Psycho-Social Outcomes Following Emergency Laparotomy (POLO)

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Emergency Laparotomy

Treatments: Other: Emergency Laparotomy

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05281627

8160

Details and patient eligibility

About

An emergency laparotomy (EmLap) is a life-saving operation; but the aftermath for those that do survive can be lifechanging. Each year, in excess of 25,000 EmLaps are performed in UK. A national effort, through the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA), has managed to improve peri-operative care, and reduce 30 day mortality from 1 in 4 to less than 1 in 10. Whilst this reduction should be commended, it also means that more patients are surviving with some form of new infirmity.

This infirmity may be short-lived and reversible in some, and yet others may transition into a permanent chronic disease state. The impact of EmLap on those individuals that "do not fully recover" is far-reaching and often interlinked, covering biological, social and psychological domains. This makes it difficult to describe the true problem, i.e. holistic morbidity and suggest an intervention to improve it.

The primary aim of this work is to describe the holistic morbidity of EmLap throughout the first year of a patient's recovery.

Enrollment: 175 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18 years or above
• Able to communicate in English
• Cognitively able to complete the questionnaire
• Able to provide informed voluntary consent
• Undergone an EmLap during admission
• Clinical team anticipate to be "medically fit for discharge" within 48 hours (of consent)

Exclusion criteria

• Any terminal diagnosis in which the clinical team do not anticipate life expectancy to exceed 6 months from the time of surgery
• Acutely unwell at the time of recruitment. These patients may still be eligible and can be re-screened and recruited at a later date, should their condition improve.

Trial design

175 participants in 2 patient groups

Emergency Laparotomy Patients

Description:

All adult patients (18+) who have undergone Emergency Laparotomy surgery, are recovering well (no illness which is expected to limit life to \<6m post op) and have sufficient English-language and cognitive skills to complete the study questionnaires.

Treatment:

Other: Emergency Laparotomy

Family Caregivers

Description:

Adult (18+) family members, close friend or caregivers of the individual who has received EmLap treatment have sufficient English-language and cognitive skills to complete the study questionnaires.