Current practice patterns for postoperative activity restrictions in children
jpedsurg.org shows its articles on its own site.
Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Aug 2018 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
National survey of 293 APSA pediatric surgeons reveals wide variability in postoperative activity restriction recommendations for common procedures including laparotomy, appendectomy, and hernia repair. Study highlights lack of evidence-based guidelines for pediatric postoperative activity limitations.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Background
Postoperative activity restrictions are designed to prevent undue stress on a recent repair and minimize the risk of surgical complication, however, there is little evidence to support certain restrictions in clinical practice. For the pediatric population, there is a paucity of formal evaluations of postoperative activity restrictions, and little is known about current practice patterns among pediatric surgeons. This study aimed to describe national practice patterns of pediatric surgeons for postoperative activity recommendations following three common general surgical procedures.
Methods
A 7-item survey was sent to all American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) members regarding surgeon practice of recommended activity restrictions for school attendance, participation in playground or gym, participation in contact sports, and heavy lifting in children following 3 procedures: exploratory laparotomy, laparoscopic appendectomy, and inguinal hernia repair. Information on type and duration of clinical practice was also collected for each surgeon. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed.
Results
The survey was completed by 293 pediatric surgeons for a response rate of 28.9%. There was wide national variability in the recommended activity restrictions for children