Abstract: Objective: To investigate the current management situation of the foreign surgical instruments. Methods: A survey regarding the management of foreign surgical instruments was conducted in 1166 public hospitals from 27 provinces in China. Results: The management model of foreign surgical instruments in 88.8% of the hospitals was four-level including the equipment department, Central Sterile Supply Department, operating room, and the subspecialty of operating room. The turnover rate of technicians in 34.7% of the hospitals was above 10% and 18.9% of the hospitals had no systematic training and assessment. About 54.5% of the hospitals did not know the information regarding the foreign surgical instrument before surgery, 9.3% of the hospitals did not delivery foreign surgical instruments to Central Sterile Supply Department on time, 83.5% of surgical foreign surgical instruments were sterilized urgently. About 21.6% of the hospitals failed to perform four checks on the quantity and completeness of foreign surgical instruments. Conclusion: A management system for foreign surgical instruments should be established and the regulations should be fully implemented; technicians management should be standardized; the principle of checking the items of foreign surgical instruments should be implemented, the time should be strictly controlled when the instruments are delivered to the Central Sterile Supple Department, and the quality of instrument processing before and after surgery should be improved to maintain the safety of surgical patients.

Key words: operating room; foreign surgical instruments; management; current situation