Impact of Comprehensive Preoperative Assessments on Gynecological Ambulatory Surgery Outcomes in a Chinese Hospital

BACKGROUND We aimed to investigate the implementation of outpatient comprehensive preoperative assessments in gynecological ambulatory surgery management in a hospital in China. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients undergoing gynecologic minimally invasive surgery who received outpatient comprehensive preoperative assessment and ambulatory surgical procedures during November 2021 to December 2021 were classified into the intervention group (n=330). Those who received routine medical procedures during the same period were classified into the control group (n=336). A retrospective analysis was conducted with the medical records of the 2 groups of patients. RESULTS The scores for information transmission and patient education and for level of mastery of preoperative health knowledge in the intervention group were higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). Patient experience was positively correlated with level of mastery of preoperative health knowledge (r=0.525; P<0.01). No statistically significant differences were identified in the incidences of surgical complications and anesthetic complications among the 2 groups (P>0.05). The number of delayed surgery cases in the intervention group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). A statistically significant difference of P<0.05 was identified in the average length of hospital stay between the 2 groups, but no statistically significant differences were identified in patient satisfaction during hospitalization between the 2 groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS The establishment of an outpatient comprehensive preoperative assessment unit for gynecological ambulatory surgery can improve patient experience and level of mastery of preoperative health knowledge.