Post-Surgical Fall as a Problem in Singapore Health Care System - Case Study Example

Post-operational fall is a major problem in the health sector that has not been given attention to. It has led to prolonged hospital admissions for patients with the condition, which are financially and mentally costly (Ham, 2012). In some instances, it leads to the mortality of patients thus this makes it more critical to identify ways to manage this condition especially for people aged 65 years and above. In this paper, the author will be discussing how ankle strengthening exercise compared to range motion over the lower limb, can strengthen the muscles of the lower limbs of the elderly patient postoperatively to prevent falls in the surgical ward.

 Drugs administered to patients are associated with a high risk of falls. Drugs such as antidepressants and benzodiazepines affect the central nervous system whose major role includes controlling the body balance (Andrew A. Guccione, 2011). The use and prescription of many drugs put one at risk of a fall. The use of these drugs has not to be cautioned to the society and hence they are not aware that continuous use of these drugs might cause falls. Body exercises are known to reduce the risk of falls.

They enable flexibility in the body which causes balance in the body. Falls are associated with alteration in balance and exercise helps to maintain body balance.  Ankle strengthening exercise and lower limb motion strengthen the muscles of the lower limb which correlates with the body balance hence preventing the risk of falling especially for the elderly (C.V. Mobbs, 2010). The interplay between the ankle and hip sway is very critical in preventing falls since it enables the body to sway and move swiftly according to the movements of a person.

Elderly people have crumped muscles due to their limited engagement in muscle stretching activities thus this makes them more prone to experiencing falls whenever they undergo a surgical operation (Roberto Chiesa, 2011). Major hospitals in Singapore do not specify the types of exercise for fall prevention in their hospital's guidelines. Specification of ankle and limb exercise in their guidelines would help greatly in fall prevention. A PICO question is spawned from the information context above.

Can ankle strengthening exercise as compared to a range of motion over the lower limbs, strengthen the muscles of the lower limbs of the elderly patient postoperatively to prevent fall in the surgical ward? Applicable papers were searched in four electronic databases. They include; Bartley, Cochrane library, Willey online library, and Ibiblio. The search was using a combination of keywords such as “post-operation fall”, “lower limbs”, “elderly patients”, “ankle strengthening”, “surgical ward”, “exercises” and “muscles” strengthening”.

The author used search terms “OR” and “AND” to combine keywords used to research the information. The papers found were peer viewed in English language only, limited to systematic reviews, and were from the year 2010 to 2018. The author made continuous research on the reference list of the papers to acquire more related information from other related articles. 3 articles selected include the Effectiveness of muscle strengthening and description of protocols for preventing falls in the elderly. b) Foot and ankle strategies for patients at risk for falls.

Falls Among Patients Who Had Elective Orthopedics Surgery. Guidelines provided by the Singapore national fall prevention program were selected due to their prolonged experience in this field. The program expounded on various ways of having ankle and limb exercises for the elderly to prevent the risk of falling. It proposed the use of a standing chair test for people to know if they are at risk of experiencing a fall in the future. Post-surgical fall is emerging as a problem in the Singapore health care system as the number of elderly is on the rise.

This due to the high population and unhealthy lifestyle by the elderly in the society increasing their risk to experience a fall.  Improvising new measures and guidelines to prevent falls is a critical step to fight this emerging issue. Exercise is fundamental in body muscle development. Research on ankle and limb strengthening exercises has proved to have a positive effect on fall prevention. However, evidence in this paper requires evaluation then attached to the practical guidelines in our health system.