab to understand why surgical counts fail and how to prevent RFOs. Researchers will build models of how counting, time pressure, distractions, and technology affect safety, then test grouping and counting methods in laboratory simulations. The work will also examine how teams communicate and learn from mistakes after surgeries to prevent future errors. The project aims to identify practical steps to strengthen the perioperative counting process before incisions are made and to recover lost items when counts are discrepant. The overall goal is a fundamental rethink of how RFOs happen and how to stop them, potentially improving patient safety for thousands of surgeries each year.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to safer operating rooms with fewer retained surgical items and fewer related harms for patients.
How similar studies have gone: Past work on surgical safety has reduced errors through better processes, but this project takes a systems-engineering approach to a long-standing problem, offering potential new gains.
Where this research is happening
-
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Catchpole, Ken — Medical University of South Carolina
- Study coordinator: Catchpole, Ken
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Il1rapl2’s role in shaping cortical wiring in autism
This project studies how a brain gene linked to autism helps form the connections in deep-layer neurons to understand why circuits develop differently in ASD.
-
Neuron-OPC Synaptic Mechanisms Shaping Myelin in Health and Disease
This project looks at how brain cells called oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) listen to neurons to shape myelin, with potential relevance for autism and related conditions.
-
Synaptic development and sleep-related brain circuits in autism
A study in mice explores how early brain circuits that help sleep become wired, hoping to understand sleep problems in autism.
-
Enteric neuron and intestinal stem cell signals shaping gut barrier
A research project from the Medical University of South Carolina explores how nerve cells in the gut talk to the lining and stem cells to defend the digestive tract, using human organoids and mouse models.
-
Glutamine and macrophage behavior in liver cancer
A funded project at a medical university aims to understand how the liver’s immune cells interact with a specific type of liver cancer by looking at metabolism, especially glutamine and ammonia.
-
Glycoprotein urine markers that signal lupus nephritis treatment response
A novel test uses urine glycoprotein patterns to show how well lupus nephritis is responding to standard treatment.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.