AORN journal
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Review
An integrative review of factors related to patient satisfaction with general anesthesia care.
Surgery is typically performed using one or more types of anesthesia. An important patient outcome related to the anesthetic, and a measure of quality from the patient's perspective, is patient satisfaction with anesthesia care. Currently, no psychometrically validated instruments that measure patient satisfaction with general anesthesia care are available in the United States. ⋯ We found the most frequently mentioned modifiable factors related to patient satisfaction were information provided and pain or discomfort. The only nonmodifiable factor with sufficient evidence to include in future studies on instrument development is the patient's age. This review provides information that can help in the design and implementation of quality improvement initiatives and in the development of an instrument to measure patient satisfaction with general anesthesia care.
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Retention of a surgical item is a preventable event that can result in patient injury. AORN's "Recommended practices for prevention of retained surgical items" emphasizes the importance of using a multidisciplinary approach for prevention. ⋯ Perioperative leaders may consider the use of adjunct technologies such as bar-code scanning, radio-frequency detection, and radio-frequency identification. Ambulatory and hospital patient scenarios are included to exemplify appropriate strategies for preventing retained surgical items.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Effect of continuously warmed i.v. fluids on intraoperative hypothermia.
The investigators examined the effect of infusing continuously warmed (ie, 37.0 degrees C [98.6 degrees F]) i.v. fluids in two groups of middle-aged female patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedures. They hypothesized that increasing i.v. fluid temperature during surgery would decrease patients' risk for hypothermia. ⋯ Analyses of covariance, with the first intraoperative temperature measurement treated as the covariate, revealed nonsignificant results at the P < .05 level. The results suggest that administering continuously warmed i.v. fluids intraoperatively has no significant effect on maintaining patients' body temperatures during short laparoscopic surgical procedures.
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A project was undertaken to establish the safety of hospital blankets warmed at different temperatures in a warming cabinet. Three volunteers were covered with unheated blankets, blankets warmed to 110 degrees F (43 degrees C), and blankets warmed to 150 degrees F (66 degrees C). ⋯ No participants perceived overheating or burning at any temperature. Perceived warmth and comfort increased with the initial temperature of the blanket.
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Children's declarative memories of medical procedures can influence their responses to subsequent events. No previous study has examined the accuracy of children's declarative memories after surgery. We tested the memory of 34 anesthesia-naïve five- to nine-year-old children undergoing ambulatory surgery for accuracy of contextual details, pain, and fear two weeks postoperatively. ⋯ Children's memories of pain and fear were similar to their reported pain and fear on the day of surgery. Of 29 children, 6 (20.7%) exaggerated their memory of fear, and 8 of 22 children (36.4%) exaggerated their memory of pain. Although a small proportion of children had exaggerated memories, there was no evidence of consistent bias in their memory of fear or pain.