# Development and validation of a checklist for cardiopulmonary bypass

## TL;DR

This paper presents a validated checklist for cardiopulmonary bypass to improve patient safety and reduce complications during surgeries.

## Contribution

A new checklist for cardiopulmonary bypass was developed and validated using expert consensus to enhance procedural safety.

## Key findings

- A 41-item checklist was developed after two rounds of expert evaluation.
- All checklist items received high acceptance ratings from experts.
- The checklist is proposed to improve safety and quality in cardiopulmonary bypass procedures.

## Abstract

Introduction: Risk prevention protocols related to patient care have been developed to reduce the incidence of adverse events in health care services. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) can trigger several complications, including physiological problems, electrical, mechanical, and human failures, or defective components. In order to promote patient safety and the identification of failures before they can cause damage, it is necessary to the use of a checklist for all surgeries. Objective: To prepare and validate a checklist for cardiopulmonary bypass. Methodology: A consensus validation methodology is applied in this study, in which the Delphi technique was structured for the instrument’s development. Five perfusion experts, with at least five years of experience, had an active participation in this research. First, a questionnaire was structured, based on a comprehensive review of the relevant literature. Then, two rounds of assessments were conducted, allowing for the collection of experts’ opinions. Results: In the first moment, a 42-item list was prepared and sent to the five experts for analysis. Based on participant’s responses, certain elements were accepted, excluded, and suggested. After that, a second 37-item list was assessed by the experts, resulting in all 37 items having an average assessment of ≥4 and a standard deviation ≤1.0 of acceptance. Based on these results, a 41-element checklist was developed, and these elements were considered crucial and relevant for the concerned analysis. Conclusion: The use of specific checklists for cardiopulmonary bypass comes into view as a highly proficient strategy, capable of promoting substantial improvements in the procedure safety and quality. The implementation and approval of this checklist should be considered.