ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Evidence has associated patient sleep disruption with adverse clinical outcomes. Overnight vital sign checks are a frequent source of patient sleep disruption. We sought to determine the utility of routine overnight vital sign checks in stable postoperative patients following radical cystectomy for bladder cancer. METHODS: We assembled a database containing all routine vital sign checks from postoperative days 0 through 6 for all patients who underwent radical cystectomy at our institution during a 5-year period (2016-2020). Sets of overnight vital signs were flagged as "abnormal" based on specified criteria and then reviewed by 2 blinded reviewers to determine whether they were associated with significant clinical interventions. RESULTS: A total of 546 patients representing 2,589 patient-nights in the hospital were included. Abnormal vital signs resulting in "moderate" or "major" clinical interventions (corresponding to concern for Clavien-Dindo grade ≥II complications) occurred during 17/2,589 (0.65%) patient-nights. Thus, 152 patient-nights of routine vital sign checks were required to identify a single moderate or major clinical event. Reviewing all overnight-onset complications, we noted that a majority (15/23, 65%) of Clavien-Dindo grade II complications were manifested only by symptoms or laboratory abnormalities without vital sign derangements, whereas all grade ≥III complications had associated vital sign abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Routine overnight vital signs were associated with a low frequency of clinically significant events. Reduced intensity of overnight vital sign checks may be a safe addition to enhanced-recovery packages in carefully selected patients.
