Implementation of guidelines for preoperative laboratory investigations in patients scheduled to undergo elective surgery.

Objective: To assess the impact on preoperative laboratory investigations in elective surgery after the implementation of guidelines for ordering such tests.
Design: A retrospective chart audit.
Setting: A university teaching hospital.
Patients: The charts of 903 patients who underwent an elective surgical procedure from each surgical specialty except cardiovascular and thoracic.
Interventions: Implementation of guidelines for preoperative laboratory investigations.
Main Outcome Measures: Impact on the preoperative use of laboratory investigations after implementation of the guidelines as well as patient morbidity and mortality.
Results: The mean number of preoperative laboratory investigations done per patient decreased from 4.65 before implementation of the guidelines to 4.18 after (p < 0.001). There was no apparent adverse impact on patient morbidity or mortality.
Conclusion: Implementation of guidelines for preoperative laboratory investigations for elective surgery resulted in a reduction in the number of tests without adverse impact on patient morbidity or mortality.