Quality of operation notes in orthopaedic hip arthroplasty surgery: are we complying with British Orthopaedic Association's guide to good practice?

A Closed-Loop Audit for Orthopedic Trauma Operation Notes Comparing Typed Electronic Notes With Handwritten Notes

Introduction

Operation notes are important documents for ensuring patient safety, effective communication between clinicians, and for medicolegal purposes. It is essential that they are clear and accurate. We audited the quality of our operation notes against the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of England's Good Surgical Practice Guidelines.

Methods

This was a prospective audit of 99 orthopedic trauma operation notes. In the first cycle, we audited 58 operation notes for orthopedic trauma surgical procedures. We audited 17 parameters per note. We presented our findings, implemented changes including the use of a typed operation note template, and performed a re-audit using 41 operation notes.

Results

Our documentation for 3/17 parameters was up to standard in both cycles. Post-intervention, there was an improvement in documentation for 12/17 of the parameters with marked improvements in indication for surgery (45% vs 75%), tourniquet time (20% vs 45%), antibiotic prophylaxis (71% vs 89%), closure technique (62% vs 86%) and detailed postoperative instruction (40% vs 92%). Other parameters, particularly estimated blood loss (7% vs 8%) remained unchanged. In the second cycle, we noted that 25% of the typed notes had 100% compliance with the standards, whereas no handwritten note achieved this. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean number of correctly documented parameters between the typed and handwritten notes (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The use of operation note templates (preferably typed) can improve appropriate documentation in orthopedic trauma operation notes. These templates should be made easily accessible to all surgeons. We will recommend orthopedic trauma units to apply similar non-rigid templates that can be tailored to suit different categories of trauma surgery.

Surgical education of eccentric rotational acetabular osteotomy for hip trainees

BACKGROUND

Periacetabular osteotomy is an excellent intervention for patients at early-stage osteoarthritis, but surgical education for this technique is more difficult than that for total hip arthroplasty.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

47 joints were included from patients who underwent eccentric rotational acetabular osteotomy (ERAO) performed by 6 trainees under the instructing physician's guidance. We evaluated operative time, blood loss, radiographic parameters, clinical scores, perioperative complications, and 10-year survival rates. We also compared trainees' cases with 47 joints from patients in a sex- and age-matched control group that underwent ERAO performed by the instructing physician.

RESULTS

Hip surgery trainees took an average of 152 minutes and the instructor took 103 minutes. Blood loss during surgery by the trainees and the instructor was 382 and 276 g, respectively. Postoperatively, for the trainee and instructor groups, respectively, the Harris Hip Score improved to 88.9 and 93.7 points; the average centre-edge angle improved to 34.0°and 36.1°; and the average acetabular head index was 93.9% and 95.7%. Perioperative and postoperative complications were observed in 14 patients of the trainee group and 3 patients of the instructor group, which were significantly different (p = 0.0061). The 10-year survival rates were 97.8% and 100% for the trainee and instructor groups, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Postoperative imaging evaluations showed no evident differences in coverage. Postoperative clinical outcomes were also satisfactory. Thus, under proper guidance, education to hip surgery trainees on operative techniques is possible. Instructors need to make more effort to prevent complications by providing good education.

Improving operation notes and postoperative care: an audit of current practice

The operation note is the single most important document in surgical practice. Ninety one operation notes were assessed on their adherence to guidelines, as well as their legibility and ability to inform postoperative care; as judged by five different healthcare professionals. Results showed a deficiency in essential information and poor legibility overall. Re-audit of 103 operation notes after intervention showed an improvement in nearly all criteria measured. The results indicate that education about current guidelines and an increase in word processing of operation notes improves quality of documentation, and therefore of postoperative care.