Undetected Sleep Apnea in the Postanesthesia Acute Care Unit (PACU)

The study will retrospectively review the anesthetic record, including both the preoperative assessment records and the PACU flow sheets. The study will be conducted in the Anesthesiology Assessment Center. PACU. The STOP-BANG questionnaire is administered as part of the standard of care during the preoperative assessment. Anesthesia Assessment Center clinics assess approximately 500 patients a week, of which approximately 25% are scheduled for ambulatory surgical procedures in the Mays clinic. Patients are administered the STOP-BANG questionnaire as part of the standard of care while in the perioperative center. This will be recorded on the Initial Anesthesia Assessment Center Patient Record. This form is filled out by hand by the patients themselves and then scanned into Clinic Station. The neck circumference portion of the Bang questionnaire is assessed and recorded by the medical assistant with the use of a single use disposable paper tape measure. The data are recorded along with basic demographic, historical, and anthropometric data (including BMI) in a preoperative assessment record. In order to satisfy the first specific aim, length of stay in minutes as determined by the PACU nursing record will be documented. Nurses charting the LOS will not be specifically made aware of the STOP-BANG status of the subjects. Length of stay is charted in the PACU nursing forms electronically in PICIS and relayed to Clinic Station as part of the standard of care for all patients admitted to the PACU. In order to satisfy the third specific aim, patients enrolled in the study will be monitored for secondary outcomes via chart review of the PACU nursing record and electronic medical record. These outcomes are charted in the PACU nursing forms electronically in PCIS and relayed to Clinic Station as standard of care in all patients in the PACU.