The Impact of an Acute Care Surgical Service on the Quality and Efficiency of Care Outcome Indicators for Patients with General Surgical Emergencies.

Background Acute care surgery (ACS) models address high volumes of emergency general surgery and emergency room (ER) overcrowding. The impact of ACS service model implementation on the quality and efficiency of care (EOC) outcomes in acute appendicitis (AA) and acute cholecystitis (AC) cohorts was evaluated. Methods A retrospective chart review (N=1,229) of adult AA and AC patients admitted prior to (pre-ACS; n=507; three hospitals; 2007) and after regionalization (R-ACS; n=722; one hospital; 2011). Results R-ACS time to ER physician assessment was significantly longer for AA (3.4 ± 2.3 versus 2.4 ± 2.6 hr; p ≤ 0.001). Surgical response times (1.3 ± 1.2 vs 2.6 ± 4.3 hr for AA; 1.8 ± 1.5 vs 4.1 ± 5.0 hr for AC; p ≤ 0.0001) and acquisition of imaging (4.1 ± 4.1 vs 6.9 ± 9.9 hr for AA, p ≤ 0.0001; 7.8 ± 1.9 vs 13.2 ± 18.5 hr for AC, p ≤ 0.008) occurred significantly faster with R-ACS. R-ACS resulted in a significant increase in night-time appendectomies (21.7% vs 11.1%; p ≤ 0.002), perforated appendices (29.1 % vs 18.9 %; p ≤ 0.006), 30-day readmissions (4.56% vs 0.82%; p ≤ 0.01), and lower rate of intraoperative complications for AC patients (2.78% vs 7.69%; p ≤ 0.02). Conclusions Despite the increased volume of patients seen with the implementation of R-ACS, surgical assessments and diagnostic imaging were significantly more prompt. EOC measures were maintained. Worse AA outcomes highlight areas for improvement in delivering R-ACS.

Impact of acute care surgery on timeliness of care and patient outcomes: a systematic review of the literature

Background: Dedicated emergency general surgery (EGS) service models were developed to improve efficiency of care and patient outcomes. The degree to which the EGS model delivers these benefits is debated. We performed a systematic review of the literature to identify whether the EGS service model is associated with greater efficiency and improved outcomes compared to the traditional model. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science (Core Collection) databases from their earliest date of coverage through March 2017. Primary outcomes for efficiency of care were surgical response time, time to operation and total length of stay in hospital. The primary outcome for evaluating patient outcomes was total complication rate. Results: The EGS service model generally improved efficiency of care and patient outcomes, but the outcome variables reported in the literature varied. Conclusion: Development of standardized metrics and comprehensive EGS databases would support quality control and performance improvement in EGS systems.

Contexte: Des modèles dédiés de services de chirurgie générale d'urgence (CGU) ont été développés pour améliorer l'efficience des soins et les résultats chez les patients. On ne s'entend toutefois pas sur l'ampleur des bénéfices conférés par le modèle CGU. Nous avons procédé à une revue systématique de la littérature afin de vérifier si le modèle CGU est associé à une plus grande efficience et à de meilleurs résultats comparativement au modèle classique. Méthodes: Nous avons interrogé les bases de données MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus et Web of Science (collection centrale) depuis la plus ancienne couverture du sujet et jusqu'à mars 2017. Les paramètres principaux pour l'efficience des soins étaient le temps de réponse, le délai avant l'intervention et la durée totale du séjour hospitalier. Le paramètre principal pour l'évaluation des résultats chez les patients était le taux de complications total. Résultats: Le modèle de service CGU améliore généralement l'efficience des soins et les résultats chez les patients, mais dans la littérature, les paramètres mesurés varient. Conclusion: Le développement de paramètres standardisés et de bases de données globales sur la CGU appuierait le contrôle de la qualité et l'amélioration du rendement des systèmes CGU.

Advancement in the quality of operative documentation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of synoptic versus narrative operative reporting.

BACKGROUND: The operative report is vital for patients and central to surgical quality assessment. Narrative operative reports are often poor quality. Synoptic reporting can improve documentation. The objective was to identify and appraise studies comparing synoptic and narrative operative reporting. DATA SOURCES: A systematic review of the literature was performed. The primary outcome was completion of critical elements for an operative report. Additional secondary outcomes were measured. Meta-analysis was performed where possible. Quality analysis was performed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). RESULTS: 1471 citations were identified; 16 studies included. Mean NOS was 7.09 out of 9 (+/-- SD 1.73). Meta-analysis demonstrated that synoptic reporting was significantly more complete (SMD 1.70, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.26; I2 98%). Completion time was shorter with synoptic reporting (mean difference -0.86, 95% CI -1.17 to -0.55). Secondary outcomes favoured synoptic reporting. CONCLUSIONS: Synoptic reporting platforms outperform narrative reporting and should be incorporated into surgical practice.

An exceptional outcome from a rare cause of postpartum haemodynamic collapse.

We present a case of a 26-year-old woman presenting with haemorrhagic shock without any overt bleeding on postpartum day 2. Work up revealed intra-abdominal haemorrhage from an unclear source in the pelvis. She was intubated, resuscitated with mostly crystalloids, and started on norepinephrine and dopamine, in a rural hospital with limited resources. She was then transferred to the closest tertiary care centre 3 h away by air. On arrival, she was hypothermic (34.9°C) and had developed severe metabolic acidosis (pH 6.89). A massive transfusion protocol was initiated. She underwent an emergency laparotomy and the origin of the active bleeding was believed to be a branch of the right internal iliac artery. Haemostasis was achieved with packing. She was subsequently taken to interventional radiology for angioembolisation of the right uterine artery as an alternative to haemostatic hysterectomy. Her final diagnosis was rupture of an extrauterine uterine artery pseudoaneurysm.

Does ultrasongraphy predict intraoperative findings at cholecystectomy? An institutional review.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography (US) is the mainstay of biliary tract imaging, but few recent studies have tested its ability to diagnose acute cholecystitis (AC). Our objective was to determine how well a US diagnosis of AC correlates with the intraoperative diagnosis. We hypothesize that US underestimates this diagnosis, potentially leading to unexpected findings in the operating room (OR). METHODS: This retrospective review included all patients admitted to the acute care surgical service of a tertiary hospital in 2011 with suspected biliary pathology who underwent US and subsequent cholecystectomy. We determined the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of US using the intraoperative diagnosis as the gold standard. Further analysis identified which US findings were most predictive of an intraoperative diagnosis of AC. We used a recursive partitioning method with random forests to identify unique combinations of US findings that, together, are most predictive of AC. RESULTS: In total, 254 patients underwent US for biliary symptoms; 152 had AC diagnosed, and 143 (94%) of them underwent emergency surgery (median time to OR 23.03 hr). Ultrasonography predicted intraoperative findings with a sensitivity of 73.2%, specificity of 85.5% and PPV of 93.7%. The NPV (52.0%) was quite low. The US indicators most predictive of AC were a thick wall, a positive sonographic Murphy sign and cholelithiasis. Recursive partitioning demonstrated that a positive sonographic Murphy sign is highly predictive of intraoperative AC. CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography is highly sensitive and specific for diagnosing AC. The poor NPV confirms our hypothesis that US can underestimate AC.

CONTEXTE: L'échographie est la pierre angulaire de l'imagerie des voies biliaires, mais peu d'études récentes ont vérifié sa capacité de diagnostiquer la cholécystite aiguë (CA). Notre objectif était de déterminer dans quelle mesure le diagnostic échographique de la CA est en corrélation avec son diagnostic peropératoire. Selon notre hypothèse, l'échographie sous-estime ce diagnostic, ce qui pourrait entraîner des résultats inattendus au bloc opératoire. MÉTHODES: Cette revue rétrospective a inclus tous les patients admis en 2011 au service chirurgical d'urgence d'un hôpital de soins tertiaires pour une pathologie biliaire présumée et qui ont subi une échographie, suivie d'une cholécystectomie. Nous avons déterminé la sensibilité, la spécificité, la valeur prédictive positive (VPP) et la valeur prédictive négative (VPN) de l'échographie, avec le diagnostic peropératoire comme base de référence. Une analyse plus approfondie a permis d'établir quels paramètres échographiques étaient les plus prédictifs d'un diagnostic peropératoire de CA. Nous avons utilisé la méthode de partitionnement récursif avec forêts aléatoires pour recenser les différents paramètres échographiques qui, ensemble, permettent le mieux de prédire la CA. RÉSULTANTS: En tout, 254 patients ont subi une échographie pour des symptômes biliaires; 152 ont reçu un diagnostic de CA et 143 ont subi une intervention chirurgicale d'urgence (temps médian avant l'arrivée au bloc opératoire 23,03 h). L'échographie a permis de prédire le diagnostic peropératoire avec une sensibilité de 73,2 %, une spécificité de 85,5 % et une VPP de 93,7 %. La VPN (52,0 %) était plutôt faible. Les paramètres échographiques les plus prédictifs de la CA sont une paroi épaisse, un signe de Murphy échographique positif et la cholélithiase. Le partitionnement récursif a démontré qu'un signe de Murphy échographique positif est une solide prédicteur de la CA peropératoire. CONCLUSION: L'échographie est hautement sensible et spécifique pour le diagnostic de la CA. La piètre VPN confirme notre hypothèse selon laquelle l'échographie pourrait sous-estimer la CA.

Is obesity associated with advanced stage or grade of colon cancer?

Population-based studies from Europe have suggested that obesity is associated with more advanced stage colorectal cancer on presentation. Obesity is an even more prevalent issue in North America, but comparable data on associations with cancer are lacking. We reviewed the cases of 672 patients with colon cancer diagnosed between 2004 and 2008 in the province of Manitoba who underwent surgical resection at a Winnipeg Regional Health Authority­affiliated hospital. We tested if obesity was associated with more advanced cancer stage or grade. On multivariate analysis, after adjusting for age, sex,tumour location and socioeconomic status, we were unable to show any significant associations between body mass index of 30 or more and advanced stage or grade cancer on presentation. The reasons for the lack of association are likely multifactorial, including the pathophysiology of the disease and process factors, such as screening habits and colonoscopic diagnostic success rates in obese patients.