Comparative evaluation of the current preparation process of patients undergoing surgery in comparison with the clinical guidelines: A case study of the urology ward of Imam Reza education and research hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Abstract

Background. The pre-operative evaluations of patients should not cause any mental or physical harm to the patient or waste the financial resources of the patient or the public health system by unnecessary actions. Health spending is one of the issues of concern in developed and developing countries. In Iran, 5–10% of government spending is allocated to this sector. The purpose of the present study was to compare the current process of preparing surgical candidates with accepted clinical guidelines. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, sampling was performed by the judgmental/purposive method among the mentioned population; finally, 134 patients were evaluated in this study. The data were categorized as 3 x 4 tables. On one side of the table, patients were divided into small, intermediate, and large surgical groups according to surgical complexity, and on the opposite side of the table, they were assigned to four groups at low, intermediate, high, and very high risk. As a result, each patient was housed in one of the houses on a 12-hole table. The clinical findings and evaluation results before surgery were extracted and evaluated retrospectively. Results. The mean age of the patients was 49.68 ± 16.96 years, and 74.6% were male. The most common type of surgery was transurethral lithotripsy. The incidence of hypertension (21.4%) among underlying diseases and comorbidities was the highest recorded item. The procedures were selected relatively in the same population size from three groups, namely, small, intermediate, and large procedures, with a frequency of 50 (37.3%), 34 (25.4%), and 50 (37.3%) cases, respectively. Conclusion. In the present study, the majority of patients with minor surgeries did not comply with the valuations recommended by guidelines. Among the patients with intermediate surgeries, in nearly half of the cases, and in the major or complex surgery group, most of the time, the evaluations were performed in accordance with the guidelines. Practical Implications. Physicians should consider adhering to current clinical guidelines when requesting preclinical tests, which can pave the way for minimizing unnecessary costs.