The patient experience of conscious regional anaesthesia & surgery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The patient experience of conscious local / regional anaesthesia and surgery.
IRAS ID
169896
Contact name
Luke, D. A. Ewart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Canterbury Christ Church University
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 1 months, 30 days
Research summary
The type of anaesthetic used for many surgical procedures now involves a local / regional rather than general anaesthetic (GA). The main difference being with a GA, the patient is asleep, whereas with a local / regional anaesthetic (RA), the patient is awake but the area being operated on is made numb. However, patients undergoing surgery within the UK have traditionally been given a GA and would therefore have been asleep for many of these procedures. Often, this remains an expectation of patients having surgery. What is not known, is how patients that are conscious with RA feel about their surgical experience or how they view themselves during this crucial surgical period. The aim of this project is to understand what it is like from the patients’ perspective to have surgery under RA while remaining conscious. An understanding of the relationship between the conscious patient and perioperative team during surgery will help clarify the most important factors influencing the surgical experience of this patient group and help inform delivery of appropriate person-centred care.
An ethnographic approach will be employed to collect data. Adult patients scheduled to have RA and surgery while conscious will be interviewed at an appropriate time prior to their operation. This will enable an understanding of the preconceptions these individuals have prior to surgery. Participant observation will be carried out to observe first-hand the interactions and context of patient experiences. Field-notes will be made at this stage to keep an accurate record of relevant points. Members of the perioperative team will be interviewed following the operating session to gain knowledge and understanding of factors influencing the patient experience from their perspective and to clarify and elucidate upon points identified in field-notes through participant observation. Patients will be re-interviewed following surgery once fully recovered in the ward environment.REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SC/0153
Date of REC Opinion
7 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion