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Topic of Interest: Complications of Surgery
The sixth PROMs quarterly topic of interest is on further surgery, readmission to hospital and problems experienced after PROMs surgery, based on the responses that patients recorded on their post-operative questionnaires.
Finalised data for 2010-11 shows:
Readmissions and further surgery
Patients are asked, on the post-operative questionnaires whether they have had another operation on the same part of their anatomy as their PROMs operation.
· 15.0 per cent of varicose vein respondents and 15.5 per cent of groin hernia respondents indicated that they had had another operation on their varicose veins or groin area respectively.
· 4.9 per cent of varicose vein respondents and 5.6 per cent of groin hernia respondents indicated that they had been readmitted to hospital since their PROMs operation.
· 3.8 per cent of knee replacement respondents and 2.8 per cent of hip replacement respondents indicated that they had had another operation on their knee or hip (respectively) since their PROMs operation.
· 9.8 per cent of knee replacement respondents and 7.9 per cent of hip replacement respondents indicated that they had been readmitted to hospital since their PROMs operation.
Complications of surgery
Patients are asked, on the post-operative questionnaires whether, after their operation, they have experienced any of the following problems:
- allergy or reaction to drug
- urinary problems
- bleeding
- wound problems
Between 23.0 to 32.4 per cent of respondents indicated having had one or more of these post-operative complications, with the orthopaedic procedure respondents (hip and knee replacements) having higher rates of complication than varicose vein and groin hernia respondents.
The rate at which respondents indicated that they had experienced the complications varied, both between the different complications and between procedures. Of those who indicated having one or more of the complications:
· Having 'allergy or reaction to drug' varied between 11.9 per cent for varicose vein to 36.3 per cent for knee replacement respondents.
· Having 'urinary problems' varied between 6.0 per cent for varicose vein to 39.8 per cent for hip replacement respondents.
· Having 'bleeding' varied between 18.2 per cent for hip replacement to 51.7 per cent for varicose vein respondents.
· Having 'wound problems' varied between 31.6 per cent for hip replacement to 58.0 per cent for varicose vein respondents.
A full breakdown is presented in the accompanying Excel file.