Complex Operative Patient Planning Team, Operating Room, Emergency Department

This multidisciplinary team came together to facilitate a successful operative procedure that provided much needed dental work for an autistic patient with behavioral issues related to his developmental delay and apprehension from unsuccessful attempts in the past. The challenges facing this patient required team members to come together to facilitate a specific plan to meet his needs that included anesthesia, protective services, a dedicated nurse to support the patient’s family, the emergency department and the operative team. A key to this team’s success was engaging the family in planning the unique care process for this day and giving the time and space for this patient’s specific journey into the hospital and proceeding through to surgery – steps that had been impossible in past attempts and prevented a successful outcome. The special needs of this case highlighted a need to develop an assessment and treatment protocol to provide pre-operative oral anxiolytics for patients with uncooperative behaviors who are at high risk for cancelled surgery because of the apprehension involved in the journey to the operating room. This team demonstrated that through collaborative patient care, persistence and proactive coordination, even the most complex needs care be addressed in a way that is truly patient and family centered.