Initial Results

Hello all!

I have finally received data from anesthesiologists at every institution I have contacted, and was pleased to find that the physicians completing my surveys took the time to write detailed responses to my short answer questions, explaining their views on why PCA pump prescription protocols would help patients but are also detrimental to their work. Every single response I have received thus far has indicated that instituting a protocol every physician has to go through before prescribing a PCA pump would serve to benefit patients. However, 75% of my respondents also indicated that this protocol would be a detriment to their work (when taking into account the time it would take to go through every test on the protocol).

Many of the anesthesiologists who took my survey suggested ways to remedy this discrepancy, with most suggesting that increased education of physicians on the possible complications that could arise from PCA pumps could reduce the need for a prescription protocol. Respondents to the survey expressed that a physician should be incredibly familiar with the details of the patient’s medical history (reducing the need for a PCA pump prescription protocol) and that anybody with the power to prescribe opioids (not even just in PCA pumps) should undergo mandatory additional training.

In hospitals without a current PCA pump prescription protocol, about half of the physicians surveyed took into account a patient’s cognitive ability and physical ability to handle a PCA pump before prescribing one. One respondent mentioned that if a patient seemed confused about the pump technology and application, the hospital would have a nurse educate said patient and family members on rules of PCA pumps and important complications that could arise.

I made sure to attach a contact form to both the beginning and end of my survey, in case any of the survey takers had any questions/comments, and was pleased to hear back from a few physicians requesting additional information on a few of my questions. The comments I received revealed that I may have failed at some times to make a very important distinction: while a history of substance abuse is definitely a factor that affects how exactly a PCA pump should be programmed or whether it is the ideal pain management solution for a patient, it is not a pre-existing condition that would make a PCA pump immediately apparent as an ineffective management tool. When programmed to account for a history of or ongoing substance abuse, studies have found PCA pumps to be incredibly effective in treating the post-surgical pain of drug users (or past abusers).

I hope to finish up the rest of my research in the next week, and am still taking in survey responses from one of the larger hospitals in the Scottsdale area. While I have received at least one response from every major hospital in the city, my overall number of responses is still very limited and should grow in the coming week. Next week I will provide an updated view of my results and analyze any large changes in my data.

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