Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 1995
Postoperative nausea and vomiting after discharge from outpatient surgery centers.
We examined patients' experiences with nausea and vomiting after they were discharged from outpatient surgical centers. Data were collected on 211 surgical outpatients at 24-48 h after discharge via a telephone interview conducted by outpatient surgery nurses, and at 5 days after discharge via a patient-completed questionnaire. Telephone interviews were conducted with 193 patients. ⋯ Patients who experienced postdischarge nausea and vomiting were not able to resume their normal daily activities as quickly as those who did not. Patients managed postdischarge nausea and vomiting with little contact or intervention from health professionals and with minimal product purchases. The results indicate that postdischarge nausea and vomiting is common after outpatient surgery, and that it results in substantial distress and impairment for patients who experience it.
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Despite increased use of ambulatory surgery, few data exist regarding patient recovery patterns and home-readiness. We prospectively identified the pattern of home-readiness, the persistent symptoms after surgery, and the factors that delay discharge after home-readiness criteria are satisfied. Five hundred patients were scored by the same investigator using the Postanesthetic Discharge Scoring System (PADSS) every 30 min, commencing 30 min after surgery, until the PADSS score was > or = 9. ⋯ In summary, periodic objective evaluation of home-readiness revealed that the majority of patients would achieve a satisfactory score on or before 2 h after surgery. The time to home-readiness by objective evaluation correlated with the type of surgery. Most delays after satisfactory home-readiness scores were reached were due to nonmedical reasons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 1995
The prone positioning during general anesthesia minimally affects respiratory mechanics while improving functional residual capacity and increasing oxygen tension.
We investigated the effects of the prone position on the mechanical properties (compliance and resistance) of the total respiratory system, the lung, and the chest wall, and the functional residual capacity (FRC) and gas exchange in 17 normal, anesthetized, and paralyzed patients undergoing elective surgery. We used the esophageal balloon technique together with rapid airway occlusions during constant inspiratory flow to partition the mechanics of the respiratory system into its pulmonary and chest wall components. FRC was measured by the helium dilution technique. ⋯ L-1.s, P < 0.05). Both FRC and PaO2 markedly (P < 0.01) increased from the supine to the prone position (1.9 +/- 0.6 vs 2.9 +/- 0.7 L, P < 0.01, and 160 +/- 37 vs 199 +/- 16 mm Hg, P < 0.01, respectively), whereas PaCO2 was unchanged. In conclusion, the prone position during general anesthesia does not negatively affect respiratory mechanics and improves lung volumes and oxygenation.