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

• Published in: International Urogynecology Journal 2019-10, Vol.30 (10), p.1667-1672
• Main Authors: Iwanoff, Christopher, Giannopoulos, Maria, Salamon, Charbel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aftercare; Aged; Constipation; Female; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures - rehabilitation; Gynecology; Humans; Laboratories; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Patients; Postoperative Care; Postoperative Complications - therapy; Postoperative period; Prospective Studies; Telerehabilitation; Urology
• ISSN: 0937-3462; 1433-3023
• DOI: 10.1007/s00192-018-3809-x

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.