Surgical checklist application and its impact on patient safety in pediatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: Surgical care is an essential component of health care of children worldwide. Incidences of congenital anomalies, trauma, cancers and acquired diseases continue to rise and along with that the impact of surgical intervention on public health system also increases. It then becomes essential that the surgical teams make the procedures safe and error proof. The World Health Organization (WHO) has instituted the surgical checklist as a global initiative to improve surgical safety. AIMS: To assess the acceptance, application and adherence to the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist in Pediatric Surgery Practice at a university teaching hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective study, spanning 2 years, the checklist was implemented for all patients who underwent operative procedures under general anesthesia. The checklist identified three phases of an operation, each corresponding to a specific period in the normal flow of work: Before the induction of anesthesia ("sign in"), before the skin incision ("time out") and before the patient leaves the operating room ("sign out"). In each phase, an anesthesiologist,-"checklist coordinator," confirmed that the anesthesia, surgery and nursing teams have completed the listed tasks before proceeding with the operation and exit. The checklist was used for 3000 consecutive patients. RESULTS: No major perioperative errors were noted. In 54 (1.8%) patients, children had the same names and identical surgical procedure posted on the same operation list. The patient identification tag was missing in four (0.1%) patients. Mention of the side of procedures was missing in 108 (3.6%) cases. In 0.1% (3) of patients there was mix up of the mention of side of operation in the case papers and consent forms. In 78 (2.6%) patients, the consent form was not signed by parents/guardians or the side of the procedure was not quoted. Antibiotic orders were missing in five (0.2%) patients. In 12 (0.4%) cases, immobilization of the patients was suboptimal, which led to displacement of diathermy grounding pad. In 54 (1.8%) patients, the checklist was not used at all. In 76 (2.5%) patients the checklist was found to be incompletely filled. CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports the use of the checklist as an essential safety tool and reinforcement of the same. The checklist may act as a valuable prompt to focus the team, to ensure that even the simple things have been cared for.

Needle in a haystack: Intraoperative breakage of pediatric minimal access surgery instruments.

The search for tiny bits of broken pediatric minimal access surgery (MAS) instruments in an operative field is akin to the search for a needle in a haystack. With the extension of MAS to the pediatric age group, instruments are becoming smaller and equitably more prone to breakage. When breakages occur, retrieval, especially in the pediatric abdominal cavity, can be challenging. Inability to do so would affect patient safety and also lead to a web of medico legal and ethical issues. We present two cases of intraoperative breakage: An eyeless 3-0 polyamide suture needle and a 2-mm grasper blade both of which were successfully retrieved and fortuitously escaped becoming retained surgical items.

Medical simulation: a virtual world at your doorstep.

Medical simulation has come a long way in Western health care; however, in developing world, health education sectors have not adequately addressed its significance and role in preparing and updating heath care personnel. Validification, standardization, paucity of trainers, deficiency of a structured syllabus, and cost of equipments need to be overcome in the next decade. Despite these problems, worldwide acceptance of the concept of medical simulation is growing. It is undoubtedly the wave of future. Multidisciplinary, interprofessional, and multimodal simulation training is possible. Virtual worlds are increasing the vistas of training, making the actual health care dispensing more skilled and safe.

Review of video-assisted thoracoscopy in children.

Open thoracotomy is the standard procedure for various thoracic diseases against which other procedures are compared. Currently Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) has gained widespread acceptance in the management of a variety of thoracic disorders. It decreases the morbidity and duration of hospital stay. A total of 133 children with various thoracic diseases who presented at a University Teaching Hospital in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, from June 2000 to December 2007, were included. Of the 133 patients,116 patients had empyema, all of whom were subjected to VATS, and an attempt at debridement/decortication and drainage was made. Other thoracic disorders treated included lung abscesses, lung biopsies, hydatid cysts, and so on. Patients with empyema were treated according to their stage of disease. Of the 116 patients who underwent thoracoscopy, 16 had to be converted to open surgery due to various reasons. The mean duration for removal of drain was three days and the average total duration of hospital stay was six days. Similarly the application of VATS was advantageous in other thoracic diseases.

A study of blood glucose in paediatric laparoscopy.

BACKGROUND: There are few studies on stress responses to laparoscopic surgery in children. This study was conducted to assess the blood glucose levels in children undergoing laparoscopy. We also studied the effect of two different intravenous (i.v.) solutions on blood glucose in open and laparoscopic procedures. METHODS: One hundred and twenty healthy children, aged 2-12 years, undergoing either open or laparoscopic surgery, were randomized to receive either dextrose normal saline (DS) or Ringer's lactate peri-operatively (RL). All patients had blood glucose measurements performed immediately after induction but prior to the i.v. infusion of any fluid. Blood glucose was again measured 1 h after induction in the open cases and 1 h after insufflation in the laparoscopy cases. RESULTS: In the groups, baseline blood glucose values were comparable. In all groups, blood glucose concentrations increased from the immediate post-induction (baseline) values. When RL was infused, the 1-h blood glucose was higher in the laparoscopy group as compared with the open group. However, when DS was infused the difference between the 1-h blood glucose in the open and laparoscopic procedures was not statistically significant. In the laparoscopy group, the 1-h blood glucose value was significantly higher in the patients receiving dextrose solution. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic procedures in children are associated with a rise in blood glucose levels similar to open surgery. The hyperglycaemic response was more pronounced when dextrose-containing solutions were infused peri-operatively.

Metallic foreign body in the lung: a case report.

We present the case of an 11-year-old girl with a history of needle ingestion. Radiological investigations revealed that the foreign body had migrated into the lung parenchyma. We report the use of fluoroscopy and thoracoscopy to aid localization and facilitate removal of a metallic foreign body in the thorax.

Making of a pediatric urologist.

The million-dollar question that we wish to address in this article is who should be the specialist for urological problems in children in India. What are the special attributes of a pediatric urologist? The answer to this question is far from simple and straightforward. Dogmatic rules do not provide a functional solution. While one has to admit that in India pediatric urological problems will be dealt with by urologists, as well as by pediatric and general surgeons, one has to also accept that lacunae do exist in the current curriculum and the methodology of training.A pediatric urologist by the virtue of definition would be a specially trained surgeon who would deal with urological diseases of children from newborn to adolescence (0-14 years). (In some instances e.g. exstrophy, renal transplant and continent procedures the age of treatment may even exceed up to 16 and above). He has the experience and the expertise to treat a child. Children are not miniaturized adults and newborns are not miniaturized children. Their physiology is different, they cannot always express their problems, answer questions and may not be cooperative during clinical examination.

Primary pulmonary hydatid cysts in children-a report of three cases.

Three children with a total of six primary pulmonary hydatid cysts, all of whom underwent surgical management, are presented. Of these six hydatid cysts, two were treated with thoracotomy with cyst enucleation and capittonage, three with thoracoscopy-assisted minithoracotomy with enucleation and capittonage, and one with limited resection.

Minimal access surgery in children - 5 years institutional experience.

CONTEXT: Minimal access surgery (MAS) in children are common place and performed worldwide with gratifying results as the learning curve of the surgeon attains plateau. We share our experience of this technically evolving modality of surgery, performed at our setup over a period of 5 years. We also review and individually compare the data for commonly performed procedures with other available series. Author also briefly discuss potential advantages of MAS in certain debatable conditions performed quickly and with cosmesis as open procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed 677 MAS in children aged between 7 days and 12 years. Five hundred and sixty-eight of these were Laparoscopic procedures and 109 were Video assisted thoracoscopic surgeries (VATS). In all laparoscopic procedures, the primary port placement was by the Hasson's open technique. We have used 5, 3 and 2 mm instruments. Our study include 259 inguinal hernia, 161 Appendectomies, 95 VATS for empyema, 51 orchiopexies, 49 diagnostic laparoscopy, 29 cholecystectomies, 22 adhesionlysis and other uncommonly performed procedures. RESULTS: The ultimate outcome of all the performed procedures showed gratifying trend, the data of which are discussed in detail in the article. CONCLUSION: As we gained experience the operating time showed a decreasing trend, the complication rates and conversion rate also reduced. The advantages we came across were better postoperative appearances, less pain and early return to unrestricted activities.

Esophageal atresia with distal tracheoesophageal fistula associated with situs inversus.

The presence of situs inversus (SI) causes difficulty in the repair of esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF). We report two cases: the first infant had situs SI abdominis with a right-sided aortic arch and the second had situs inversus totalis. To our knowledge, these are the first reported cases of repair of EA/TEF in a patient with SI.

Anomalous pancreaticobiliary union and chronic pancreatitis: rare presentation with biliary peritonitis.

Anomalous pancreaticobiliary union (APBU) has varied presentations. We report the case of a 12-year-old female who presented with biliary peritonitis due to a perforation of the common bile duct due to impaction of a pancreatic calculus at the duodenal papilla. She had a long common-biliary channel and pancreas divisum with chronic calcific pancreatitis involving the pancreatic head and neck. To our knowledge, this is the first such reported case in the literature.

Primary lymphedema of the penis: surgical correction by preputial unfurling.

Primary lymphedema of the penis (PLP) is a rare disease. We report a case in a 2-year-old, uncircumcised boy where the uninvolved inner preputial skin was unfurled to cover the penile shaft. The uninvolved inner preputial skin is often elongated, and provides a suture-free cover of sufficient length for the small penile shaft of pediatric patients.

Round worm migration along ventriculoperitoneal shunt tract: a rare complication.

Though a ventriculoperitoneal shunt has been associated with myriads of unusual complications, so has been that with roundworms. A case of a three-year-old boy is presented who had an unusual complication of roundworm migration along the shunt tract that presented as shunt tract infection.

Color flow Doppler sonography: a reliable alternative to voiding cystourethrogram in the diagnosis of vesicoureteral reflux in children.

OBJECTIVES: In children with urinary tract infection, the incidence of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is nearly 30% to 40%. The standard for the diagnosis of VUR is voiding cystourethrography (VCUG). This study assessed the role of color flow Doppler sonography (CFDS) in the diagnosis of VUR and ureteral jets. METHODS: CFDS imaging was performed in 36 patients aged 6 months to 13 years during a 4-year period. All patients underwent CFDS and VCUG within 24 to 48 hours, but the findings of the VCUG were not reported to the sonologist. The ultrasound examinations were done using a color Doppler real-time machine. Representative images of the bladder events were recorded with a multiformat camera and on VHS videotape. RESULTS: The duration of the Doppler signal varied from 0.4 to 7.5 seconds. In 31 (86.1%) of 36 patients, the results of CFDS correlated well with VCUG findings. There were three false-negative and two false-positive results in the present study. Six patients underwent reimplantation during the course of their treatment. CFDS was used as a follow-up modality at the end of 6 months, and the results correlated well with standard VCUG in 4 of these patients. In the remaining 2 patients, only CFDS was performed and correlation with VCUG was not possible. VCUG was considered the reference standard in assessing the sensitivity of CFDS. CONCLUSIONS: CFDS of the bladder during the filling and micturating phases is a reliable and sensitive modality for identifying VUR and demonstrating ureteral jets. CFDS nullifies the danger of exposure to ionizing radiation and avoids the unpleasant catheterization many of these children fear.

Primary gastric lymphoma in a boy.

Primary gastric lymphoma is an extremely uncommon entity in children, and diffuse large-cell-type lymphoma in this age group is still rarer. An 11-year-old boy with primary gastric lymphoma who responded to CHOP regime is reported.

An unusual presentation in a patient with metachromatic leukodystrophy.

A 2-year-old child was admitted with bilateral bronchopneumonia. During convalescence he sustained sudden respiratory arrest for which he required ventilatory support. He had undergone cholecystectomy 1 month prior to the above episode. The pathological examination of the gall bladder mass had revealed the features of metachromatic leukodystrophy. Gastro-oesophageal reflux, which is associated with this neurological disorder, was suspected to be the cause of this sudden respiratory arrest and its presence was confirmed by barium swallow examination.

Gastric volvulus in childhood.

Gastric volvulus is an uncommon condition more so in the paediatric age group. The cause of gastric volvulus may be idiopathic or secondary to various congenital or acquired conditions. In this short series of three patients, one had volvulus which was due to ligamentous laxity and mobile spleen, second had congenital postero-lateral diaphragmatic defect and the third had hiatus hernia.