• B J Larocque and R J Maykut.
• Department of Medicine, St. Joseph's Health Centre, London, Ont.
• Can J Surg. 1994 Oct 1; 37 (5): 397-401.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact on preoperative laboratory investigations in elective surgery after the implementation of guidelines for ordering such tests.DesignA retrospective chart audit.SettingA university teaching hospital.PatientsThe charts of 903 patients who underwent an elective surgical procedure from each surgical specialty except cardiovascular and thoracic.InterventionsImplementation of guidelines for preoperative laboratory investigations.Main Outcome MeasuresImpact on the preoperative use of laboratory investigations after implementation of the guidelines as well as patient morbidity and mortality.ResultsThe mean number of preoperative laboratory investigations done per patient decreased from 4.65 before implementation of the guidelines to 4.18 after (p < 0.001). There was no apparent adverse impact on patient morbidity or mortality.ConclusionImplementation of guidelines for preoperative laboratory investigations for elective surgery resulted in a reduction in the number of tests without adverse impact on patient morbidity or mortality.

17 keywords...

hide…