How to Assess the Post-operative Surgical Patient – OSCE Guide

Introduction

The ability to assess a post-operative surgical patient is an important skill to develop during medical school and your foundation years. It is commonly tested in OSCEs and almost all foundation doctors will have at least one surgical rotation. Furthermore, assessing the post-operative surgical patient is also assessed at postgraduate surgical interviews.

This article will provide you with:

• A structured format for carrying out a thorough review of the surgical patient – with a worked example for use in an OSCE setting.
• A structure for categorising post-operative complications.

OSCE stations vary in their focus:

• A-E assessment of an acutely unwell surgical patient [ABCDE approach]
• A broader assessment of a post-operative surgical patient [SHE BOXED approach]

A-E assessment of an acutely unwell surgical patient

As with all OSCE stations, you should first introduce yourself, confirm the patient’s details and gain consent to proceed. The examiner of the station may then ask you to describe how you would approach an acutely unwell surgical patient.

An example of a response could be:

“I would approach the patient using a structured A-E approach according to Advanced Life Support guidelines, initiating immediate management as required and escalating appropriately.”

The A-E assessment is not in the scope of this article, however, it is an essential skill that all doctors should possess. See our A-E assessment guide for more details.

Once the A-E assessment has been completed and the patient has been stabilised, it is important to think more broadly about a thorough surgical assessment.

In an OSCE, after performing an A-E assessment, it is often sensible to suggest escalating to a senior member of the team.

The examiner will then often state: “Your senior is on the way”

Having been through the A-E assessment, you may have decided the patient needs to return to theatre urgently. You may be asked at this point: “What would you do whilst you wait for your senior?”

A good answer in this situation would be:

• Consent utilising the correct consent form (if you are trained to do so)
• Book the patient onto the emergency theatre list
• Inform the theatre coordinator and on-call anaesthetist

A broader assessment of a post-operative surgical patient [SHE BOXED approach] ^2,4

It may be that in an OSCE scenario you complete your A-E assessment and the examiner then asks you “Now what would you do?”. If there is no clear indication to take the patient to theatre for an emergency operation, a further, more detailed assessment is required. In this situation, the SHE BOXED approach can be utilised.

SHE = Summary of History and Examination findings

History

“I would take a focused history from the patient and ask specifically about…”

A useful structure for quickly covering the salient features of a surgical history is the acronym AMPLE:

• A – allergies
• M – medications
• P – past medical history
• L – last eaten/had something to drink (patients should not have had something to eat in the 6 hours prior to an operation and should not have had water in the 2 hours before an operation)
• E – events leading up to admission/current situation/current positive examination findings (e.g tender at McBurney’s point)

Examination

You then need to complete a focused examination of the relevant system. For example, if the patient is post-thyroidectomy then it would be worth stating that you would want to carry out a complete neck examination, inspecting for any visible swelling/airway compromise (e.g. in the event of a haematoma).

BOXED

B = Bedside tests & bloods

Bedside:

• Basic observations
• ECG

Bloods:

• Laboratory tests (e.g. FBC,U&Es,LFTs,Clotting, Group & Save)
• Blood cultures
• Gases (e.g. arterial blood gas or venous blood gas)

O = Orifices

Are there any results for:

• Sputum culture
• Swab results (e.g. from surgical site/MRSA status/previous operations)
• Urine culture
• Urine output
• Stool output
• Drain output

X = Xray, imaging and special tests

Examples include:

• X-ray
• Ultrasound/Doppler
• CT
• MRI
• Endoscopy

E = Escalation plan

Is there a documented escalation plan? Would this patient be appropriate to receive HDU or ITU level care?

Who should you escalate to within your team? What other specialities should you escalate to (for example critical care team, medical registrar, anaesthetics etc)?

D = Do not attempt CPR (DNACPR) status

Does the patient have a valid DNACPR form in place? Is this something worthwhile highlighting with seniors to discuss?

Example

You are the on-call doctor and are asked to see a 61-year-old male who is day 3 post laparoscopic cholecystectomy. He has spiked a temperature of 38 degrees celsius and is tachycardic at 120bpm.

How would you approach this situation?

In an OSCE you may initially state…

“I would approach the situation using a structured A-E approach, initiating immediate management to stabilise the patient. If required, I would also escalate appropriately.”

After a provisional A-E assessment, the patient is deemed stable. How would you now approach performing a comprehensive post-operative assessment?

Summary of history and examination findings (SHE)

“I would take a history, focusing on the patient’s allergies, medications, past medical history and when they had last eaten or had something to drink. In addition, I would clarify the recent events of the hospital stay, including admission date, the current diagnosis and any operation that has taken place. With regard to the surgery, I would want to review the operation note for post-operative instructions and evidence of complications. In addition, I would want to read over the most recent ward review. Given that this patient has undergone gastrointestinal surgery, I would focus my examination on their gastrointestinal system.”

BOXED

“I would review the patient’s recent bedside observations, input/output charts, imaging and laboratory results (including blood tests and microbiology results). I would also ensure the patient had a valid group and save, should they need to return to theatre.”

“If the patient was potentially in need of HDU/ITU input, I would clarify the escalation plan with senior team members and ensure it was discussed with the patient and family as appropriate. I would also check if a DNA CPR form was present and if not, consider if this needed further discussion with senior team members and the patient/family.:

“Based on the findings of my assessment, I would then formulate a differential diagnosis and management plan accordingly.”

Surgical risk factors

When assessing any patient, it is important to have an awareness of possible surgical complications that may affect them. Each patient’s risk of surgical complications differs depending upon the presence or absence of various factors. Below are two different ways of applying a structured approach to considering surgical risk factors.

Method A

Risk factors can be broken down into the following categories:

• Pre-operative
• Peri-operative
• Post-operative

For example: “You are called to see an obese diabetic 50-year-old patient following their open mesh inguinal hernia repair. The patient is 3 days post-op and is complaining of pain around his surgical site in his groin. The nurse reports some swelling at the site and a foul odour.”

• Pre-operative: diabetic and obese patients are more likely to develop surgical site infections and wound breakdown
• Peri-operative: the operation was completed open and with a mesh. An open wound is more likely to breakdown in an obese patient and the mesh is a foreign material which increases the possibility of infection.
• Post-operative: What were the post-operative instructions on the operation note? Did the patient receive antibiotics?

Method B

Another simple way of categorising these risk factors is:

• Patient factors (i.e. patient risk factors)
• Operation factors (e.g. surgical technique, post-operative care/instructions)

For example, risk factors for a post-operative infection may be categorised as shown below.

Post-operative complications

In an OSCE, you may be in a situation whereby you need to identify the most likely post-operative complication and manage the patient appropriately.

Complications may be classified by time or underlying cause.

Time

Complications can be classified by time as follows:

• Immediate: <24 hours
• Early: within 30-days (usually within 1 week)
• Late/long term: after 30 days or after discharge

Underlying cause

Complications can be classified by the underlying cause (i.e. aetiology) as shown in the table below.

Both time and aetiology may also be combined to categorise complications as shown in the table below.

Post-operative pyrexia

Post-operative pyrexia is a common issue and the differential diagnosis is highly dependent on the timescale.

The trend of the pyrexia is also very important (i.e. new, persistent, swinging).

The 7 C’s of post-operative pyrexia is a helpful way to remember potential sources of post-operative pyrexia:

• Chest
• Catheter
• CVP Line
• Cannula
• Cut (surgical wound)
• Collections
• Calves

Timeline of pyrexia

Reviewer

Mr Mustafa Jaffar

ENT Registrar

St. Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare Trust

References

1. Farrington G. ABCDE approach. Geeky Medics. Available from: [LINK].
2. Edwards P, Stechman M, Green J. How to pass the emergency OSCE station. BMJ Online 2019; 367: I2414. Available from: [LINK].
3. Frost P, Wise M. Early management of acutely ill ward patients. BMJ online 2012; 345: e5677. Available from: [LINK].
4. Goldberg A, Stansby G. Surgical Talk, 2nd Edition ed: ICP, 2005