Literature review

Running head: HEALTHCARE 1

HEALTHCARE 3

Healthcare

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Healthcare

Post-operative pain (post-op) that is acute has emerged as an area of concern with the facility, especially among patients who have undergone through surgery. The problem arises immediately after surgery, between 1st and the 7th day after discharge from the theatre. As a result, safety and risk management concerns for patients become a priority to ensure satisfactory patient outcomes and affordable intervention that does not have side adverse. The current pharmacologic treatment (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) require alternative as cold therapy that is affordable and community-based practice.

The Formulation of PICOT Question

Among post-operative patients (P) with acute pain, does the use of cryotherapy (I), compared to Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen) (C), help to reduce post-surgical pain for three months?

P: post-operative patients

I: cryotherapy

C: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen)

O: reduced post-surgical pain

T: three months

Description of Problem in PICOT Question

The introduction of the non-pharmacologic treatment within the hospital in reducing post-surgical pain replaces the current ineffective pharmacologic treatment. The successful utilization of cryotherapy as an evidence-based solution for post-operative acute pain automatically serve as an alternative for Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs have adverse outcomes on patients when used by surgeons in the operation room when conducting surgical processes. As a result of many patients and their family members have complained about NSAIDs given at the surgical room. The general outcomes of care services for post-operative patients appear to be of low quality, hence the need for cryotherapy as a change project. Oxaprozin, aspirin, etodolac, ibuprofen, and diclofenac have adverse effects on post-operative patients with acute pain (Van Tran et al., 2019). These effects are headache, drowsiness, dizziness, and gut complications when used by patients who had undergone surgery.

Further, prolonged use of NSAIDs use after surgery in reducing pain patients associate it with the development of ulcers called peptic ulcers in the gut of a patient. The prevention of this ulcer is a leading issue among post-operative patients. Healthcare workers within the facility have analyzed the side effects and attempt to discover pain reduction treatment that has no side effects (Lee, Min, & Kim, 2017). Non-pharmacologic treatment forms the central focus of the change project in which cold therapy seeks to replace pharmacologic treatment in reducing pain in post-operative patients.

The change project is primarily based on the concept of applying ice packs to a surgical wound site to reduce post-operative pain in gynecologic, hernia, and orthopaedic operations. Patients who undergo gynecologic surgery at six and twelve hours are leading beneficiaries of this change project upon its implementation in the treatment center. The cold pack application requires six consecutive application to the surgical site after the surgical process is over (Choi et al., 2019). The trial of the non-pharmacologic in post-operative management of pain in patients proves effective with no side effects compared to injectable to oral pain reduction medication.

This change project is an alternative option for pharmacologic treatment of reducing post-operative pain among patients within the healthcare facility’s operating theatre. Cold therapy (cryotherapy), once implemented, will improve the healthcare outcome of the facility, solve the current problem with pharmacologic medications, and conveniently promote quality delivery. The proposed treatment remains as one of the cost-effective since it is a non-pharmacologic medication. The success depends on the commitments and efforts at each implementation level from the hospital management.

References

Choi, M. W., Noh, T. K., Han, T. Y., & Lee, J. H. (2019). Anesthetic cream relieves pain after cryotherapy treatment of plantar and palmar warts. Pediatric dermatology, 36(5), 750-752.

Lee, J. H., Lee, J. H., Min, D. K., Lee, J. K., & Kim, J. W. (2017). The Effects of Cryotherapy Treatment with Leg Elevation on Swelling of Patient Who had an TKA. The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy, 23(2), 45-49.

Van Tran, T., Nguyen, D. T. C., Le, H. T., Bach, L. G., Vo, D. V. N., Dao, T. U. T., ... & Nguyen, T. D. (2019). Effect of thermolysis condition on characteristics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) absorbability of Fe-MIL-88B-derived mesoporous carbons. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 7(5), 103356.