INFLUENCE OF TYPE OF SURGICAL PROCEDURES ON PROLONGED STAY IN AN AMBULATORY POST ANESTHESIA CARE UNIT

Abstract

S29 INTRODUCTION: Observing patients in Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) has become the standard of care. However, PACUs require high nurse to patient ratios which can significantly increase the cost of patient care. Many factors including type of surgery, type of anesthesia, amount of intraoperative fluids etc. can impact the duration of stay in the PACU. [1] We undertook the following retrospective study to assess the influence of different types of surgical procedures on prolonged stay in an ambulatory PACU. METHODS: After obtaining permission from human subjects we analyzed the data of 893 patients done from January to June of 1998 in our ambulatory surgical center. We gathered the following information on all the patients: date of surgery, type of surgery, attending surgeon, duration of stay in PACU. As there is nothing in the literature suggesting ideal time in PACU based on objective patient variables, we set an arbitrary time limit of 120 minutes. Prolonged stay in PACU was defined as stay greater than 120 minutes in PACU after surgery. We calculated total no. of patients for different types of surgical procedures and how many of them had prolonged stay in PACU. We applied chi square test to each type of procedure versus all other types to determine statistical significance. P<.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Our results are shown in the following Table 1.Table 1DISCUSSION: Prolonged stay in the PACU were statistically significant in patients undergoing gynecological, ophthalmological and ear nose and throat procedures compared to other types of procedures. In a few types of procedures there is a difference in the statistical significance which could be due to a smaller sample size. It appears from this study that the type of procedure performed may have some influence on the prolonged stay in the PACU.