Objective To investigate whether women having medical or surgical terminations of pregnancy differ in their emotional distress before or after the procedure. To evaluate whether choice of procedure occurs, the factors influencing type of procedure and the effect of choice on emotional responses and satisfaction with care.Design A prospective comparative study. Setting A termination of pregnancy unit in a University Teaching Hospital. Participants Two hundred and seventy-five women attending for medical or surgical first trimester termination of pregnancy.Methods Interviews concerning choice and measures of emotional status were completed prior to terminations. Four weeks after termination emotional functioning was reassessed together with satisfaction with care.Results Women having a surgical termination waited longer for the procedure and were at more advanced gestation than those having the medical termination. There were no differences in emotional responses related to type of procedure or gestation. One-quarter remained highly anxious at four weeks. Medical and surgical groups did not differ in emotional status prior to termination. Those having the medical procedure rated it as marginally more stressful and experienced more post-termination physical problems and disruption to life. Seeing the fetus was associated with more intrusive events (nightmares, flashbacks, unwanted thoughts related to the experience). One-quarter of the medical and 67% of the surgical group reported having no choice in type of procedure. Only 53% of the medical group would choose the same procedure again compared with 77% of the surgical group.Conclusions Termination method did not influence emotional adjustment. Many women were not offered genuine choice of procedure. Having choice was considered very important but was unrelated to emotional distress or satisfaction with care.
Providing a recognized supportive supervisory environment might allow for the acknowledgement of the unique challenges staff in termination of pregnancy services face, and might enhance a sense of validation within the organization and hence staff wellbeing.
Background: Elevated high-sensitivity troponin (hsTnT) after noncardiac surgery is associated with higher mortality, but the temporal relationship between early elevated troponin and the later development of noncardiac morbidity remains unclear. Methods: Prospective observational study of patients aged !45 yr undergoing major noncardiac surgery at four UK hospitals (two masked to hsTnT). The exposure of interest was early elevated troponin, as defined by hsTnT >99th centile (!15 ng L À1) within 24 h after surgery. The primary outcome was morbidity 72 h after surgery, defined by the Postoperative Morbidity Survey (POMS). Secondary outcomes were time to become morbidity-free and ClavieneDindo !grade 3 complications. Results: Early elevated troponin (median 21 ng L À1 [16e32]) occurred in 992 of 4335 (22.9%) patients undergoing elective noncardiac surgery (mean [standard deviation, SD] age, 65 [11] yr; 2385 [54.9%] male). Noncardiac morbidity was more frequent in 494/992 (49.8%) patients with early elevated troponin compared with 1127/3343 (33.7%) patients with hsTnT <99th centile (odds ratio [OR]¼1.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.69e2.25). Patients with early elevated troponin had a higher risk of proven/suspected infectious morbidity (OR¼1.54; 95% CI, 1.24e1.91) and critical care utilisation (OR¼2.05; 95% CI, 1.73e2.43). ClavieneDindo !grade 3 complications occurred in 167/992 (16.8%) patients with early elevated troponin, compared with 319/3343 (9.5%) patients with hsTnT <99th centile (OR¼1.78; 95% CI, 1.48e2.14). Absence of early elevated troponin was associated with morbidity-free recovery (OR¼0.44; 95% CI, 0.39e0.51). Conclusions: Early elevated troponin within 24 h of elective noncardiac surgery precedes the subsequent development of noncardiac organ dysfunction and may help stratify levels of postoperative care in real time.
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