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Author Spotlight: Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Gastric Content Assessment and Risk Stratification in Perioperative Care
Published on: September 22, 2023
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Reducing prolonged fasting for abdominal ultrasound scans
Rajan Singh Sondh1, Rajnish Mankotia1
1Department of General Surgery, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Birmingham, UK rmankotia@nhs.net rsondh7@yahoo.com.
BMJ Open Quality
|August 4, 2023
Summary
Improving patient fasting before abdominal ultrasounds significantly enhanced experiences and workflow. Simple interventions, like staff education and visual aids, boosted compliance from 22% to 88% using plan-do-study-act cycles.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Healthcare Quality Improvement
- Patient Care Optimization
Background:
- Prolonged fasting before abdominal ultrasounds negatively impacted patient experience, diagnosis, and hospital costs.
- A significant majority (78%) of patients in a surgical service were not adhering to the recommended 6-hour fasting guideline.
- Non-compliance led to scan rescheduling, delayed treatment, and increased healthcare expenses.
Conclusions:
- Plan-do-study-act cycles are effective for refining interventions to improve patient outcomes.
- Simple strategies can significantly enhance compliance with medical fasting protocols.
- Optimizing pre-procedure fasting improves patient care, reduces costs, and streamlines hospital operations.
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