Abstract
Objectives: Postoperative complications increase morbidity, delay recovery and increase length of stay (LOS) after surgery, and should be reduced to a minimum. In the first part of this project, we studied the complication rate and LOS after urological surgery. In the second part we tried to survey postoperative symptoms and health related quality of life (HRQoL) after cystectomy, to identify areas for improvement for the perioperative pathway. Methods: Part 1: We retrospectively classified complications according to the Clavien-Dindo classification, and recorded LOS for patients who underwent urological surgery in 2013 and 2014 at Akershus University Hospital. Part 2: We prospectively registered symptoms after cystectomy by using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale. We assessed HRQoL 30 days postoperative by using the SF-12® questionnaire. Results: LOS and complications vary from a short LOS and few complications after endoscopic kidney stone surgery to LOS of 11 days and over 20% major complications after cystectomy. We did not succeed in identifying symptoms after cystectomy. The physical component of the HRQoL (PCS) after cystectomy was reduced from 49,15 points preoperatively to 38,37 points postoperatively. The mental component (MCS) appeared unchanged with 51,13 and 51,2 points pre- and postoperatively. The study size was too small to detect any significant changes in HRQoL. Conclusions: LOS and complications vary after urological surgery. There is a need for further survey of symptoms after cystectomy. There is a trend towards reduction in the PCS score 30 days after cystectomy, but no change in the MCS-score.