The AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement released a new toolkit to prevent intra- and postoperative complications for obese patients undergoing ambulatory surgery.
"It is important for providers to know that while each patient must be evaluated individually, many obese patients can safely undergo surgery in an ambulatory setting," said Senior Director and General Manager for AAAHC Institute Naomi Kuznets, PhD. "This new AAAHC Institute toolkit gives providers easily implementable guidelines for when it is advisable to move forward with ambulatory surgery and when a hospital may be a more appropriate setting."
Here are five things to know:
1. The toolkit is designed to help ambulatory providers decide whether to delay surgery or refer the patient to a hospital based on the patient's body mass index and presurgical health status.
2. Current literature shows patients aren't significantly more likely to be hospitalized after ambulatory surgery than non-obese patients, but obese patients are at higher risk for several intraoperative complications.
3. The new tool was designed as a quick reference for ambulatory surgery center staff who have questions about preventing complications in obese patients. Center committees can also use the tool when developing internal guidelines.
4. This is the second toolkit AAAHC Institute has released on caring for obese patients with the first focused on disease management and the primary care provider's role in identifying, screening and treating these patients.
5. The common comorbidities associated with obesity include:
• Arthritis
• Chronic back pain
• Cardiovascular disease
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Gallbladder disease
• Respiratory issues
• Stress incontinence