gery is a stressful time. That top-to-bottom care is reflected in SMI's patient sur-
veys. Patients routinely express appreciation not only for the care they enjoyed,
but also for how well their families were treated.
The surveys, which are administered through an online healthcare survey ven-
dor, are a crucial gauge, says Ms. Harless. "Every month, I get a report that
shows not only how our scores compare to the previous month, but also to our
January 2015 O U T PAT I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 2 1
A
bout one-third of the 40 million people who under-
go surgery each year experience PONV — one of the
most commonly reported adverse effects of anes-
thesia — if they're not given prophylaxis treatment, according to
a recent study in Annals of Palliative Medicine
(tinyurl.com/mvhb7gu). That's a fair number of people who
suffer the post-op complication researchers cite as potentially
more distressing than pain and a key to patient satisfaction.
That one-third of surgical patients suffer PONV suggests not
enough is being done to lower the incidence. The costs of prophylactic treatment may be a limiting fac-
tor, say the researchers, who suggest focusing multimodal treatment on 4 important risk factors —
female gender, previous history of PONV or motion sickness, non-smoking status and post-op use of
opioids — would improve outcomes and control expenses.
PONV after ambulatory surgery increases hospital-admission-related healthcare costs and accounts
for 0.1 to 0.2% of unanticipated admissions, notes the study. Among surveyed patients mentioned in
the study, nausea and vomiting made the top 10 list of most undesirable post-op outcomes.
Despite the potential to increase medical costs and reduce patient distress, caregivers are not routine-
ly capitalizing on the multiple treatment guidelines and multiple tools and techniques available to
reduce PONV risk, say the researchers.
— Daniel Cook
PaTIEnT SaTISFaCTIOn
Improvement Needed in PONV Prevention
z UNHAPPY ENDING Some patients
fear PONV more than post-op pain.
