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[The value of anesthesia consultation in relation to the single preanesthetic visit]
M Blanc-Jouvan1, A Mercatello, D Long
1Service d'anesthésie, hôpital de la Croix-Rousse, Lyon, France.
Objective:
In France, a preanaesthetic assessment (PAA) several days prior to hospital admission for a scheduled surgical or diagnostic procedure under anaesthesia, associated with a preanaesthetic visit (PAV) the day before, are compulsory. This study aimed at comparing the benefits of PAA with those of a PAV not preceded by a PAA.
Study Design:
Prospective, controlled, randomized study.
Patients:
The study included 296 patients undergoing either a urologic, or ophthalmologic, or ENT procedure, randomly allocated either to a PAA (followed by a PAV) group or a PAV (without previous PAA) group.
Methods:
The main criterion of comparison was the duration of preanaesthetic hospital stay and the secondary criteria were the incidence of procedure postponements and patients' satisfaction respectively.
Results:
In the PAA group, the preanaesthetic hospital stay was shorter by 0.4 days (P = 0.001). Out of the 19 postponed procedures (7%), the cause of postponement was a medical one in 15 patients: 13 in the PAV group and 2 in the PAA group respectively (P = 0.009). The PAA was not considered as a constraint by most patients.
Conclusion:
The PAA shortens the duration of preanaesthetic hospital stay and decreases the incidence of procedures postponed for a medical cause.