Strategies to prevent hospital readmission and death in patients with chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Readmission following hospital discharge is common and is a major financial burden on healthcare systems. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to 1) identify studies describing post-discharge interventions and their efficacy with respect to reducing risk of mortality and rate of hospital readmission; and 2) identify intervention characteristics associated with efficacy. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was performed. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE and CINAHL. Our selection criteria included randomized controlled trials comparing post-discharge interventions with usual care on rates of hospital readmission and mortality in high-risk chronic disease patient populations. We used random effects meta-analyses to estimate pooled risk ratios for all-cause and cause-specific mortality as well as all-cause and cause-specific hospitalization. RESULTS: We included 31 randomized controlled trials encompassing 9654 patients (24 studies in CHF, 4 in COPD, 1 in both CHF and COPD, 1 in CKD and 1 in an undifferentiated population). Meta-analysis showed post-discharge interventions reduced cause-specific (RR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.63-0.80) and all cause (RR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.81-0.99) hospitalization, all-cause (RR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.65-0.83) and cause-specific mortality (RR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.54-0.84) in CHF studies, and all-cause hospitalization (RR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.32-0.83) in COPD studies. The inclusion of a cardiac nurse in the multidisciplinary team was associated with greater efficacy in reducing all-cause mortality among patients discharged after heart failure admission (HR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.54-0.75 vs. HR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.73-1.03). CONCLUSIONS: Post-discharge interventions reduced all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, and cause-specific hospitalization in CHF patients and all-cause hospitalization in COPD patients. The presence of a cardiac nurse was associated with greater efficacy in included studies. Additional research is needed on the impact of post-discharge intervention strategies in COPD and CKD patients.

Feasibility of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in the obese patient and assessment of predictors of perioperative outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Partial nephrectomy is the gold standard for treatment of small renal masses. Our study compares outcomes for obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥30) and healthy (BMI <30) patients undergoing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) with the intention of defining preoperative risk factors for complications and renal insufficiency in the obese. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 187 consecutive patients who underwent LPN. We examined the association between BMI and postoperative complication, estimated blood loss (EBL), hospital length of stay, warm ischemic time (WIT), and postoperative renal function. We did similar analyses using the RENAL nephrometry score and the comorbidity status of the patients. RESULTS: We found no statistically significant increase in complications in obese (BMI ≥30) individuals relative to healthy (BMI <30) patients. The obese experienced approximately 100 cc more EBL (P = 0.0111). Patients experienced more complications if they had a Charlson comorbidity score ≥3 (P = 0.0065), an American Association of Anesthesiologists score ≥3 (P = 0.0042), or a history of diabetes mellitus (P = 0.0196). There was no association between RENAL nephrometry score and complication. However, patients with a score ≥8 experienced higher WIT (P = 0.0022), a greater decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate postoperatively (P = 0.0488), and an increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease ≥3 (P = 0.0065). CONCLUSIONS: Obese patients undergoing LPN are not at significantly increased risk of complication relative to nonobese patients. Comorbidity status and RENAL nephrometry score, independent of BMI, should be the main considerations of a patient's suitability for LPN.