Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Reliability and validity of a new postoperative track assessment tool (PoTra-tool) as a decision-making aid: A prospective observational study
Authors' conclusion
The PoTra-tool may support the decision-making process in deciding the most appropriate peri-operative level of care for an individual patient: PACU with standard care or IMCU with specialised care.
Study context
- Population
- Postoperative patients in a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU) and a specialised peri-operative intermediate care unit (IMCU) of a Swiss university hospital; raters were nurses and physicians of different competency levels4,206 ratings
- Participants
- 879 patients
- Exposure
- PoTra-tool ratings in PACU vs IMCU patients
- Outcome
- Reliability (between raters and across days; Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) or weighted kappas) and validity (vs severity of illness, nurse workload and predicted mortality scores) of the PoTra-tool (VASi and VASb)
Methodological detailsTool tested on day 0 in both units and on day 1 in the IMCU
- Tool tested on day 0 in both units and on day 1 in the IMCU
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Reliability and validity of VASi and VASb
Internal consistency between VASi and VASb (Pearson correlation)
0.90
Inter-rater reliability of VASi and VASb, each type of rater (weighted kappas), acceptable to moderate
0.59 to 0.67
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Median
| Outcome | PACU | IMCU |
|---|---|---|
| VASi (estimated indication for IMCU care) | 12 (IQR 2–30) | 76 (IQR 57–89) |
| VASb (estimated benefit of IMCU care) | 7 (IQR 1–19) | 66 (IQR 43–84) |
Original publication
Reliability and validity of a new postoperative track assessment tool (PoTra-tool) as a decision-making aid: A prospective observational study. Eur J Anaesthesiol Intensive Care. Published 29 May 2025. doi:10.
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