Ultrasound-guided regional nerve blocks using Fujifilm Sonosite’s point-of- care ultrasound devices help with shorter post-surgical lengths of stay and higher patient satisfaction
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is a paradigm shift in perioperative care, designed to minimize the effects of surgical stress for the patient and safely facilitate early discharge. A large body of evidence has demonstrated that this multidisciplinary approach to standardizing care of the surgical patient with best practices, significantly reduces complications, infection rates, readmissions, costs, and length of stay (LOS), and increases patient satisfaction.
As part of an Anesthesia-led ERAS program, patients undergoing specific surgeries require fewer opioids, get discharged sooner, and are more satisfied when ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia is performed using point-of-care ultrasound devices during the pre-surgical process. One example of a hospital that measured the impact of this approach demonstrated a 33% reduction in length of stay, a 60% reduction in opioid use, well-controlled post-surgical pain, and higher patient satisfaction: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery with Ultrasound | Fujifilm Sonosite
Some Canadian hospitals have recognized the high value of ERAS in delivering better patient care while increasing OR turnover rates, and are making extensive use of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia to gain surgical efficiencies. With moderate increases in resource allocation for anesthesia nurses and appropriate spaces for administering pre-surgical ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (“block rooms”), more hospitals could take advantage of this approach for speeding up surgeries while improving patient outcomes.
For more information: www.sonosite.com