The impact of technology on the analgesic gap and quality of acute pain management

National surveys continue to document the undertreatment of acute postoperative pain, despite the availability of evidence-based, clinical practice guidelines and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations standards. This article surveys factors that contribute to persistent gaps during the acute pain management process, including deficiencies in providing continuous analgesia, disparities in access to medical care, the acute pain medicine culture itself, a lack of adequate pain assessment, health care provider biases, and limited health care resources. The role of technology in increasing patients' control over their own pain management and narrowing these gaps is discussed. Patient-controlled analgesia delivery systems are an example of such technology, and they play a key role in improving the quality of acute pain management and increasing the patient's involvement in this process. However, the use of these systems may be limited because of the amount of health care resources necessary for their administration and limitations in payment for professional services. Therefore, there exists a need for additional technologies that will simplify the pain management process and reduce the amount of health care resources necessary to provide patients with quality acute pain management.     

An updated overview of clinical guidelines for the management of non-specific low back pain in primary care

The aim of this study was to present and compare the content of (inter)national clinical guidelines for the management of low back pain. To rationalise the management of low back pain, evidence-based clinical guidelines have been issued in many countries. Given that the available scientific evidence is the same, irrespective of the country, one would expect these guidelines to include more or less similar recommendations regarding diagnosis and treatment. We updated a previous review that included clinical guidelines published up to and including the year 2000. Guidelines were included that met the following criteria: the target group consisted mainly of primary health care professionals, and the guideline was published in English, German, Finnish, Spanish, Norwegian, or Dutch. Only one guideline per country was included: the one most recently published. This updated review includes national clinical guidelines from 13 countries and 2 international clinical guidelines from Europe published from 2000 until 2008. The content of the guidelines appeared to be quite similar regarding the diagnostic classification (diagnostic triage) and the use of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Consistent features for acute low back pain were the early and gradual activation of patients, the discouragement of prescribed bed rest and the recognition of psychosocial factors as risk factors for chronicity. For chronic low back pain, consistent features included supervised exercises, cognitive behavioural therapy and multidisciplinary treatment. However, there are some discrepancies for recommendations regarding spinal manipulation and drug treatment for acute and chronic low back pain. The comparison of international clinical guidelines for the management of low back pain showed that diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations are generally similar. There are also some differences which may be due to a lack of strong evidence regarding these topics or due to differences in local health care systems. The implementation of these clinical guidelines remains a challenge for clinical practice and research.     

麻醉专业医务人员临床实践指南实施现状调查与研究

目的： 调查甘肃省麻醉专业医务人员对临床实践指南的认知、需求和使用情况,探究指南在实施过程中的促进和阻碍因素。
方法： 对麻醉专业医务人员对临床实践指南的认知、需求和使用情况以及指南实施过程中的促进和阻碍因素开展问卷调查,并对结果进行统计分析。
结果： 共发放问卷339份,均为有效问卷。96.8%的被调查者知晓指南,且多数被调查者（86.4%）在临床实践中遇到问题时会查阅指南。指南使用缺乏便捷性（70.2%）、缺乏指南获取途径（64.3%）或缺乏指南访问权限（56.9%）、缺乏培训（31.3%）、语言障碍（21.5%）是阻碍指南使用最主要的因素。多种形式辅助指南使用、开放指南获取权限被认为是促进指南实施的重要方式。
结论： 甘肃省麻醉专业医务人员对指南的知晓率和依从性均较好。目前国内使用指南的主要障碍因素来自于指南本身或指南获取困难。建议未来建立国家指南数据库、提供指南实施工具、增强对医务人员的培训,将有利于指南的推广和应用。     

Leitlinien Akutschmerztherapie und ihre Umsetzung in der Chirurgie

INTRODUCTION: Over the last few years, various studies have aimed at improving the diagnosis and therapy of perioperative and posttraumatic pain. METHODS: In an anonymous postal survey, 2,393 German surgical clinics were asked to describe several aspects of their clinical pain treatment.In order to assess the influence of interdisciplinary guidelines on surgical pain therapy, the results of this survey were compared to a survey from 1997. RESULTS: The response rate was 30.8% ( n=738).Pain was measured quantitatively in 11.4% ( n=80) of hospitals, a figure which is unchanged since 1997. In pain treatment,however, some changes were discernible: while 46.6% of all hospitals in 1997 used patient-controlled analgesia often or occasionally, this proportion has risen to 64.5%.Both, the national acute pain guidelines and the WHO chronic pain guidelines were well known (71.3% and 74.7%) and accepted (98.8% and 98.5%, respectively).Among those surgeons who knew the national guidelines,93.7% reported that they used them clinically. In 149 hospitals (20.2%), local guidelines have been developed either anew or from existing guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Although clinical guidelines are widely used, pain therapy in surgical patients has improved only marginally.     

Implementing resident work hour limitations: lessons from the New York State experience

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of work hour limitations imposed by the 405 (Bell) Regulations as perceived by general surgery residents in New York State. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: New Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements on resident duty hours are scheduled to undergo nationwide implementation in July 2003. State regulations stipulating similar resident work hour limitations have already been enacted in New York. METHODS: A statewide survey of residents enrolled in general surgery residencies in New York was administered. RESULTS: Most respondents reported general compliance with 405 Regulations in their residency programs, a finding corroborated by reported work hours and call schedules. Whereas a majority of residents reported improved quality of life as a result of the work hour limitations, a substantial portion reported negative impacts on surgical training and quality and continuity of patient care. Negative perceptions of the impact of duty hour restrictions were more prevalent among senior residents and residents at academic medical centers than among junior residents and residents at community hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of resident work hour limitations in general surgery residencies may have negative consequences for patient care and resident education. As surgical residency programs develop strategies for complying with ACGME requirements, these negative consequences must be addressed.     

Lower limb occlusive arterial disease in the North of England: workload and development of management guidelines. The Northern Regional Vascular Surgeons.

BACKGROUND: in 1997 the vascular surgeons across the North of England commenced a study to examine various aspects of the management of lower limb occlusive arterial disease (LLOAD). Two aspects of this work were to assess workloads between hospitals and develop guideline parameters for managing intermittent claudication (IC) and critical limb ischaemia (CLI). The guidelines were to be developed, tested and modified by this study. METHOD: prospective inclusion of all patients admitted for investigation of LLOAD to nine hospitals by 19 surgeons over a period of 12 months. RESULTS: the hospitals admitted an average of 106 legs per 100 000 population (range 53-149) with LLOAD. Legs with IC (n=1351) were revascularised slightly less frequently than predicted (actual 76%, guideline 80%) and radiological treatment was used more frequently than predicted (radiology/surgery, actual 69/32%, guideline 40/60%). For limbs with CLI, revascularisation was undertaken more often (actual 70%, guideline 60%) and radiological intervention used more frequently (radiology/surgery, actual 45/58%, guideline 35/65%) than anticipated. Primary amputation, overall mortality and limb salvage were better than the predicted guidelines. CONCLUSION: large variations in workloads and clinical practice were observed between hospitals for the management of LLOAD. Developing guidelines for the management of limbs with IC was not considered appropriate, whereas suitable guidelines for legs with CLI were developed, tested and modified.     

Knowledge transfer in family physicians managing patients with acute low back pain: a prospective randomized control trial.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: The process through which new scientific developments are incorporated into clinical practice is referred to as "knowledge transfer" and is currently the subject of great interest in many areas of clinical medicine. Family physicians managing patients with acute low back pain have been shown to have a poor overall rate of concordance with clinical practice guideline-recommended treatments. New methods need to be developed to help physicians bridge the guideline implementation gap. PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy of a knowledge transfer method that communicates clinical practice guidelines to family physicians and their patients using patient-specific, physician-to-physician communications. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective randomized controlled study. PATIENT SAMPLE: 428 patients with acute mechanical low back pain and accepted Workers' Compensation Board claims were studied. OUTCOME MEASURES: Concordance with specific clinical practice guideline-derived history taking items, physical examination procedures and treatment recommendations was determined. METHODS: Patients with acute mechanical back pain of less than 4 weeks duration and accepted Workers' Compensation Board claims were randomly assigned to one of three groups. In Group 1 (control group) neither the patients nor their family physicians received any information concerning the guidelines. In Group 2, family physicians alone or as well as their patients (Group 3) received a summary of clinical practice guidelines at approximately 2 weeks postinjury. In addition, both Groups 2 and 3 received reminders summarizing the recommended guidelines for patients at three specific stages of their clinical course. All guideline correspondence was addressed to a specific family physician or patient, signed by the study physician-investigators, and specified the patient by name. RESULTS: Family physicians in the control and intervention groups demonstrated a high degree of concordance with the guideline-recommended history taking and physical examination procedures, but were generally highly discordant with guideline-recommended treatments. Significant improvement in guideline-concordant treatments was seen only with diminished recommendations of prolonged bed rest and passive therapies and an increase in recommended aerobic exercise. Concordance with guideline recommendations relating to the use of spinal manipulative therapy was poor in all study groups. CONCLUSIONS: A knowledge transfer method that involved patient-specific, physician-to-physician communication to family physicians or their patients at three stages of the patient's clinical course was largely unsuccessful in improving concordance with guideline treatment recommendations.     

山东省164家医院术后镇痛管理现状调查分析

目的 了解山东省164家医院术后镇痛管理现状. 方法 依据急性疼痛管理指南和疼痛质量评估体系拟定调查问卷,调查内容包括医疗机构的性质、规模大小,疼痛管理的组织架构,急性疼痛服务组织(acute pain service,APS)的人员组成、运行模式、疼痛评估的实施和镇痛技术、流程等.采用多阶段分层整群抽样方法对山东省164家医疗机构进行术后镇痛管理现状调查分析. 结果 APS方面:32.9％的医院成立了类似APS的术后疼痛管理组织.疼痛评估方面:58.5％的医院将疼痛作为第5项生命体征进行评估,42.7％的医院对患者的静息痛和活动痛进行评估.自控镇痛技术方面:44.5％的医院采用自控镇痛模式;其中臂丛神经阻滞、腰丛神经阻滞、股神经阻滞镇痛分别为4.9％、1.2％和4.3％.疼痛知识教育方面:52.4％的医院对患者进行疼痛知识宣教,其中术后病房护士宣教占11.0％,APS查房宣教占1.2％. 结论 山东省医疗机构术后镇痛管理欠规范,护士极少参与疼痛管理,疼痛评估和疼痛知识宣教不到位,缺乏先进的镇痛管理技术.建议成立规范的术后疼痛管理组织和管理评估体系,规范术后疼痛管理.     

Clinical practice guidelines in the intensive care unit: a survey of Canadian clinicians’ attitudes

PURPOSE: To understand clinicians' perceptions regarding practice guidelines in Canadian intensive care units (ICUs) to inform guideline development and implementation strategies. METHODS: We developed a self-administered survey instrument and assessed its clinical sensibility and reliability. The survey was mailed to ICU physicians and nurses in Canada to determine local ICU guideline development and use, and to compare physicians' and nurses' attitudes and preferences towards guidelines. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 51.6% (565/1095) of potential respondents. Although less than half reported a formal guideline development committee in their ICU, 81.0% reported that guidelines were developed at their institutions. Of clinicians who used guidelines in the ICU, 70.2% of nurses and 42.6% of physicians reported using them frequently or always. Professional society guidelines (with or without local modification) were reportedly used in most ICUs, but physicians were more confident than nurses of their validity (P<0.001). Physicians considered endorsement of guidelines by a colleague more relevant for enhancing guideline use than did nurses (P<0.001). Nurses considered low risk of the guideline and whether the guideline is consistent with their practice (P<0.001) to be more relevant to guideline uptake than did physicians (P<0.001). Lack of agreement with recommendations was a more important barrier to use of guidelines for physicians than for nurses (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Many Canadian institutions locally develop guidelines, and many ICU physicians and nurses report using them. Planning implementation strategies according to clinician preferences may increase guideline use. The nature of the differences in attitudes towards guidelines between nurses and physicians, and their impact on clinician adherence to guidelines requires further exploration.     

Translation of benign prostatic hyperplasia guidelines into clinical practice

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this article is to describe the current position of clinical practice guidelines for benign prostatic hyperplasia in daily management and identify the potential barriers that may hinder the implementation of guidelines into clinical practice. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent studies have attempted to compare and grade benign prostatic hyperplasia clinical practice guidelines using appraisal instruments underlining the issues of quality and updates of guidelines. Surveys have evaluated the adoption of guidelines from the urological community and recent studies have made major contributions to our knowledge of the translation of evidence to daily practice. SUMMARY: Numerous clinical practice guidelines (both national and international) for benign prostatic hyperplasia exist. High methodological quality clinical practice guidelines are likely to be the most beneficial to patients and strength of recommendations depends on available evidence. Efforts to implement guidelines are not always successful and a considerable variation especially in diagnostic assessment of benign prostatic hyperplasia has been reported. Difficulties in translation of benign prostatic hyperplasia guidelines into clinical practice are related to lack of knowledge but also to differences in routine practices, beliefs, cost, availability, and reimbursement policy. Bridging the implementation gap represents a challenging task for clinical practice guideline supporters.     

The impact of a French guideline on the clinical management of severe head injury (SHI) published in 1999

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a French guideline on the clinical management of severe head injury (SHI) published in 1999. STUDY DESIGN: Nationwide survey. METHODS: 182 medical centres answered the inquiry. RESULTS: 111 centres declared to manage such patients suffering from SHI. 68% of doctors from these clinical departments did report to have read these guidelines. Fifty percent of them found in these guidelines useful data for their clinical practice. Forty four percent of centres could not monitor ICP lacking neurosurgical facility in their hospital. Conversely, all hospitals with neurosurgery available did monitor ICP. Seventy six percent of centres reported difficulties to find a facility, which would take these patients in charge when discharged from ICU. We analysed the main items included in the guidelines and report their impact. Seventy four percent of responders found that clinical management of SHI patients had improved during the last years. CONCLUSION: The French guidelines had a significant impact and seem to have provided a useful aid to clinical management of SHI patients. ICP monitoring and the shortage in post-ICU facilities are remaining issues.     

Guidelines for cardiac management in noncardiac surgery are poorly implemented in clinical practice: results from a peripheral vascular survey in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND: The American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation for Noncardiac Surgery recommend an algorithm for a stepwise approach to preoperative cardiac assessment in vascular surgery patients. The authors' main objective was to determine adherence to the ACC/AHA guidelines on perioperative care in daily clinical practice. METHODS: Between May and December 2004, data on 711 consecutive peripheral vascular surgery patients were collected from 11 hospitals in The Netherlands. This survey was conducted within the infrastructure of the Euro Heart Survey Programme. The authors retrospectively applied the ACC/AHA guideline algorithm to each patient in their data set and subsequently compared observed clinical practice data with these recommendations. RESULTS: Although 185 of the total 711 patients (26%) fulfilled the ACC/AHA guideline criteria to recommend preoperative noninvasive cardiac testing, clinicians had performed testing in only 38 of those cases (21%). Conversely, of the 526 patients for whom noninvasive testing was not recommended, guidelines were followed in 467 patients (89%). Overall, patients who had not been tested, irrespective of guideline recommendation, received less cardioprotective medications, whereas patients who underwent noninvasive testing were significantly more often treated with cardiovascular drugs (beta-blockers 43% vs. 77%, statins 52% vs. 83%, platelet inhibitors 80% vs. 85%, respectively; all P < 0.05). Moreover, the authors did not observe significant differences in cardiovascular medical therapy between patients with a normal test result and patients with an abnormal test result. CONCLUSION: This survey showed poor agreement between ACC/AHA guideline recommendations and daily clinical practice. Only one of each five patients underwent noninvasive testing when recommended. Furthermore, patients who had not undergone testing despite recommendations received as little cardiac management as the low-risk population.     

Compliance with clinical practice guidelines in family physicians managing worker''s compensation board patients with acute lower back pain

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Family physician compliance with acute lower back pain clinical practice guidelines remains uncertain. PURPOSE: To determine the degree of guideline compliance of family physicians managing patients with workers' compensation claims and acute mechanical lower back pain. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study. PATIENT SAMPLE: One hundred thirty-nine family physicians in British Columbia. OUTCOME MEASURES: Compliance with guideline recommendations for history, examination procedures, diagnostic testing and treatments. METHODS: Physician workers' compensation board patient reports for acute lower back pain without leg symptoms and not greater than 2 to 3 weeks duration were scored for guideline adherence up until 12 weeks after onset. RESULTS: Physicians demonstrated a high degree of compliance with the guideline-recommended history, examination procedures and medications, but low compliance with recommended imaging and many treatment recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Recently published clinical practice guidelines regarding the management of patients with acute mechanical lower back pain have not been fully implemented into the patterns of practice of the family physicians.     

Multiple factors affect renal dietitians' use of the NKF-K/DOQI Adult Nutrition Guidelines.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the components of the National Kidney Foundation-Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative Nutrition Guidelines that are implemented by renal dietitians and the types of resources and support available to assist in implementing these guidelines. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A 49-item survey was mailed to 1694 dietitians in the United States. who were members of the National Kidney Foundation Council on Renal Nutrition in June 2003. The survey included sections on clinical practice, tools available to perform nutrition assessments, daily activities of the dietitian, and demographic and professional questions. RESULTS: Of the 1694 surveys mailed, 951 were returned (56% response rate); 848 were useable (89%). The primary employer was for-profit dialysis units (67%) and the mean (+/- SD) number of patients per dietitian was 104.9 +/- 48.3. Virtually all of the dietitians were aware of the nutrition guidelines (97%); 58% read all of the guidelines, whereas only 41% read some of the guidelines. Ninety-two percent of respondents implemented at least one guideline in their clinical practice; 72% and 55% had implemented 5 and 10 guidelines, respectively; but only 5% implemented all of the guidelines. Several barriers to implementation included lack of tools such as computers, calipers, and food models (57%); inadequate time including high dietitian-to-patient ratios (40%); and lack of administrative support from the dialysis unit (29%). CONCLUSIONS: There are multiple barriers that prevent the adequate assessment of the nutritional status of dialysis patients. Only after these resources are provided will it be possible to determine the impact of the nutrition guidelines on patient outcomes.     

Present state of guidelines for perioperative management of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in Japan

To clarify the present state of local institutional guideline for perioperative deep thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in individual hospitals, a questionnaire was sent to anesthesia departments in Japan. According to the replies, 82 hospitals have original guidelines. Forty of them reported the contents of their guidelines. However, 37 hospitals have some problems regarding their guidelines. Cost for these perioperative managements and application of spinal or epidural anesthesia for heparinized patients appears to be commonly recognized as pending questions in their guideline. It seems to be difficult to make a stereotyped standard guideline in Japan because each local guideline has a specific strategy according to their situations. However, it is needless to say that a further nationwide survey and collaboration, and governmental support for these diseases would be required.     

Implementing guidelines about colorectal cancer: a national survey of target groups

Background : An Australia‐wide postal survey was undertaken to determine surgeons’ attitudes towards guidelines and their preferred strategies for dissemination and implementation of guidelines for the management of colorectal cancer, developed by the Australian Cancer Network (ACN) and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA). This survey was conducted as a baseline before the release of the definitive guidelines. Methods : All members of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) with a self‐nominated special interest in colorectal surgery and members of the Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia (CSSA) were surveyed. Results : A total of 195 of the 219 surgeons eligible for the study returned questionnaires (89% response rate). Most (86%) were aware that these guidelines were being developed. More than one‐half had read at least one draft version. Almost half (44.6%; 95%CI: 37.6–51.9%) agreed that guidelines represented ‘cookbook medicine’ and one‐third (33.3%; 95%CI: 26.9–40.5%) agreed that guidelines might increase the number of malpractice suits. Local adaptation of guidelines and ‘academic detailing’ were most favourably ranked to assure implementation. Further, 54.9% (95%CI: 47.6–61.9%) of respondents believed that a successful legal defence of a surgeon whose practice had been within the guidelines would encourage uptake. Surgeons operating outside teaching hospitals were more likely to endorse this view than others. Conclusions : These results demonstrate that an important target group for colorectal cancer guidelines, namely surgeons, appears receptive to clinical practice guidelines. These results could also permit interventions that target attitudinal barriers to implementing guidelines and subgroups of surgeons who have particular concerns. Expensive strategies for implementation ought to be subject to rigorous evaluation for their impact in modifying clinical practice.