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Erschienen in: International Urogynecology Journal 10/2019

01.10.2019 | Original Article

Follow-up postoperative calls to reduce common postoperative complaints among urogynecology patients

verfasst von: Christopher Iwanoff, Maria Giannopoulos, Charbel Salamon

Erschienen in: International Urogynecology Journal | Ausgabe 10/2019

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

The purpose of our study was to identify the most common reasons why postoperative urogynecology patients called their surgeon within the first 6 weeks of surgery. We hypothesize that implementing a follow-up postoperative call (FPC) policy would decrease the number of patient-initiated calls within this postoperative period.

Methods

This is a prospective before-and-after cohort study that was conducted in two phases. The initial phase identified the most common reasons why patients call within 6 weeks of their inpatient or outpatient urogynecological surgery. In the second phase, an intervention was implemented where each postoperative patient was called within 48 to 72 h of discharge: the intervention group. The primary outcome was the number of phone calls initiated by patients during the 6-week postoperative period.

Results

There were 226 patients in the control group and 233 patients in the intervention group. Significantly fewer calls were initiated by patients in the intervention group, both groups having a median of 1 call per person, range 0–8 in the control group and 0–10 in the intervention group (p = 0.04). The five most common complaints were as follows: pain (20.4%), medication management (17.4%), disability paperwork (15.5%), and laboratory results (11.5%). There was a significant reduction in calls concerning constipation, laboratory/pathology results, and disability insurance claims after implementing the FPC policy.

Conclusions

The implementation of the FPC policy resulted in fewer patient-initiated calls. As such, there were significant reductions in postoperative complaints of constipation, vaginal bleeding, incomplete bladder emptying, and inquiries into laboratory results and disability paperwork.
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Metadaten
Titel
Follow-up postoperative calls to reduce common postoperative complaints among urogynecology patients
verfasst von
Christopher Iwanoff
Maria Giannopoulos
Charbel Salamon
Publikationsdatum
01.10.2019
Verlag
Springer International Publishing
Erschienen in
International Urogynecology Journal / Ausgabe 10/2019
Print ISSN: 0937-3462
Elektronische ISSN: 1433-3023
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-018-3809-x

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