Information Requirements and Difficulties Experienced After Discharge in Day Surgery Patients: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Survey

Objective: Day surgery procedures have increasingly been used nowadays as a result of improvements in surgical techniques, anesthesia and analgesia techniques and they are preferred for their benefits to the patient and to the healthcare system. However, it is known that day surgery patients may face many problems in the perioperative period. This research was conducted determin the difficulties experienced by day surgery patients and their information requirements. Material and Methods: The study was designed as a cross-sectional and descriptive survey. It was conducted in 2003 for a total of 12 months, with the participation of 230 patients who had surgery in urology, orthopedics, ear nose throat, ophthalmology, plastic surgery or general surgery clinics and were hospitalized in the day surgery unit of a university hospital in Ankara Province. Data were collected using "Patient's Personal Information and Knowledge Requirements" and "Difficulties Experienced After Hospital Discharge" forms. Results: The research results showed that day surgery patients had deficient knowledge regarding the day surgery process and they experienced problems after discharge at home especially within the first three postoperative days. Mainly, the problems were related to the surgical site and the respiratory, digestive, nervous, urinary and musculoskeletal systems. Conclusions: Day surgery patients experienced many problems in the postoperative period and their knowledge on the solution of these problems and the day surgery process was insufficient. Therefore, we recommend to give the patients and their relatives sufficiently detailed verbal and written information on the day surgery process.