Routine Overnight Assessments in Stable Pediatric Surgery Patients: A Critical Reconsideration

Hospitalized patients are subject to overnight vital sign (OVS) monitoring which leads to subsequent sleep disturbance and contributes to adverse outcomes and negative hospital experiences. Studies in pediatric populations have shown that routine OVS checks infrequently detect significant events. We hypothesized that OVS monitoring in pediatric surgery patients rarely detects abnormalities resulting in meaningful interventions.

We performed a retrospective chart review of patients ≥ 5 years old admitted to the pediatric surgery service at a stand-alone Children's Hospital from 2019 to 2021. ICU patients were excluded from analysis. Overnight vital signs were defined as those recorded every 4 h between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM. Abnormal OVS and subsequent interventions were recorded.

Analysis included 354 patients aged 5-19 years old. At least one OVS was abnormal in 62% of patients. Abnormal blood pressure was the most commonly flagged OVS (80%). The rate of intervention for flagged OVS was 58%. Medication administration was the most common intervention (54%). Unplanned operative intervention and transfer to the ICU were uncommon but did occur in this cohort (0.9% and 1.4%, respectively).

The majority of pediatric surgery patients had at least one flagged OVS and, while rare, some serious complications were detected. While minimizing sleep disturbance and maximizing patient satisfaction is valuable, these results support prioritizing patient safety with routine vital sign assessments until we can determine if there are sub-populations that can be safely managed without sleep disruptions.

Level 4.

Retrospective chart review.