Optimising post-operative recovery of elective abdominal surgery patients: A multimodal approach

Aim: This study aimed to identify and validate a multimodal approach for optimising post-operative recovery of patients admitted for elective abdominal surgery. Background: Identifying the risk of post-operative complications after abdominal surgery enables modification of the risk through targeted interventions and enhanced monitoring. Evidence shows that patients suffer needlessly due to inadequate pre-operative preparation and lack of information regarding the post-operative journey. Methods and materials: The study was conducted using a quasiexperimental, post-test-only, control group design. The sample comprised 60 participants, 30 each in the experimental and control groups. Four aspects of participant recovery were measured – pain (using a numerical pain rating scale), vital signs (temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure), wound healing (using the Southampton wound grading system) and length of hospital stay (in days). Results: One third of the experimental group (33.3%) had normal wound healing compared to one tenth of the control group (10%). Mean pain scores of the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group on post-operative days 0, 1 and 3 (p<0.05). The physical parameters of the experimental and control groups were not found to be significantly different other than the pulse rate on post-operative day 2 and the respiratory rate on post-operative day 0. The difference in length of hospital stay between the experimental and control groups was not found to be significant. Conclusion: Overall, the study found that the multimodal approach was effective in promoting post-operative recovery in elective abdominal surgery.