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Correspondence| Volume 53, 103615, February 2023

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Challenges with quality improvement in obstetric anaesthesia: playing the long game

Published:December 05, 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoa.2022.103615
      Persistent postpartum pain affects 6.1–11.5% of women with risk factors that include caesarean section (CS) and severe acute postoperative pain.
      • Lavand’homme P.
      Postpartum chronic pain.
      Since 2009, our department has completed five cycles of quality improvement concerning post-CS analgesia, a key audit standard recommended by the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

      Armstrong S. Pain relief after caesarean section. Raising the Standards: RCoA Quality Improvement Compendium. 2020. https://www.rcoa.ac.uk/safety-standards-quality/quality-improvement/raising-standards-rcoa-quality-improvement-compendium. Accessed 7 June, 2022.

      We present possible reasons for success and discuss theories for those areas with slower rates of improvement, with a particular focus on patient safety and challenges faced within maternity departments and in obstetric anaesthesia.

      Keywords

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