LESSON 8
PERIOPERATIVE PATIENT CARE
8-1.
INTRODUCTION
a. Perioperative refers to the total span of surgical intervention. Surgical
intervention is a common treatment for injury, disease, or disorder. The surgeon
intervenes in the disease process by repairing, removing, or replacing body tissues or
organs. Surgery is invasive because an incision is made into the body or a part of the
body is removed.
b. Perioperative patient care is a variety of nursing activities carried out before,
during, and after surgery. The perioperative period has three phases:
(1) The preoperative phase begins with the decision that surgical
intervention is necessary and ends when the patient is transferred to the operating room
table.
(2) The intraoperative phase is the period during which the patient is
undergoing surgery in the operating room. It ends when the patient is transferred to the
post-anesthesia recovery room.
(3) The postoperative phase lasts from the patient's admission to the
recovery room through the complete recovery from surgery.
8-2.
THE SURGICAL EXPERIENCE
a. Surgery is classified as major or minor based on the degree of risk for the
patient. Surgery may be classified as elective, meaning that it is necessary but scheduled
at the convenience of the patient and the health care provider. When surgery must be
done immediately to save the patient's life, a body part, or bodily function, it is classified as
emergency surgery. Regardless of whether the surgery is major or minor, elective or
emergency, it requires both physical and psychosocial adaptation for the patient and his
family. It is an important event in a person's life.
(1) Minor surgery is brief, carries a low risk, and results in few complications.
It may be performed in an outpatient clinic, same-day surgery setting, or in the operating
suite of a hospital.
(2) Major surgery requires hospitalization, is usually prolonged, carries a
higher degree of risk, involves major body organs or life-threatening situations, and has
the potential of postoperative complications.
MD0906
8-3