Communication as the most important non-technical skill in the operating room

Objective: To carry out a review of the literature about the complementarity between communication in the surgical area as a non-technical skill and its fundamental aspect in surgical practice.Methods: A bibliographic search was carried out by consulting the databases of the National Library of Medicine, PubMed, SciELO and Google Scholar.Articles published in the last 10 years, in English and Spanish, were considered as inclusion criteria, according to a series of keywords.Results: The initial search provided 2597 titles, which were screened and 22 articles were recovered for study analysis.Conclusions: The process of communicating is not so simple and linear; communication must be clarified by the participants in the interaction since they must overcome certain internal and external variables for it to develop properly.Communication in the operating room must be assertive and effective, where everyone feels important and is able to understand what is happening with the ability to present their own opinions as a key factor for patient safety during the surgical time.