The Development of a Critical Pathway for Facial Bone Fractures and the Effect of its Clinical Implementation.

Choi, Woo Young; Park, Cheol Woo; Son, Kyung Min; Cheon, Ji Seon

doi:2013.14.2.89

Arch Craniofac Surg > Volume 14(2); 2013 > Article

Original Article

Archives of Craniofacial Surgery 2013;14(2):89-95.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7181/acfs.2013.14.2.89

The Development of a Critical Pathway for Facial Bone Fractures and the Effect of its Clinical Implementation.

Woo Young Choi, Cheol Woo Park, Kyung Min Son, Ji Seon Cheon

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju, Korea. ps9107@naver.com

Abstract

BACKGROUND: If patients have a better understanding about their problem and treatment, compliance and satisfaction with treatment will increase. For this purpose, simple repeated explanations regarding a patients' problem and treatment are essential. Critical pathway (CP) has a very wide range in medicine with the exception of the plastic surgery field. The authors developed a CP for facial bone fractures and implemented it clinically. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CP on the degree of recognition of the problem along with patient satisfaction with the treatment process. METHODS: From May 2011 to October 2011, a total of 82 patients suffering from facial bone fractures were studied. The CP for facial bone fractures was developed by plastic surgeons, residents and nurses. Subsequently, the authors investigated the degree of recognition of the disease and patient satisfaction with the treatment through the use of a questionnaire. The authors compared the score of the questionnaires before and after implementation of the clinical pathway.
RESULTS
The degree of the recognition of the problem changed from 3.1 to 4.2 (p<0.001). Further, the degree of satisfaction with the treatment process changed from 3.6 to 4.3 (p<0.05). Overall, there was a two point increase in improvement.
CONCLUSION
Implementation of the CP for facial bone fractures was effective in improving the degree of recognition and satisfaction. The authors expect that hereafter, the CP for facial bone fractures will be implemented actively in the plastic surgery field.

Keywords: Critical pathway; Facial bones; Patient satisfaction