Surgical versus medical care for postoperative cardiac surgical patients at the general ward

Objectives: To shorten hospital stay after cardiac surgery, several risk factors have been defined to identify patients who can be discharged early. These risk factors are dependant on the patient; no studies exist on the influence of the treating physician himself on postoperative patient stay. Met...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery 1999-08, Vol.16 (2), p.222-227
Main Authors: Gödje, O., Lamm, P., Adelhard, K., Schütz, A., Kilger, E., Götz, A., Lange, T., Mair, H., Reichart, B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Cardiac surgery
Cardiac Surgical Procedures
Clinical Competence
Coronary Care Units
Female
Humans
Incidence
Infection
Length of Stay
Male
Medical sciences
Medical Staff, Hospital
Middle Aged
Postoperative Care - methods
Postoperative Care - nursing
Postoperative Complications - epidemiology
Postoperative length of stay
Postoperative patient care
Risk Factors
Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases
Surgery of the heart
Workforce
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Summary:Objectives: To shorten hospital stay after cardiac surgery, several risk factors have been defined to identify patients who can be discharged early. These risk factors are dependant on the patient; no studies exist on the influence of the treating physician himself on postoperative patient stay. Methods: In a university affiliated cardiac surgical clinic we investigated patients who were postoperatively treated either on medical wards with no cardiac surgeon's presence or on a cardiac surgical ward; at both types of wards physicians had several years experience with cardiac surgical patients. Taking several risk factors for postoperative morbidity into account, postoperative length of stay and incidence of wound healing complications have been compared. Results: Within a 3-month period, 84 patients were treated at the cardiac surgical ward, 102 patients at the medical wards. Risk factors for postoperative morbidity were present in 87% of patients, statistically independent of postoperative wards. Although demographic data and median ICU-stay of both patient groups was comparable, the median post-ICU stay was 9 days at the surgical and 13 days at the medical wards (P
ISSN:1010-7940
1873-734X
DOI:10.1016/S1010-7940(99)00203-1