Financial Toxicity in Emergency General Surgery: Novel Propensity-Matched Outcome Comparison.

BACKGROUND: Financial toxicity describes the harmful effect of individual treatment costs and fiscal burdens that have a compounding negative impact on outcomes in surgery. While this phenomenon has been widely studied in surgical oncology, the purpose of this study was to perform a novel exploration of the impact of financial toxicity in emergency general surgery (EGS) patients throughout the US. STUDY DESIGN: The Nationwide Readmissions Database for January and February 2018 was queried for all EGS patients aged 18 to 65 years. One-to-one propensity matching was performed with and without risk for financial toxicity. The primary outcome was mortality, and the secondary outcomes were venous thromboembolism (VTE), prolonged length of stay (LOS), and readmission within 30 days. RESULTS: There were 24,154 EGS patients propensity matched. The mortality rate was 0.2% (n = 39), and the rate of VTE was 0.5% (n = 113). With financial toxicity, there was no statistically significant difference for mortality (p = 0.08) or VTE (p = 0.30). The rate of prolonged LOS was 6.2% (n = 824), and the risk was increased with financial toxicity (risk ratio 1.24 [1.12 to 1.37]; p < 0.001). The readmission rate was 7.0% (n = 926), and the risk with financial toxicity was increased (risk ratio 1.21 [1.10 to 1.33]; p < 0.001). The mean count of comorbidities per patient per admission during readmission within 1 year with financial toxicity was 2.1 ± 1.9 versus 1.8 ± 1.7 without (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite little difference in the rate of mortality or VTE, EGS patients at risk for financial toxicity have an increased risk of readmission and longer LOS. Fewer comorbidities were identified at index admission than during readmission in patients at risk for financial toxicity. Future studies aimed at reducing this compounding effect of financial toxicity and identifying missed comorbidities have the potential to improve EGS outcomes.

Tissue plasminogen activator with prolonged dwell time effectively evacuates pleural effusions.

OBJECTIVES: Fibrinolytic therapy can be effective for management of complex pleural effusions. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA, 10 mg) and deoxyribonuclease (DNAse) every 12 h with a dwell time of one hour is a common strategy based on published data. We used a simpler protocol of tPA (4 mg) without DNAse but with a longer dwell time of 12 h, repeated daily. We reviewed our results. METHODS: Charts were reviewed and demographics, clinical data and treatment information were abstracted. Outcomes were assessed based on radiographic findings and need for surgery. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifteen effusions in 207 patients (8 bilateral) were identified. 85% were either infectious or malignant. Two hundred and forty nine chest tubes were used: 84% were 10 Fr or 12 Fr and 7% were PleurX®. Five hundred and thirty one doses of tPA were given. The median number of doses per effusion was 2 (range 1-10), and 84% of effusions were treated with three or fewer doses. There were no significant bleeding complications. Median time to chest tube removal was 6 days (range 1 to 98, IQR 4 to 10). Drainage was considered complete for 78% of effusions, while 6% required decortication. CONCLUSIONS: Low dose tPA daily with a 12 h dwell time may be as effective as the standard regimen of tPA and DNAse twice daily with one hour dwell. For most patients only three doses were required, and small pigtail catheters were sufficient. This regimen uses less medication and is logistically much easier than the current standard.