1 5 5
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T
should alert patients to seek emergency care.
True emergencies
I thought, why not communicate those concepts in patient-centric lan-
guage on a take-home card? We could introduce and review the 12
warning signs with the patient and the patient's family before dis-
charge. Then, as part of the post-discharge follow-up phone call, a
nurse would review the signs again and field any questions.
The goal is to deliver the best patient care by triaging post-operative
issues and by confining emergency department visits to those that are
true emergencies. OSM
Call your physician if you experience:
• Wound drainage
• Wound opening
• Wound redness or changes in the
appearance
of the surrounding skin or around the
ostomy
• No bowel movement or no gas/stool
from rectum for more than 24 hours
• Increased abdominal pain
• Vomiting
• Abdominal swelling
• High ostomy output and/or dark urine
or no urine
• Fever greater than 101.5°F
• Inability to take anything by mouth
for more than 24 hours
Go to the emergency department if
you:
• Have shortness of breath or are unable
to breathe
• Have chest pain
12 WARNING SIGNS
When Post-op Patients Should Call Their Docs
Ms. Wasserman (margaret.wasserman@advocatehealth.com) is the senior analyst of physician peer
review and a certified ACS NSQIP SCR at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, Ill.
