“Patient centred care after day surgery: scope for improvement”

Keywords: outpatient treatment, pain relief, operations

At the moment, more than half of all operations are carried out on an outpatient basis. Many patients associate outpatient treatment with a speedy recovery. However, this study found that just 17% of patients had recovered well by the fourth day post-surgery and that nearly half of the patients experienced poor overall recovery rates. Certain types of operations are associated with poorer recovery rates: for gallbladder surgery and arthroscopic knee surgery, very few patients recovered properly by day four. In addition, more than 55% of patients experienced moderate to severe pain despite having been prescribed pain medication.

The second half of this study examined ways to improve pain relief for outpatient treatment.

• The study improved a model that is used to predict whether patients are likely to experience pain following an outpatient operation.
• The study demonstrated that a respective 10% and 20% of patients with moderate to severe pain did not take their pain medication at all or as prescribed.
• This study also examined alternatives to paracetamol and non-steroidal inflammatory drugs such as Brufen and Voltaren for at-home pain relief following outpatient surgery.