Preoperative Teaching and its Relationship to Postoperative Recovery

The purpose of the study was to find out whether an organized, preoperative teaching program would make a difference in patient recovery from intra-abdominal surgery. A review of literature served as a guide in defining the needs of patients and in developing class content. An outline, which included deep breathing, coughing, turning, bed exercises and what to expect, was made for the class. Nine slides were developed specifically for the teaching sessions. To reinforce the teaching, a handout was given to each patient. It was hypothesized that the experimental group of patients would require less pain medication, develop fewer complications and have a shorter length of hospital stay. A total of one hundred patients who had intra-abdominal surgery were included in the study, fifty in each group. The experimental group consisted of adult patients who were undergoing surgery the following day, who were able to understand English, and who were able to attend the teaching sessions. Postoperatively the patients were visited for a five day period to reinforce the teaching and to observe for its effectiveness. The control group was selected in a retrospective manner from medical records within a five-year period, beginning with 1968. They were matched with the experimental group according to age, sex, operation and surgeon. Findings indicated no statistically significant difference between the two groups except in amount of oral medication. The trend was, however, that the experimental group required less pain medication, developed fewer complications and stayed less time in the hospital