title: A systematic approach to postoperative management of deceased donor kidney transplant patients with a clinical pathway.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical pathways have been used in many acute hospital settings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop a systematic approach to postoperative care of adult recipients of deceased donor kidney transplants at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pilot quality improvement project that uses implementation of a clinical pathway 24 hours after surgery for adult recipients of a deceased donor kidney transplant for 7 months. Charts from the same 7 months of the preceding year were retrospectively reviewed for comparison. The project occurred on the transplant floor in an acute care hospital and did not include any patients admitted to the intensive care unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  To demonstrate that clinical pathways can (1) promote a method for standardizing postoperative care, (2) decrease postoperative length of stay, and (3) contain costs by minimizing hospital charges related to laboratory and room fees and promote efficient medication use in adult recipients of a deceased donor kidney transplant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 24 patients in the clinical pathway group met daily goals of the implemented clinical pathway. The clinical pathway group had statistically significant decreases in postoperative length of stay, use of laboratory tests, and use of intravenous medications compared with the comparison group. The 2 groups were similar in race, sex, age, and body mass index. Surgical readmissions did not differ significantly between the 2 groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216, USA. aseawright@umc.edu
authors.forename: Ashley Heath
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Seawright
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002102:Cadaver; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D019091:Critical Pathways; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008922:Mississippi; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000592:standards*