During the course of surgical interventions, complications mostly occur in the postoperative period. Slight clinical indications can be observed, which precede a significant deterioration of the patient's condition. On the general ward vital parameters, such as heart and breathing frequencies are measured every 4-8 h. Even if the monitoring of critically ill patients is increased to every 2 h and the measurement of vital functions takes 10 min, the patient is only monitored for 120 min in a 24 h period and remains postoperatively on the general ward without monitoring for 22 out of 24 h. New wireless monitoring systems are available to continuously register some vital functions with the aid of wearable sensors. These systems can alert and alarm ward personnel if the patient's condition deteriorates. Although the optimal monitoring system does not yet exist and implementation of these new wireless monitoring systems might involve some risks, these new methods offer a great opportunity to optimize surveillance of postoperative patients on the general ward.
Keywords: Failure to rescue; Postoperative complications; Vital signs; Wards, general; Wireless technology.