American journal of surgery
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Comparative Study
Postoperative day one: a high risk period for respiratory events.
In 2001, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations released Pain Management Standards that has led to an increased focus on pain control. Since then the Institute for Safe Medication Practices has noted that overaggressive pain management has led to increases in oversedation and fatal respiratory depression. One of our previous studies found that postoperative patients may be reaching dangerously high levels of sedation as a result of pain management. Our hypothesis is that postoperative patients who have a respiratory event caused by analgesic use are more likely to have that event in the first postoperative day. ⋯ The first 24 hours after surgery represents a high-risk period for a respiratory event as a result of narcotic use. The realization of this risk can lead to the implementation of standards to increase patient safety in the first postoperative day.