Biography
Prof. Jacques Devulder
Prof. Jacques Devulder
Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
Title: Enhanced recovery after surgery and one day surgery care. Bridging the gap between primary care and hospital care.
Abstract: 

The amount of surgery is increasing tremendously over the world. Surgery implies  also anesthesia, hospitalization, hospital care and home care. The costs for those procedures are increasing year by year. Unfortunately after surgery not all patients are cured. Excluding terminal cancer pathology, there is the burden of chronic pain after surgery. We performed a study looking the risk for becoming a chronic pain patient which is in our region 20%. So it remains important to know which patients should be at risk and should also be treated in a specific way. Another burden in western world has to consider: to lower the costs by reducing hospitalization time. So, more and more surgical procedures can be done in one day surgery hospitalization. Then patients are sent home and the general practioner and the home nurse has to help patient through the first postoperative days. As there is still remaining a gap between the primary care at home and the specialist, this is an adjuvant risk to become chronic pain patients or to encounter problems with patient readmissions and chronic suffering.

In the Ghent region we have 4 hospitals (1 University Hospital and 3 general hospitals). We joined the forces to become a group working together with the patient at home, the home nurse and the General Practioner.  By an app on  smartphone or tablet (CoZo  app) the patient and home care providers can send twice or three times a day their pain scores, scores for tiredness, sleep problems , nausea and vomiting and especially the degree of movement and leaving the bed. Even wound evolution can be seen by the specialist from home by this application. Home care providers and patients can contact the anesthetist in the hospital by  giving  tailored advice  for every problem they are consulted(even wound control). To provide more rapid mobilization at home the anesthesia and the postoperative care is changed. More locoregional anesthesia is performed and patients are sent home by electronic programmable pumps using local anesthetics. By phone the anesthetist can advice the home care nurse to tailor the pump in case of more or less pain. or changing drug flows in case of side effects.

Bridging the gap between specialist doctors and primary care providers is essential in preventing chronic pain patients and in enhancing recovery after surgery in the hospital patient. By this patient approach return to work is also enhanced and has an important impact on patients’ quality of life. This way of treatment has a  big positive effect on perioperative costs.

Biography: 

Born 7th december 1955 in Bruges Belgium.

Married and has two children.

Studies Medicine at the Ghent University from 1974 til 1981 and became doctor in medicine, surgery and obstetry.

Specialized anesthesia from 1981 till 1985 at the department of Anesthesia of the University Hospital Ghent.

Obtained his first PhD at the Ghent University June 1988 with the thesis: Spinal Cord Stimulation :its application in pain therapy.

Became professor in anesthesia at the Ghent University in 1995.

Obtained a second PhD  at Ghent University :Spinal Cord Stimulation in the failed back surgery patient.

Was the author or co-author of 8 books

Gave lectures at different international congresses all over Europe, USA, Canada and Australia.

Is reviewer of many international journals.

At the University Hospital of Ghent combines anesthesia and pain therapy and his professorship with lectures at physiotherapists, dentists, nurses and medicine students.