Collateral Benefit of Systematic Improvement in Bariatric Surgery Outcomes Following a Single Quality Improvement Project for Bleeding

• Published in: Obesity surgery Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 1041 - 1044
• Main Authors: Chao, Grace F., Nadzam, Geoffrey, Cheung, Maija, Duffy, Andrew, Ghiassi, Saber, Morton, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accreditation; Anticoagulants - therapeutic use; Bariatric Surgery - methods; Blood pressure; Blood transfusions; Brief Communication; Clinical outcomes; Compliance; Disease prevention; Endoscopy; Gastrointestinal surgery; Hemorrhage - etiology; Humans; Intensive care; Laparoscopy; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolism; Obesity; Obesity, Morbid - surgery; Patients; Postoperative Complications - etiology; Quality Improvement; Surgery; Thromboembolism; Ulcers; Venous Thromboembolism - etiology; Complications; Quality improvement; Bariatric surgery
• ISSN: 0960-8923; 1708-0428
• DOI: 10.1007/s11695-023-07037-9

The study’s aim was not only to use quality improvement system techniques to improve patient care specifically for bleeding but also to track other adverse outcomes. Key drivers were identified and mapped to interventions, namely venous thromboembolism prophylaxis, root cause analysis, indications conference, and operative technique standardization. Bleeding was reduced by 88%, and overall postoperative complications also fell by 63%. A targeted quality improvement project not only was effective in improving outcomes for the specific aim of bleeding but also resulted in improvement for other patient outcomes.