Introduction
Elective Orthopaedics patients attending The Golden Jubilee National Hospital (GJNH) follow the Sip Till Send Protocol for fasting before surgery. We introduced a Carbohydrate drink to a patient group to consume prior to theatre and collected data to establish if there was an improvement on Post-Operative Nausea and Vomiting, Length of Stay and Acute Kidney Injuries after surgery.
Methods
Data was collected from 384 patients split into two groups who were undergoing elective Orthopaedic Surgery. Patients were 1st or 2nd theatre position and excluded diabetics. The study group received two 200ml Carbohydrate drinks to consume 2hrs before surgery. The control group followed the standard Sip to send protocol.
We compared pre and post-operative blood results and gained information directly from patients and patient’s notes around nausea and vomiting.
Results
Within the study group 6.25% of patients went on to develop an AKI in comparison to the control group where 5.73% of patients developed an AKI.
A total of 12.5% patents in both groups went on to develop post-operative Nausea and Vomiting. There was a slight improvement to Length of Stay with the Study group having a slightly shorter length of stay compared to the control group.
Conclusions
The audit showed the drinks provided little benefit to patients. We now plan to expand the scope of the audit to include both food and alternative beverages options. Patient data will be collected and compared in the same way.
Authors
Lauren Sweeney
The Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Glasgow, United Kingdom