Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Beyond discharge score: postoperative care unit nurses’ clinical assessments improve postoperative risk stratification: A prospective cohort study
Authors' conclusion
PACU nurse assessments outperformed MAS and NEWS in predicting early postoperative complications.
Study context
- Population
- High-risk adult surgical patients after elective or emergency procedures, two postanaesthesia care unit (PACUs) in the Capital Region of Denmark15 missing nurse assessments excluded
- Participants
- 240 patients
- Exposure
- Modified Aldrete Score (MAS) vs National Early Warning Score (NEWS) vs PACU nurse assessments
- Outcome
- Prognostic performance of MAS in identifying early postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade II to V)
- Follow-up
- Within 72 h of PACU discharge
Methodological detailstwo-centre, prognostic
- Two-centre
- Prognostic
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Prognostic performance of MAS for early complications
| Group | AUC |
|---|---|
| MAS | 0.555 |
MAS
AUC0.555
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Secondary outcomes
Early complications in patients rated 'Potentially unstable' or 'Unstable' despite meeting MAS criteria
| Estimate | ||
|---|---|---|
| 'Potentially unstable' or 'Unstable' | OR 3.65 (95% CI 1.53–8.76) | |
| 'Potentially unstable' or 'Unstable' | RR 0.32 (95% CI 0.15–0.70) | |
| 0.10.31310Ratio (log scale) |
Subsequent complications after early complications
| OR (95% CI) | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Early complications | 5.0 (1.8–14.1) | P < 0.001 | |
| 0.050.21520Odds ratio (log scale) |
| Outcome | NEWS | PACU nurse assessments | AUC | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prognostic performance of NEWS and PACU nurse assessments for early complicationsSignificantly associated with early complications | 0.652 | P = 0.006 | ||
| AUC | 0.589 | 0.652 | ||
| Sensitivity (optimal threshold) | — not stated in the abstract | 72.4% | ||
| Specificity (optimal threshold) | — not stated in the abstract | 61.2% | ||
| PPV (optimal threshold) | — not stated in the abstract | 21.6% | ||
| NPV (optimal threshold) | — not stated in the abstract | 93.8% |
— not stated in the abstract
Prognostic performance of NEWS and PACU nurse assessments for early complications
- NEWS showed limited predictive ability
Early complications in patients rated 'Potentially unstable' or 'Unstable' despite meeting MAS criteria
- Higher risk despite meeting MAS criteria
Original publication
Beyond discharge score: postoperative care unit nurses’ clinical assessments improve postoperative risk stratification: A prospective cohort study. Eur J Anaesthesiol. Published 10 March 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →