title: Evaluation of a clinical pathway to improve colorectal cancer outcomes.
abstract: The aims of this preintervention and postintervention study were to monitor and evaluate the clinical pathway (CP) for colorectal cancer (CRC) over a 5-year period and to compare 2 groups of patients (before and after the intervention) with regard to different variables of effectiveness. Group I comprised 68 patients who underwent planned surgery between January 2002 and January 2003. Group II comprised a sample of 202 patients who underwent surgery between January 2004 and December 2008. No significant differences were found in the majority of the parameters measured: postoperative stay, compliance with antibiotic prophylaxis, compliance with the staging study, mortality, rate of infection, and reoperations. The mean length of stay (±standard deviation) for patients without complications was reduced significantly (9.2 ± 3.6 in group I versus 7.7 ± 1.7 in group II, P = .031). The CP for CRC did not achieve most of the objectives for which it was designed.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Morales Meseguer, Murcia, Spain. victoriano.soria@carm.es
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Soria-Aledo
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mengual-Ballester
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pellicer-Franco
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carrillo-Alcaraz
authors.forename: Maria José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cases-Baldó
authors.forename: Milagros
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carrasco-Prats
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campillo-Soto
authors.forename: Benito
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Flores-Pastor
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Aguayo-Albasini
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D019091:Critical Pathways / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012737:Sex Factors