Assessing the Relationship between Obesity and Trigger Point-specific Outcomes after Headache Surgery.

Background: Trigger point deactivation surgery is a safe and effective treatment for properly selected patients experiencing migraine, with 68.3%-100% experiencing symptom improvement postoperatively. However, it is still unknown why certain patients do not respond. Obesity has been shown to be associated with worsened migraine symptoms and a decreased response to select pharmacotherapies. This study aimed to determine whether obesity may also be associated with an attenuated response to surgery. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to identify patients who had undergone trigger point deactivation surgery for migraine. Patients were split into obese and nonobese cohorts. Obesity was classified as a body mass index of 30 or higher per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Outcomes and follow-up periods were determined with respect to individual operations. Outcomes included migraine attack frequency, intensity, duration, and the migraine headache index. Differences in demographics, operative characteristics, and operative outcomes were compared. Results: A total of 62 patients were included in the study. The obese cohort comprised 31 patients who underwent 45 total operations, and the nonobese cohort comprised 31 patients who underwent 34 operations. Results from multivariable analysis showed no impact of obesity on the odds of achieving a more than 90% reduction in any individual outcome. The overall rates of improvement (≥50% reduction in any outcome) and elimination (100% reduction in all symptoms) across both cohorts were 89.9% and 65.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Obese patients have outcomes comparable to a nonobese cohort after trigger point deactivation surgery for migraine.

2015 American Thyroid Association guidelines and thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression after thyroid lobectomy.

BACKGROUND: 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines recommended more conservative treatment in low-risk well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC), stating that lobectomy alone may be sufficient. The guidelines further recommend mild thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level suppression (0.5-2 mU/L) for this population. Our goal is to evaluate the natural history of patients undergoing lobectomy to determine the percentage that would require postoperative levothyroxine supplementation under these guidelines. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 168 patients that underwent lobectomy between 2010 and 2019 was performed. Preoperative and postoperative TSH values and the rate of patients prescribed levothyroxine were analyzed. RESULTS: Thirty-five percent of patients were prescribed levothyroxine postoperatively. At 6 weeks postoperatively, 66% had TSH value of >2; this increased to 76% by 6 to 12 months. CONCLUSION: To adhere to ATA guidelines for WDTC managed with lobectomy alone, the majority of patients (76%) would require postoperative levothyroxine supplementation. Low preoperative TSH was found to be the most significant predictor for postoperative TSH < 2.

Development of a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Mohs Reconstruction.

Objective: There are currently no validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to specifically evaluate quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes for patients undergoing Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) reconstruction. Therefore, the objective of this report was to develop a short PROM that can be used to evaluate the outcome after MMS reconstruction from the patient's perspective. Methods: Following established guidelines for PROM development, a comprehensive literature review, concept elicitation interviews (n = 25), and cognitive debriefing interviews (n = 5) were performed. These data were used to develop a preliminary survey to measure patient QOL throughout the MMS reconstruction process. Results: Participants identified many items from existing validated QOL instruments as being irrelevant to their situation, indicating that the sensitivity of existing instruments may be relatively low for patients undergoing MMS. There was significant overlap between what patients frequently identified and what expert physicians believed would be important in terms of factors that affect patient QOL throughout this process. Cognitive debriefing interviews indicated that the survey can be quickly and easily administered. Conclusions: Following accepted standards, we have created a 12-item disease- and treatment-specific QOL PROM for individuals undergoing the MMS reconstruction process. Given the prevalence of MMS, this PROM could be an important tool for clinicians to assess outcomes in future interventional studies aimed at minimizing morbidity and maximizing QOL for these skin cancer patients. Psychometric testing and validation of this newly developed PROM are currently underway.