Preoperative evaluation for epilepsy surgery: Process improvement

  • Sethi N
N/ACitations
Citations of this article
13Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy surgery (ES) can improve seizure outcome. A prolonged duration of presurgical evaluation contributes to epilepsy-related morbidity and mortality. We introduced process changes to decrease evaluation time (ET) and increase ES numbers (excluding vagus nerve stimulation). Methods: The University of Colorado Hospital patient database was searched for ESs between January 2009 and May 2016. Measures to reduce ET included (1) increasing patient care conference (PCC) frequency; (2) faster intracarotid amobarbital test (IAT) scheduling; (3) dedicated ES clinic; and (4) adding a nurse navigator. ET from noninvasive video-EEG monitoring (P1) to IAT, PCC, and ES, and ES volume were determined and compared for a baseline group (P1 January 2009-March 2013) and a group exposed to process changes (P1 after March 2013), the postchanges group, to assess the effect of these measures. Results: ES number was 61 for the baseline group and 77 for the postchanges group, increasing the annual rate at 3 years after changes from 14.4 to 36.8 (p = 0.0008; 37% yearly increase postchanges). Interventions lowered average ET by 96 days (p

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Sethi, N. K. (2017). Preoperative evaluation for epilepsy surgery: Process improvement. Neurology Clinical Practice, 7(5), 380–380. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.cpj.0000526704.18435.14

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free