Structured opioid-free protocol following outpatient hypospadias repair - A prospective SQUIRE 2.0-compliant quality improvement initiative.

BACKGROUND: Prescription opioids have been extensively to manage postoperative pain in children. A growing body of evidence from the adult literature, suggests however, that healthcare providers may be prescribing far more opioids than required, with some studies demonstrating equivalent post-operative pain and clinical outcomes with their omission. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this prospective study were to assess the current heterogeneity of practice in post-operative opioids prescription following day case hypospadias surgery, to establish a streamlined discharge protocol, and to reduce the use of post-operative opioid prescription by 30% within a 4 month period through the use of systemic forcing functions and education. STUDY DESIGN: This prospective study was approved by the Quality Improvement (QI) sub-committee of the hospital's Research and Ethics Board (REB) and was compliant with the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0) guidelines. Recruited parents (n = 84) were contacted for telephone interview following a combined intervention of education and omission of post-operative opioids from the discharge prescription. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed including an initial process analysis to assess current opioid use, the creation of balancing measures, and the creation of Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. Age, procedure, post-operative outcomes and opioid prescription data were recorded over a period of 6 months in 2019. RESULTS: Initial measures in our process analysis demonstrated significant institutional practice variation amongst our 84 post-intervention patients. Our process and fidelity measures confirmed 100% information provision. Following the point of intervention, there was a significant and sustained drop in opioid prescription, with an absolute reduction of 35%, and a relative reduction of 56%. There was no significant difference in patient age, pain scores, or outcomes pre- and post-intervention. DISCUSSION: We have shown in this study that a sustainable decrease in post-operative opioid prescriptions following hypospadias surgery is possible. We managed to achieve a relative reduction 56% which is comparable to other specialties, however, did it within a quality improvement framework to ensure fidelity and no adverse balancing measures. We also managed to reduce the number of doses prescribed in those receiving opioids post-intervention at week 9. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates opioids can be safely omitted in hypospadias cohorts without any adverse clinical outcomes or balancing measures. We recommend that opioids be used extremely judiciously in this population in order to minimize exposure in children.

Button batteries in the oesophagus: A surgical emergency.

We describe two cases of missed battery ingestion that led to extensive morbidity, requiring surgical management that would not have been necessary had the batteries been removed timeously.

Trauma unit attendance: Is there a relationship with weather, sporting events and week/ month-end times? An audit at an urban tertiary trauma unit in Cape Town.

BACKGROUND: The Groote Schuur Hospital Trauma Unit is a high-volume referral center where patient volumes may be related to temporal and environmental factors. OBJECTIVE: This audit aimed to determine if numbers of patients presenting after motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) and interpersonal violence (IPV) were related to temporal factors, weather variables and important soccer matches. METHOD: Numbers of patients presenting to the unit per shift over 17 months were obtained from unit logs. Weather data, local soccer match locations and results, and information regarding public holidays and long weekends were obtained for the relevant shifts. Average daily attendances for IPV-related injuries and MVCs were compared across the various external factors described. Poisson regression models were fitted and used to express the relative incidence of attendances. These results are expressed using incidence rate ratios (IRRs). RESULTS: For the study period, 7 350 attendances due to IPV-related injuries, and 3 188 injuries due to MVCs were recorded. Weekdays, long-weekend nights and month-end weekends had increased MVC-related attendance. Precipitation also increased attendances related to MVCs. Public holidays had less MVC-related attendance. IPV-related attendances were increased at night, on long weekends, and on month-end weekends. Weekend shifts were busier than weekday shifts, particularly at month-end. Long weekends showed similar trends to ordinary weekends, and public holidays showed similar trends to ordinary weekdays. Increasing temperatures are associated with increased attendances. Soccer matches and their outcomes have no significant effect on IPV-related attendances. CONCLUSION: Temporal and weather factors can help predict which trauma unit shifts will be busiest.