Factors Affecting the Postoperative Pain and Length of Hospital Stay of Liver Transplantation Donors

Abstract

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the factors affecting postoperative pain and length of hospital stay of liver transplantation donors. Methods: This is a retrospective study using the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) of 91 patients operated on at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea in 2016. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman's rank correlation, and multiple regression analysis. Results: The average age of the donors was $35.7{pm}12.2$ years, and all donors were family members. PCA was applied for control pain in all patients, and 40.7% of PCA-related side effects were observed. The average length of hospital stay was $9.24{pm}2.52$ days. The factors influencing the length of hospital stay were operative methods, pain control methods, and postoperative complications. The length of hospital stay was 1.29 days shorter if donors had no complication, 1.43 days shorter when only PCA was used, and 1.19 days shorter when laparoscopic resection was performed (Adjusted $R^2=0.17$, F=4.67, p<.05). Conclusion: The results of this study can be used as basic data for practical and effective postoperative nursing education and intervention of living liver donors.