Diego Piazza, President dell'Acoi the Italian Association of Hospital Surgeons stated in a recent press release that "The scalpels in Italy do not cut anymore."

These were the findings from a survey of the members Acoi and involved thousands of surgeons throughout Italy. He went on to say:

"The situation has become more worrying over the years despite concerns over the progressive deterioration of the quality of medical devices. 
 

The continuous search for the lowest market price combined with questionable evaluation criteria from the regional commissions has resulted to reduced levels of quality. The price cannot and must not be the sole criterion of evaluation, at the expense of quality and safety. 
 

Patients have the right, as written down in 2007 in the Charter of quality governing surgery, to the most appropriate surgical technique according to most recent scientifically evidenced studies. 
 

The poor quality of scalpels used today has consequences both aesthetically, because the cut loses the 'famous' surgical precision and from post operative infection as the increase in skin trauma around the area of the wound also increases the risk of bacterial contamination of the wound itself. It is also clear that having to increase the force exerted for the initial incision you are likely to cut beyond the operator's intentions. 
 

We as ACOI can also say that from a cost perspective this is an 'uneconomic' choice because for the same intervention it may be necessary to use more than one scalpel - something that would not occur with a good scalpel that, on the contrary, could be used several times during the same operation. For these reasons it is essential that the scientific surgery companies are active part in the selection process and the choice of medical devices. 
 

If we continue to favor the price at the expense of quality, reducing even the most essential characteristics of the product features, what kind of safety and quality do we provide to our patients? ".

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