Situational analysis on the recovery of patients who have undergone major abdominal surgery.
Warawan Udomkhwamsuk, Nuttamon Vuttanon, Sirikan Limpakan
PMID 33318821WHAT IT FOUND
After major abdominal surgery, nurses, patients and families described unclear recovery guidelines, severe pain and language barriers as blocking recovery.
They asked for coordinated multidisciplinary care, but this single-hospital study did not test any intervention.
Key findings
01Staff said there were no clear clinical practice guidelines for postoperative care after major abdominal surgery, apart from a hepatectomy pathway.
02Severe wound pain and language differences were described as reasons patients did not cooperate with recovery.
03Participants said recovery needed coordinated multidisciplinary care, and that doctors with a physiotherapist alone were not enough.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in one tertiary hospital in Chiang Mai province, so its processes may not match other settings. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling, and the patient and caregiver group included only 15 patients and 16 caregivers. It covered only gastrointestinal and biliary surgery patients, not urology or gynaecology surgery. It described experiences and service structure; it did not test an intervention or measure recovery outcomes. The health professional sample included 2 physicians and 17 nurses, so physician perspectives were few.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflict of interest. The funder named was Chiang Mai University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the lack of guidelines and the call for multidisciplinary care as evidence that adding them improves recovery. This study described one hospital's situation and did not test any intervention or measure patient outcomes.