Conectar
To identify occurrence of harmful incidents related to patient positioning on operating table.
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Eight databases including Ovid, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Epistemonikos, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar were systematically searched from the inception of the databases to August 2023. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flow diagram depicting the flow information.
The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tools were used to assess the risk of bias. Risk of harm with 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated for each included study, and an overall risk was calculated using meta-analysis.
Of the 22 included reports, two were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), five had a prospective cohort design, three had a cross-sectional design, and 12 were register-based studies. Intraoperative peripheral nerve injuries, perioperative pressure ulcers, musculoskeletal injuries, vascular injuries, postoperative pain and eye injuries were related to supine, lithotomy, Trendelenburg, prone and beach chair positioning. Overall risk of any harm was estimated as 0.2%. Studies with patients placed in prone positioning (8 study samples) had the highest risks of harm varying from 0.19 to 0.81, with an overall risk of 0.33. Meta-analysis of the two RCTs showed higher risk of chemosis with head-down positioning than with head in neutral position (overall relative risk = 1.64; 95% CI: [1.25, 2.14]).
Harmful incidents related to patient positioning occur and consequences can be severe. The operating room teams should be aware of the harms and prevent and treat them seriously.
This review underlines that research is sparse on patient positioning on operating table and harmful incidents. There is a need for high-quality, well-designed studies that focus on harmful incidents and prevention of harm related to patient positioning.
No patient or public contribution, as this is a review of previous research.
To describe different patterns of communication aimed at preventing, identifying and managing symptoms between mechanically ventilated patients and clinicians in the intensive care unit.
We conducted a fieldwork study with triangulation of participant observation and individual interviews.
Participant observation of nine patients and 50 clinicians: nurses, physiotherapists and physicians. Subsequent individual face-to-face interviews with nine of the clinicians, and six of the patients after they had regained their ability to speak and breathe spontaneously, were fully alert and felt well enough to sit through the interview.
Symptom communication was found to be an integral part of patient care. We identified three communication patterns: (1) proactive symptom communication, (2) reactive symptom communication and (3) lack of symptom communication. The three patterns co-existed in the cases and the first two complemented each other. The third pattern represents inadequate management of symptom distress.
Recognition of symptoms in non-speaking intensive care patients is an important skill for clinicians. Our study uncovered three patterns of symptom communication, two of which promoted symptom management. The third pattern suggested that clinicians did not always acknowledge the symptom distress.
Proactive and reactive symptom assessment of non-speaking patients require patient verification when possible. Improved symptom prevention, identification and management require a combination of sound clinical judgement and attentiveness towards symptoms, implementation and use of relevant assessment tools, and implementation and skill building in augmentative and alternative communication.
This study addressed the challenges of symptom communication between mechanically ventilated patients and clinicians in the intensive care unit. Our findings may have an impact on patients and clinicians concerned with symptom management in intensive care units.
We used the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research.
A user representative was involved in the design of the study.
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