Postoperative shoulder surgery initiative (POSSI): an interim report of major shoulder surgery as a day case procedure.
BACKGROUND
There are logistical and financial advantages to undertaking shoulder surgery in a day case setting. However, this approach is limited by postoperative pain being inadequately controlled by oral medication alone. We describe a pilot study investigating the feasibility and acceptance of community based continuous interscalene brachial plexus blockade (CIBPB) to provide effective analgesia for day case shoulder surgery.


METHODS
Phase 1 consisted of five patients who received CIBPB for shoulder surgery. Following an overnight hospital stay they were assessed for discharge home with the interscalene catheter in situ. Once the safety and feasibility of the approach was documented, five more patients were recruited to Phase 2. These patients had the adequacy of analgesia assessed in the postoperative period and were discharged home on the same day as surgery. A district nurse visited twice daily and removed the catheter on the third day. Patient satisfaction was assessed using a discovery interview.


RESULTS
Nine of the 10 patients experienced good analgesia. One patient was re-admitted because the catheter fell out. No patient experienced complications and the discovery interviews showed that the patients were satisfied with their management and pleased to be treated as a day case.


CONCLUSIONS
POSSI proved that it was feasible to manage these patients in the community with support and training of the district nurses. Although extra community nursing hours are required, this technique has the potential for significant cost benefits with at least three bed days saved per patient.
Russon
K
K
Department of Anaesthesia, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. russonkim@doctors.org.uk
Sardesai
A M
AM
Ridgway
S
S
Whitear
J
J
Sildown
D
D
Boswell
S
S
Chakrabarti
A
A
Denny
N M
NM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D001917:Brachial Plexus; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D004739:England; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D018575:Home Care Services, Hospital-Based / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000601:surgery*