naa a22 4500 510741622 CHVBK 20180411083030.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130601xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11845-012-0867-9 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11845-012-0867-9 Pre-operative testing for pregnancy in Dublin Day Surgery Units [Elektronische Daten] [L. Wong, M. Wingfield] Background: The safety of anaesthetic agents in early pregnancy cannot be guaranteed. Certain types of surgery, particularly gynaecological, may also be dangerous. It is therefore important to ensure that, female patients are not inadvertently pregnant when undergoing elective surgery. Different hospitals have different policies and guidelines in place to determine female patients' pregnancy status prior to elective surgery. Aims: This study aims to evaluate practices in Ireland with regard to methods used to exclude pregnancy in premenopausal women attending for day surgery. Methods: Postal questionnaires were sent to all consultants in Gynaecology and General Surgery. E-mail questionnaires were sent to all registrar trainees in both specialties. Letters were sent to nine Dublin teaching hospital day surgery units and followed up by telephone consultations. Results: The overall response rate was poor at 34.3%. Eighty per cent of respondents in the gynaecology specialty have encountered a preoperative patient with a positive pregnancy test at least once during their career versus 28.6% in the surgical specialty. Only 35% of gynaecology respondents would routinely inform female reproductive age patients of the need to avoid pregnancy prior to surgery versus 14.3% in the surgical specialty. On the day of elective surgery, 90% of gynaecologists would determine the LMP (last menstrual period) versus 35.7% of surgeons. The policy at all nine Dublin teaching hospitals is to perform a urinary HCG preoperatively but, their policies vary as to whether the patient's LMP, age and medical history are considered when performing a urinary HCG test. Conclusion: It is important that, female patients are counselled appropriately regarding the importance of using adequate contraception or, abstinence in order to avoid pregnancy prior to elective surgical procedures. Our survey shows that, gynaecologists are more likely to give this advice compared to our surgical colleagues. Nevertheless, the number of gynaecologists who do this is surprisingly low (35%). Urinary HCG is still the standard test used in most units to exclude pregnancy. Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, 2012 Human chorionic gonadotrophin nationallicence Day surgery units nationallicence Pregnancy testing nationallicence Wong L. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin 2, Ireland aut Wingfield M. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin 2, Ireland aut Irish Journal of Medical Science Springer-Verlag 182/2(2013-06-01), 231-235 0021-1265 182:2<231 2013 182 11845 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-012-0867-9 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-012-0867-9 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wong L. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin 2, Ireland aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wingfield M. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin 2, Ireland aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Irish Journal of Medical Science Springer-Verlag 182/2(2013-06-01), 231-235 0021-1265 182:2<231 2013 182 11845 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer