Development and Feasibility of a Scale to Assess Postoperative Recovery

Background: Good postoperative recovery is increasingly recognizedasanimportantoutcomeaftersurgery.Theauthorscreateda new Post-operative Quality Recovery Scale (PQRS) that tracks multiple domains of recovery from immediate to long-term time periods in patients of varying ages, languages, and cultures. Methods: The parameters of importance to both clinicians and patients were identified. After an initial pilot study of 133 patients, the PQRS was refined. It consists of six domains (physiologic, nociceptive, emotive, activities of daily living, cognitive, and overall patient perspective). An observational study of 701 patients was performed with the refined PQRS to assess its capacity to evaluate and track recovery and to discriminate between patients. It was conducted in eight countries and in five languages, involving patients more than or equal to 6 yr undergoing elective surgery with generalanesthesia.Recoverywasassessedbeforesurgeryandatmultipletimeperiodspostoperatively.Recoverywasdefinedasreturnto baseline values or better. Results:SevenhundredonepatientscompletedthePQRS.Mean