A Systematic Review of Postoperative Recovery Outcomes Measurements After Ambulatory Surgery

Background: Mortality and morbidity in ambulatory surgery are rare, and thus the patient's quality of life (i.e., the ability to resume normal activities after discharge home) should be considered one of the principle end-points after ambulatory surgery and anesthesia. We conducted a systematic review of the instruments to measure the quality of recovery of ambulatory surgical patients in order to advise on the selection of appropriate measures for research and quality assurance.

Methods: A systematic literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, HAPI, PsycINFO, Web of Science Search History, Biosys Previews Search, HealthStar, and ASSIA was performed to identify patient-based outcome measures to assess postoperative recovery from ambulatory anesthesia. The instruments were assessed for eight criteria: appropriateness, reliability, validity, responsiveness, precision, interpretability, acceptability, and feasibility.

Results: Seven articles met the inclusion criteria set for the review. The quality of the identified instruments was variable.

Conclusion: Only one instrument, 40-item Quality of recovery score, fulfilled all eight criteria, however this instrument was not specifically designed for ambulatory surgery and anesthesia.