Authors (including presenting author) :
LEUNG CF (1), CHAN TY (2), CHENG YY (2), HUI KY (2)
Affiliation :
(1)Department of Surgery, United Christian Hospital, (2) Department of Surgery, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Keyword 1: :
Patient Education
Keyword 2: :
Reduce anxiety
Keyword 3: :
Emergency stoma operation
Introduction :
According to the SOMIP report 2023-2024, 1152 cases of emergency operations were done due to intestinal obstruction, accounting to 20.2% of the total emergency operations done in the year. Most of these patients were likely to have a stoma after operations. The postoperative anxiety level of them was found to be high mainly due to their knowledge deficit of stoma. They were concerned most about their changes in body image, stoma caring knowledge, stoma complications, lifestyle changes and reduced quality of life. To reduce their postoperative anxiety level following emergency stoma operation, early educational programs should be implemented. Unlike patients who receive thorough stoma education pre-operatively with elective stoma operation, a service gap of a lack of early 'emergency stoma' education program for emergency stoma patients was identified.
Objectives :
(1)To enhance stoma related knowledge and caring skills for patients with emergency stoma surgeries. (2) To reduce post-operative anxiety level for patients with emergency stoma surgeries.
Methodology :
From April to August 2025, patients in PYNEH and UCH with emergency stoma surgeries were recruited. A stoma education program was delivered to patients via paper form or iPad-electronic form. The education program includes stoma type, appearance, function, complications and their management advice, lifestyle modifications and breathing exercise for reducing stress. A simple Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A) was adopted for assessing patients’ stress level. Patients were asked to rate a score (0-10 score from the scale) for their anxiety level just before (pre-interventional) and just after (post-interventional) the education program.
Result & Outcome :
A total of 19 patients were recruited in this program. After receiving the stoma education program, all 19 patients showed reductions in their anxiety levels scored. More than half of the patients (11 cases) even experienced a reduction of more than 50% reduction in VAS-A score. The program directly addressed a significant gap that patients with emergency operation with stoma formation having stress unattended. The program provided the essential stoma knowledge to this group of patients and successfully reduced their stress. This program could act as a pilot study in the wards for enhancing service in the future.
