Postoperative follow-up: is a phone call enough?
OBJECTIVE
At our institution, patients undergoing selected operative procedures are referred to a protocol for telephone follow-up by surgical specialty nurses. Our objective was to review our experience with this protocol to determine if telephone follow-up is a safe and preferred alternative to the traditional postoperative clinic visit.


METHODS
Records of patients followed up by telephone over 6 months were evaluated for information regarding each patient's postoperative course. Records included telephone follow-up forms, clinic notes, and emergency department records.


RESULTS
A total of 563 patients underwent a total of 601 procedures. Seventy-six percent (n = 427) were successfully contacted postoperatively; 24% (n = 136) did not respond to multiple contact attempts. Forty-five requests for clinic follow-up resulted in 27 actual visits, 10 from families not satisfied with telephone contact alone. Most families contacted (382/427, 90%) were satisfied and did not request an appointment. A total of 43 postoperative clinic or emergency department evaluations resulted in 9 interventions (1.6% complication rate).


CONCLUSIONS
Postoperative follow-up by telephone using a structured protocol is a safe alternative to routine clinic follow-up for patients undergoing selected procedures and is preferred by patients' families.
McVay
Marcene R
MR
Department of Surgery, University of Arkansas, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR 72202-3591, USA.
Kelley
Karen R
KR
Mathews
Donna L
DL
Jackson
Richard J
RJ
Kokoska
Evan R
ER
Smith
Samuel D
SD
D000293:Adolescent; D000359:Aftercare / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024802:Nurse's Role; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D012449:Safety; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000379:methods*; D013689:Telephone; D013997:Time Factors