Hip replacement clinical pathway
Introduction
The Local Health Authority of Verbano - Cusio – Ossola (VCO), Piedmont, covers about 172,429 inhabitants, 37,205 (22%) of which are aged over sixty. Hospitalization is granted by three hospitals with a total number of acute care beds of 522.
The Piedmont Region has developed an Institutional Accreditation system which involves implementation of care pathways with simultaneous verification of the structural, organizational and technological requirements at Department level.
The good practice herein described is about the re-engineering process of the care pathway for elective hip replacement according to the requirements for the Institutional Accreditation of the Piedmont Region.
The State of the Art
According to the procedure adopted by the Italian Register of the Orthopaedic Prosthetic Implants (RIPO), a form with the patient’s personal details, and information about the disease that need surgery, antibiotic and antithromboembolism prophylaxis, the possible use of bone grafts, possible complications in the perioperative period, must be filled in for each hip or knee replacement. Trade name, batch production of each component and the type of bone cement used are also to be recorded, using self-adhesive labels attached to the implants.
The outcome of surgery (and therefore its effectiveness) is monitored using as an endpoint the implant removal.
Taking cue from the above, it was considered to be useful to check the possibility of including items proposed by the Registry (RIPO) in the macro-management model of care of Hip Replacement.
In VCO Orthopaedics Departments most implants are cementless, used at both femoral and acetabular level. Only in special cases cemented or hybrid and custom made protheses or anatomical implants are used.
Type of surgical procedure performed:
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total replacement (arthroplasty surgery) ICD-9-CM 81.51
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partial replacement (endoprosthesis surgery) ICD-9-CM 81.52
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reoperation (revision surgery) ICD-9-CM 81.53
Based on the accreditation requirements of the Piedmont Region, a clinical audit was conducted at VCO, to put in writing, through flow diagrams, operating procedures, treatment protocols, etc. the whole pathway. This revision allowed identification of critical points, organizational redundancies, wasted resources, shortcomings and the resulting corrective actions.
A set of macro-indicators was identified and standards in compliance with the literature and / or to the local situation have been defined. Several procedures were defined, including: patient identification, surgical site and side, pain assessment and management, management and removal of catheters and drainage, prevention of thromboembolism and nosocomial infections, etc.
Results
The Hip Replacement therapeutic and diagnostic pathway has been implemented since 2008.
Its application is annually monitored through collection, verification and evaluation of a well-known set of indicators (defined in the re-engineering phase).
Data on indicators: from april 2008 to july 2009 (15 months after the implementation of the HRTDP).
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Average length of hospital stay shorten from 19 to 15 days
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Waiting time between prehospitalization and hospitalization for hip replacement surgery (Max 30 gg):100% confirmed
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Number of patients scheduled for operation and deleted/ Total number of patients scheduled: 11%
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Number of patients on whom PCR was performed/Total number of patients scheduled: from 36% to 87%
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Number of clinical records with functionality assessment form (HHS)/ total clinical records: from 31% to 97%
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Number of pre-hospitalization records with consent to surgical procedure/total number of pre-hospitalization records: from 30% to 100%
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Number of pre-hospitalization records with consent to anesthesiological procedure/total number of pre-hospitalization records: 100% confirmed
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Number of pre-hospitalization records with ASA criteria: / total number of pre-hospitalization records from 97% to 100%
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Trichotomy in accordance with the protocol/ total clinical records: from 78% to 100%
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Surgical site identification in accordance with the procedure/ total clinical records: from 11% to 58%
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Deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis in accordance with the protocol / total clinical records: 100% confirmed
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Short-term antibiotic prophylaxis (peri-operative) according to protocol / total clinical records:from 34% to 73%
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PCR Time zero (pre-opertive): from 52% to 81%
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Number of patients who underwent personal data verification and side identification/total numb of patients operated PTA: from 11% to 58%
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N. of patients who underwent count of gauze according to procedure/tot. n. of patients operated: from 36% to 100%
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N. of surgical sessions completed over 60 minutes after the expected time/tot. n. of surgical sessions: 0
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N. of patients who underwent reoperation within 15 days after the first intervention/total n. of interventions: 0
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N. of patients who underwent subluxation reduction after surgery/tot. n of interventions: 0
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N. patients who underwent revision surgery/ tot. n of interventions: 0
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N. of patients with analgesic treatment post-operative according to the Hospital Without Pain Committee protocol: from 11% to 89%
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Pain monitoring (1-10) COSD: from 8% to 87%
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Postoperative blood recovery: from 87 to 90%
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Autologous transfusions: 95% confirmed
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Homologous transfusion: from 35% to 30%
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Drain removal on day 1st: from 46% to 100%
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Urinary catheter removal on day 1st/2nd : from 77% to 82%
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PCR day 3 and 8: from 32% to 78%
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Discharge assessment of functionality (M.D.U.): from 52% to 100%
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Conclusions
The review of this care pathway has supported the reduction of average length of stay, the spread of standardized procedures in other care pathways (eg: patient and site identification , pain assessment and management, trichotomy, catheter removal) agreement and collaboration among professionals.