Muhammad Najmuddin Shabbir, I Iqbal M Ali, Imtiaz Ahmed, Muhammad Shahzeb Najam.
Audit of surgical postoperative instructions writing in urban hospitals.
Pak J Surg Jan ;29(4):242-4.

Objective: Audit of current patt ern of postoperative instructions writing in urban hospitals and to evaluate the commonly neglected areas. Study design: A retrospective audit. Place and duration of study: Department of surgery Sarfraz Rafi qui shaheed hospital, Tahir medical center and Munawar memorial hospital Karachi, from January 2013 to June 2013. Methods: Surgical records of patients admitt ed in Sarfraz Rafi qui Shaheed Hospital, Tahir Medical Center and Munawar Memorial Hospital were reviewed and compared with our standard postoperative instructions list containing 12 parameters; name of procedure, date of operation, nil per oral(NPO )duration, intravenous fl uids type quantity and duration of administration; analgesia type dose route of administration and duration; antibiotics prophylactic/ therapeutic dose route of administration ,duration; deep venous thrombosis(DVT) prophylaxis, steam inhalation /nebulization frequency; mobilization in bed, out of bed; switching to oral medication; biopsy protocols; operating surgeon’s signature. Results: Total of 150 patient fi les from three diff erent surgical specialties were scrutinized for postoperative instructions writing patt ern with 64.25% of standards achieved in general surgery, 52.91% in orthopedics, and 50.83% in urology. Conclusion: We concluded that in surgical practice postoperative instruction writing is not taken seriously by operating surgeons. So we would like to advise that a printed standardized postoperative instructions form should be att ached with patients’ fi les having patients names, bed no, and hospital number on each page.

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