Decreasing Unplanned Office Visits Due to Cast Problems in the Pediatric Population

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Pediatric Care
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Unplanned pediatric orthopedic office visits due to cast complications are frequent.
• Addressing cast-related issues enhances patient safety and clinic efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of different cast care instructions on unplanned pediatric orthopedic visits.
• To determine if a simplified, water-focused handout improves cast care outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 550 pediatric patients treated with casts.
• Group 1: Verbal cast care instructions.
• Group 2: Verbal instructions plus a standard written handout.
• Group 3: Verbal instructions plus a revised handout emphasizing keeping the cast dry.

Main Results:

• Group 3 (revised handout) showed a 6% rate of unplanned visits, compared to 10.3% in Group 1 and 10.5% in Group 2.
• A 55% relative decrease and 4.5% absolute decrease in unplanned visits were observed when comparing Group 3 to Group 2.
• While promising, the observed decrease in unplanned visits was not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

• A simplified, water-focused cast care handout, alongside verbal instructions, reduced unplanned visits in pediatric orthopedic patients.
• This targeted educational approach shows potential for improving cast care and reducing healthcare resource utilization.
• Further research may be needed to achieve statistical significance and confirm these findings.