Abstract
The study’s aim was not only to use quality improvement system techniques to improve patient care specifically for bleeding but also to track other adverse outcomes. Key drivers were identified and mapped to interventions, namely venous thromboembolism prophylaxis, root cause analysis, indications conference, and operative technique standardization. Bleeding was reduced by 88%, and overall postoperative complications also fell by 63%. A targeted quality improvement project not only was effective in improving outcomes for the specific aim of bleeding but also resulted in improvement for other patient outcomes.
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Data are available upon request.
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This was an oral presentation at the International Federation of Surgery for Obesity Annual Meeting 2023, Naples, Italy.
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Key Points
• Quality improvement initiatives are an effective method of implementing changes that lead to better patient outcomes.
• A quality improvement project designed with a well-defined, specific aim can have collateral improvements in other patient outcomes outside of the original targeted patient outcome.
• We report how we identified our center’s outcomes for bleeding after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) as an opportunity for improvement which led to the development of interventions that reduced bleeding events by 88% but also led to decreased rates in pneumonia, intensive care unit admissions, bowel obstructions, readmission, and reoperations.
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Chao, G.F., Nadzam, G., Cheung, M. et al. Collateral Benefit of Systematic Improvement in Bariatric Surgery Outcomes Following a Single Quality Improvement Project for Bleeding. OBES SURG 34, 1041–1044 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-023-07037-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-023-07037-9