ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction is an increasingly appreciated measure of outcome for health care procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Greek surgical patients' satisfaction with perioperative anesthetic services and to determine which factors maximize satisfaction level through all phases of perioperative care. METHODS: Adult Greek patients admitted for elective surgery in an academic hospital were included in the study. Three separate questionnaires were constructed: Q1 (patients who underwent general anesthesia alone or combined with epidural) and Q2 (patients who received regional anesthesia alone) covered perioperative anesthetic care; Q3 covered postoperative analgesia services in the ward (patient-controlled analgesia or epidural analgesia) provided by our anesthesiologist-centered analgesia care team. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used separately for each questionnaire, and extracted factors were entered into multiple logistic regression with patient satisfaction as the dependent binary variable. Statistical significance level was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Three hundred and forty-five patients were included. Q1 questionnaire (answered by 282 patients) included four dimensions: communication with the anesthesiologist, sense of cold/shivering, pain, and nausea. Q2 questionnaire (answered by 63 patients) included three dimensions: communication with the anesthesiologist, sense of cold/shivering, and nausea/anxiety. Q3 questionnaire (answered by 237 patients) included five dimensions: anesthesiologist intervention upon symptoms, pain, care by the anesthesiologist/physical activity, nausea/vomiting, and anesthesiologist behavior. The communication dimension score in Q1 and Q2, sense of shivering in Q2, and pain management and anesthesiologist behavior dimension scores in Q3 were significantly associated with patient satisfaction. Overall satisfaction rates were high (according to the questionnaire, the observed percentage was in the range of 96.3%-98.6%). CONCLUSION: Greek surgical patients reported high satisfaction with perioperative anesthesia care. Interaction between patient and anesthesiologists during all periods of study, absence of shivering in regional anesthesia, and adequate postoperative pain control in the ward were significant predictors of patient satisfaction in the present Greek surgical population.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Few studies have been published concerning the excretion of bupivacaine and lidocaine into the breast milk and none concerning ropivacaine. AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the levels of ropivacaine in plasma and breast milk after combined spinal-epidural anesthesia for cesarean delivery and postoperative patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), as well as possible adverse effects from these levels on the neonate. METHODS: Twenty-five parturients admitted for cesarean delivery under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia participated in the study. The PCEA regimen was prepared as 0.15% ropivacaine and fentanyl 2 microg/mL (basal rate, 6 mL/h; demand dose, 4 mL/20 min). Blood samples were collected before anesthesia and from the umbilical cord immediately after birth, followed by blood and breast milk samples 18 and 24 hrs after initiation of PCEA. The newborns were clinically appraised with the Apgar score at delivery and Neurological and Adaptive Capacity Score 24 hrs later. Local anesthetic side effects were recorded. Ropivacaine levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with a UV detector. RESULTS: Ropivacaine excretion into the breast milk produced concentrations that significantly correlated with those in the plasma 18 and 24 hrs after administration, achieving milk-plasma ratios (mean +/- SD) of 0.25 +/- 0.08 and 0.23 +/- 0.07, respectively. Most newborns had maximal Apgar and Neurological and Adaptive Capacity Scores. No adverse effects from ropivacaine were noted in mothers or neonates. CONCLUSIONS: The milk-plasma concentration ratio of ropivacaine was found to be lower than that reported for other local anesthetics It seems that PCEA with ropivacaine/fentanyl after cesarean delivery is not associated with excessive milk-plasma concentrations of ropivacaine.
