Follow-up trends after emergency department discharge for acutely symptomatic hernias: A southwestern surgical congress multi-center trial.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this multi-center study was to examine the follow-up trends after emergency department (ED) discharge in a large and socioeconomically diverse patient population. METHODS: We performed a 3-year retrospective analysis of adult patients with acutely symptomatic hernias who were discharged from the EDs of five geographically diverse hospitals. RESULTS: Of 674 patients, 288 (43%) were evaluated in the clinic after discharge from the ED and 253 (37%) underwent repair. Follow-up was highest among those with insurance. A total of 119 patients (18%) returned to the ED for hernia-related complaints, of which 25 (21%) underwent urgent intervention. CONCLUSION: The plan of care for patients with acutely symptomatic hernias discharged from the ED depends on outpatient follow-up, but more than 50% of patients are lost to follow-up, and nearly 1 in 5 return to the ED. The uninsured are at particularly high risk.

Can acute care surgeons perform while fatigued? An EAST multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Fatigued surgeon performance has only been assessed in simulated sessions or retrospectively after a night on call. We hypothesized that objectively assessed fatigue of acute care surgeons affects patient outcome. METHODS: Five acute care surgery services prospectively identified emergency cases over 27 months. Emergency cases were defined by the surgeon identifying the patient as requiring immediate operation upon consultation or admission. Within 48 hours, surgeons reported sleep time accumulated before operation, if nonclinical delays to operation occurred, and patient volume during the shift. To maximize differences, fatigued surgeons were defined as performing a case after midnight without having slept in the prior 18 hours. Rested surgeons performed cases at or before 8 PM or after at least 3 hours of sleep before operation. A four-level ordinal scale was used to assign case complexity. Hierarchical logistic regression models were constructed to assess the impact of fatigue on mortality and major morbidity while controlling for center and patient level factors. RESULTS: Of 882 cases collected, 611 met criteria for fatigue or rested. Of these cases, 370 were performed at night and 182 by a fatigued surgeon. Rested surgeons were more likely to be operating on an older or female patient; other characteristics were similar. Mortality and major morbidity were similar between fatigued and rested surgeons (12.1% vs 12.1% and 46.9% vs 48.9%), respectively. After controlling for center and patient factors, surgeon fatigue did not affect mortality or major morbidity. Mortality variance was 6.30% and morbidity variance was 7.02% among centers. CONCLUSION: Acute care surgeons have similar outcomes in a fatigued or rested state. Work schedules for acute care surgeons should not be adjusted to shifts less than 24 hours for the sole purpose of improving patient outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic study, level IV.

EAST Multicenter Trial on targeted temperature management for hanging-induced cardiac arrest.

BACKGROUND: We sought to determine the outcome of suicidal hanging and the impact of targeted temperature management (TTM) on hanging-induced cardiac arrest (CA) through an Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) multicenter retrospective study. METHODS: We analyzed hanging patient data and TTM variables from January 1992 to December 2015. Cerebral performance category score of 1 or 2 was considered good neurologic outcome, while cerebral performance category score of 3 or 4 was considered poor outcome. Classification and Regression Trees recursive partitioning was used to develop multivariate predictive models for survival and neurologic outcome. RESULTS: A total of 692 hanging patients from 17 centers were analyzed for this study. Their overall survival rate was 77%, and the CA survival rate was 28.6%. The CA patients had significantly higher severity of illness and worse outcome than the non-CA patients. Of the 175 CA patients who survived to hospital admission, 81 patients (46.3%) received post-CA TTM. The unadjusted survival of TTM CA patients (24.7% vs 39.4%, p < 0.05) and good neurologic outcome (19.8% vs 37.2%, p < 0.05) were worse than non-TTM CA patients. However, when subgroup analyses were performed between those with an admission Glasgow Coma Scale score of 3 to 8, the differences between TTM and non-TTM CA survival (23.8% vs 30.0%, p = 0.37) and good neurologic outcome (18.8% vs 28.7%, p = 0.14) were not significant. Targeted temperature management implementation and post-CA management varied between the participating centers. Classification and Regression Trees models identified variables predictive of favorable and poor outcome for hanging and TTM patients with excellent accuracy. CONCLUSION: Cardiac arrest hanging patients had worse outcome than non-CA patients. Targeted temperature management CA patients had worse unadjusted survival and neurologic outcome than non-TTM patients. These findings may be explained by their higher severity of illness, variable TTM implementation, and differences in post-CA management. Future prospective studies are necessary to ascertain the effect of TTM on hanging outcome and to validate our Classification and Regression Trees models. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, level IV; prognostic study, level III.

Expanding the inclusion criteria for nonoperative management of uncomplicated appendicitis: Outcomes and cost.

BACKGROUND: Carefully selected children with early appendicitis may be managed nonoperatively. However, it is unknown whether nonoperative management (NOM) is applicable to all patients with uncomplicated appendicitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of NOM of uncomplicated appendicitis with expanded inclusion criteria. METHODS: A prospective, nonrandomized patient-preference study comparing NOM versus laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) was performed in children with radiographic/clinical evidence of uncomplicated appendicitis. RESULTS: Demographics, laboratory values, and clinical presentation were similar between the NOM (n=51) and LA (n=32) groups. Initial failure rate was 31%. The outcomes were similar between groups, except that NOM had fewer days of pain medication. Patients who failed NOM had a longer duration of symptoms prior to admission. Patients with appendicolith had a failure rate of 50% compared to 24% without appendicolith. The recurrence rate was 26%. Overall, 51% avoided appendectomy. Costs were similar between NOM and LA. CONCLUSIONS: When expanding the inclusion criteria for children with presumed uncomplicated appendicitis, NOM was associated with high failure and recurrence rates. These high rates may be because of the inclusion of patients with complicated appendicitis and patients with an appendicolith. Even in this setting of less-restrictive exclusion criteria, NOM remained cost neutral. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: LEVEL II (Treatment Study: Prospective Comparative Study).

Follow-up trends after Emergency Department discharge for acutely symptomatic hernias.

BACKGROUND: Patients frequently present to the Emergency Department (ED) with symptomatic hernias. This study evaluated the outcomes of patients presenting with symptomatic hernias without indication for immediate operation who are discharged for elective repair. METHODS: A three-year retrospective analysis of patients discharged from the ED with a symptomatic hernia was performed at a university affiliated county referral center. The incidences of ED revisits, clinic follow up and repairs occurring in the elective versus emergency setting were assessed. RESULTS: There were 111 patients evaluated and discharged from the ED with a symptomatic hernia where 21% (23) were recurrent and 27% (30) were chronically incarcerated. Of the 111 patients only 23% (26) followed-up in clinic and only 18% (20) underwent hernia repair. However, 25% (28) of all patients required a return visit to the ED and 45% (9) of herniorrhaphies were emergent. CONCLUSIONS: Discharge and failure of follow-up after an ED visit for a symptomatic hernia leaves many patients at risk for recurrent ED visits and emergent surgery.

Risky business? Investigating outcomes of patients undergoing urgent laparoscopic appendectomy on antithrombotic therapy.

INTRODUCTION: The literature regarding outcomes in patients on irreversible antithrombotic therapy (IAT) undergoing urgent laparoscopic appendectomy is limited. The aim of this multicenter retrospective study was to examine the impact of prehospital IAT on outcomes in this population. METHODS: From 2010 to 2014, seven institutions from the Southwest Surgical Multicenter Trials (SWSC MCT) group conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the clinical course of all patients on IAT who underwent urgent/emergent laparoscopic appendectomy. The IAT+ group was subdivided into IAT+ (Aspirin only) and IAT+ (Aspirin-Plavix). These groups were matched 1:1 to controls. The primary outcomes were estimated blood loss (EBL) and transfusion requirement. Secondary outcomes included infections (SSI - Surgical Site Infection, DSI - Deep Space Infection, and OSI - Organ Space Infection), hospital length of stay (HLOS), complications, 30-day readmissions, and mortality. RESULTS: Out of the 2903 patients included in the study, 287 IAT+ patients were identified and matched in a 1:1 ratio to 287 IAT-patients. In the IAT+ vs IAT-analysis, no significant differences in EBL (p = 1.0), transfusion requirement during the preoperative (p = 0.5), intraoperative (p = 0.3) or postoperative periods (p = 0.5), infectious complications (SSI; p = 1.0, DSI; p = 1.0, and OSI; p = 0.1), overall complications (p = 0.3), HLOS (p = 0.7), 30-day readmission (p = 0.3), or mortality (p = 0.1) were noted. Similarly, outcomes in the IAT+ (Aspirin only) and IAT+ (Aspirin-Plavix) subgroups failed to demonstrate any significant differences when compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that IAT is not associated with worse outcomes in urgent/emergent laparoscopic appendectomy. Prehospital use of IAT should not be used to delay laparoscopic appendectomy.

Concurrent Biliary Disease Increases the Risk for Conversion and Bile Duct Injury in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Retrospective Analysis at a County Teaching Hospital.

Biliary tract disease remains a common indication for operative intervention. The incidence of concurrent biliary tract disease (>2 biliary tract disease processes) is unknown and the impact of more than one biliary tract diagnosis on outcomes remains to be defined. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of concurrent biliary tract disease on conversion rate and outcomes after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A 5-year retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed comparing those with a single biliary diagnosis to patients with concurrent biliary tract disease. Variables analyzed were conversion to open cholecystectomy, incidence of bile duct injury, use of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and/or intraoperative cholangiogram, length of surgery, and duration of hospitalization. The incidence of concurrent biliary tract disease was 9 per cent and a conversion to open cholecystectomy was performed in 16 per cent of patients. After adjusting for confounding factors, concurrent biliary tract disease was predictive of conversion (odds ratio 1.6, 95% confidence interval 1.1-2.3, P = 0.03) and bile duct injury (odds ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 0.8-5, P = 0.01). Concurrent biliary tract disease patients were more likely to undergo intraoperative cholangiogram or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, as well as longer operation and length of stay.

Mandatory Operative Re-Exploration after Initial Debridement of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections: Is it Mandatory?

Necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs) are aggressive infections requiring prompt diagnosis and extensive surgical debridement. Traditionally, patients undergo mandatory re-exploration to ensure adequacy of source control. The purpose of this study is to determine if re-exploration in the operating room is mandatory for all patients with NSTIs. An eight-year retrospective analysis of adult patients with NSTIs was performed comparing two groups: mandatory operative re-exploration versus operative re-exploration based on clinical examination findings. Outcomes measured included mortality, number of debridements, and length of stay (LOS). Twenty-two per cent of patients underwent a mandatory re-exploration. These patients were older, had a higher incidence of diabetes, and a longer duration of symptoms. There were no significant differences between groups with regard to the physical examination, severity of sepsis, time to repeat debridements, or in-hospital mortality, whereas LOS and the total number of debridements were increased in mandatory re-exploration. Bacteremia and septic shock were predictive of the need for further debridement in patients in the operative re-exploration based on clinical examination findings group. Mandatory re-exploration after initial debridement may not be necessary in all patients with NSTIs. Instead, bedside wound checks may be a safe strategy to determine the need for further operative debridement.