Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
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J R Coll Surg Edinb · Jun 1999
Do patients with acute abdominal pain wait unduly long for analgesia?
A prospective audit of 100 emergency admissions was carried out to determine local surgical practice for analgesia administration in patients with acute abdominal pain. The main outcome measure investigated was waiting time for analgesia and how this was influenced by (i) severity of pain, (ii) clinical diagnosis, (iii) clinical setting. The data were correlated with the results of a questionnaire on timing of analgesia. ⋯ In conclusion, a substantial cohort of patients with acute abdominal pain (43%) wait too long for analgesia. Delays are due to omission of analgesia in A&E, and reluctance of junior staff to administer analgesia for fear of masking physical signs. Clinical guidelines for pain medication in acute surgical emergencies are warranted.
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J R Coll Surg Edinb · Jun 1999
Completion of the journey of care: Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality (SASM).
The ideal must be to audit all deaths as part of routine surgical and anaesthetic practice. We have examined the level of compliance of surgeons and anaesthetists participating in the Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality (SASM) for the audit's first three years. The audit has achieved more than 92% compliance, unchanged over a three year period. As a consequence it can be regarded as a truly routine part of surgical and anaesthetic practice within Scotland.