I stumbled across a very interesting article today. A study conducted by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the European Society of Anaesthesiology researched the deadly outcomes of surgeries across Europe, and revealed some rather shocking information.
The mortality rate was higher than anticipated with a great spread among different countries. While in Iceland - the lowest mortality of all the researched countries - the post-OP mortality was around 1.2% it reached out to the highest level - Latvia - with a shocking 21.5% mortality rate. The study was conducted using multiple regression analysis (p < 0.05). Over all 4% (1855 of the sample, n=46 539 patients) died before leaving the hospital.
Further, the data reveals strategic and structural errors done in the after surgery process. Only 27% of all patients who died after the operation were transferred to the critical care. 73% (n=1358 patients) were not transferred to the critical care department any time after the surgery.
Overall, the study might reveal a critical error between the time immediately after leaving the OP and handing over the patient to the regular care system. At this point further research could implement solutions, that directly contribute to save lives. A possible research fields might include communication training for the surgeons, improved communication routines, standardized transfers to critical care or technological solutions such as databases offering the data needed on a mobile platform.
The study conducted is not available online (at least not for free) but the link to the abstract can be found by following the link below.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61148-9/fulltext
Management, Communication & Health is a emerging field in graduate studies. USI and Virginia Tech offer this university degree in business administration, social and health sciences. A student reviews and shares his experience.
