Surgical decision-making in infants with suspected UPJ obstruction: stakeholder perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Although there are significant demographic and clinical variations in treatment decisions for infants with high-grade hydronephrosis concerning for ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO), there has been little research on the roles of parents and surgeons in the surgical decision-making (DM) process. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to understand parents' and surgeons' perceived roles in the surgical DM process for infants with high-grade hydronephrosis. STUDY DESIGN: Semistructured interviews were conducted with pediatric urologists from three regionally diverse tertiary referral sites and parents of infants diagnosed and treated for unilateral Society for Fetal Urology grade 3 or 4 hydronephrosis at one tertiary pediatric urology practice. Purposive sampling was used to ensure adequate representation of parents based on treatment choice, patient gender, race/ethnicity, and distance from the practice. Survey domains included (1) discussions about diagnosis and treatment options, (2) factors guiding treatment choice, and (3) participants' role in the DM process. Transcribed data and field notes were analyzed using a team-based, inductive grounded theory qualitative approach. RESULTS: Thirteen physicians and 32 parents were interviewed between November 2016 and November 2017. Parents and surgeons agreed that the surgeon was best equipped to guide treatment decisions because of their clinical knowledge and experience. Parents reported that their trust in the surgeon was the primary factor in their decisions. Surgeons reported tailoring discussions with parents to not only educate them about treatment options but also to develop an ongoing relationship with parents. Both parents and surgeons reported being satisfied with their roles in the DM process. DISCUSSION: This study suggests that parental trust in the surgeon and surgeon recommendations drive DM. This may be due to a lack of explicit discussion of options or of parental values and preferences for care. Limited discussions may also impact parental understanding of risks and potential complications. These findings are similar to those of prior studies in adults and children considering elective surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, parents and surgeons reported that surgeon recommendations, rather than parent preferences, guide treatment choices for infants with suspected UPJO. Both parents and surgeons are satisfied with a physician-driven approach to DM, suggesting that, in situations where the perceived risk is low and parental knowledge is limited, parents may find a physician-led approach beneficial. Data gleaned from this study will be used to inform future quantitative studies evaluating factors guiding surgeon recommendations for treatment and their associations with underlying treatment variation.

Prospective study of enhanced recovery after surgery protocol in children undergoing reconstructive operations.

BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol is a set of peri-operative strategies to increase speed of recovery. ERAS is well established in adults but has not been well studied in children. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to establish the safety and efficacy of an ERAS protocol in pediatric urology patients undergoing reconstructive operations. It was hypothesized that ERAS would reduce length of stay and decrease complications when compared with historical controls. STUDY DESIGN: Institutional Review Board approval was obtained to prospectively enroll patients aged <18 years if they had undergone urologic reconstruction that included a bowel anastomosis. ERAS included: no bowel preparation, administration of pre-operative oral carbohydrate liquid, avoidance of opioids, regional anesthesia, laparoscopy when feasible, no postoperative nasogastric tube, early feeding, and early removal of intravenous fluids (IVF). Recent (2009-2014) historical controls were propensity matched in a 2:1 ratio on age, sex, ventriculoperitoneal shunt status and whether the patient was undergoing bladder augmentation. Outcomes were protocol adherence, length of stay (LOS), emergency department (ED) visits, re-admission within 30 days, re-operations and adverse events occurring within 90 days of surgery. RESULTS: A total of 26 historical and 13 ERAS patients were included. Median ages were 10.4 (IQR 8.0-12.4) and 9.9 years (IQR 9.1-11), respectively (P = 0.94) (see Summary Table). There were no significant between-group differences in prior abdominal surgery (38% vs 62%), rate of augmentation (88% vs 92%) or primary diagnosis of spina bifida (both 62%). ERAS significantly improved use of pre-operative liquid load (P < 0.001), avoidance of opioids (P = 0.046), early discontinuation of IVF (P < 0.001), and early feeding (P < 0.001). Protocol adherence improved from 8/16 (IQR 4-9) historically to 12/16 (IQR 11-12) after implementation of ERAS. LOS decreased from 8 days to 5.7 days (P = 0.520). Complications of any grade per patient decreased from 2.1 to 1.3 (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.51-0.97). There were fewer complications per patient across all grades with ERAS. No differences were seen in emergency department (ED) visits, re-admissions and re-operations. DISCUSSION: Implementation improved consistency of care delivered. Tenets of ERAS that appeared to drive improvements included maintenance of euvolemia through avoidance of excess fluids, multimodal analgesia, and early feeding. CONCLUSION: ERAS decreased length of stay and 90-day complications after pediatric reconstructive surgery without increased re-admissions, re-operations or ED visits. A multicenter study will be required to confirm the potential benefits of adopting ERAS.

Trends in pediatric urologic consultations in a tertiary care hospital setting.

BACKGROUND: There is growing interest in the general activities of a pediatric urologist, whose specialty remains young in the spectrum of modern, organized medicine. Unplanned activities, which are more commonly referred to as consultations, can represent significant additional workload for the urologist seeing scheduled clinic patients or completing elective operative cases. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to better understand the practice patterns surrounding inpatient consultations of pediatric urology, and to describe patterns in reasons, timing, patient and service factors that may lead to patient intervention. STUDY DESIGN: Consultations at a tertiary care center were prospectively tracked using a consult note template with embedded data collection fields directly within the Epic electronic medical record. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to predict need for intervention. RESULTS: A total of 351 eligible consultations were completed during the 15-month study period. A total of 174 (50%) consultations originated from the emergency department, with 26% of those having been transferred from another institution (Figure). Consults occurred more frequently at the beginning of the week than at the end of the week (R2 = 0.7545) and at the end of the day rather than the beginning (R2 = 0.2504). Of these consults, 36% required an intervention, defined as bedside procedure, operative procedure or study in interventional radiology. Factors associated with intervention on multivariate analysis included consultation from the emergency department, pertinent radiologic or laboratory findings, and consultation after hours. DISCUSSION: With the introduction of subspecialty certification in pediatric urology there has been growing concern about a shift in the number and type of consultations seen by pediatric urology. Unlike prior examinations of pediatric urology consultation, the present study recorded diagnoses that appeared to more commonly result in urology consultation than in the past, such as testicular torsion. It highlighted a small subset of children with medical complexity and who were frequently admitted to the hospital, and accounted for nearly one fifth of all consultations. Repeat consultations underscored a need for ongoing education of the family, primary care and emergency department providers, and other services who interface with complex patients with ongoing healthcare needs. CONCLUSIONS: The pediatric urology service averaged about one formal consultation per day, with the most common diagnoses being hydronephrosis, urinary tract infection, urolithiasis, testicular torsion, and retention. One third of consults required intervention. Improved understanding of pediatric urology consultation would be helpful to facilitate physician education and improve service efficiency in the hospital setting.

Association between clean intermittent catheterization and urinary tract infection in infants and toddlers with spina bifida.

INTRODUCTION: The primary goal of urologic management in children with spina bifida is to reduce the risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) and associated renal injury. While clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) has been the mainstay of treatment, recent studies have suggested that this approach is not without risk. The objective of this study was to examine the association between alternative bladder management strategies and UTI in infants and toddlers with spina bifida. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on spina bifida patients, aged 0-3 years, seen in a multidisciplinary spinal defects clinic between 2008 and 2013. Inclusion criteria included: a primary diagnosis of meningocele, myelomeningocele, or lipomyelomeningocele. Patients were excluded if they had: <1 year of follow-up, urologic surgery prior to initial evaluation, or incomplete data for analysis. Bivariate analyses were performed using Chi-squared or Fisher's exact tests. Multivariate analyses were performed using logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 107 patients meeting study criteria were identified. The majority of patients had lumbar lesions (74.8%) and ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts (72.9%). Initial bladder management was by CIC in 39.3% of patients and spontaneous voiding in 60.8% of patients. Median age at follow-up was 2.5 years. During the study period, 23.4% of patients switched from spontaneous voiding to CIC. Patients managed with CIC were more likely to have UTIs at final follow-up than those managed with voiding (35.7% vs. 18.5%; P = 0.045). Patients with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) were also more likely to have UTIs (54.5% vs. 17.9%; P = 0.015). Patients who switched from spontaneous voiding to CIC over the study period were more likely to be evaluated with urodynamics (72.0% vs. 31.8%; P < 0.0001) than those managed with voiding alone. Patients who switched to CIC were also more likely to have VUR (16% vs. 0%; P = 0.09) and UTIs (24% vs. 15%; P = 0.06) than those managed with voiding alone; however, these differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: In the present series, infants and toddlers with spina bifida who were initially managed with spontaneous voiding had a lower risk of UTI than those managed with CIC. Patients who switched to CIC after a period of initial observation with voiding did not have a significantly different risk of UTI compared with those managed with CIC alone. These findings suggest that early initiation of CIC may not be warranted in all infants with spina bifida. Further studies are needed to more clearly define optimal indications for initiation of CIC in these patients.

Inter-rater reliability of postnatal ultrasound interpretation in infants with congenital hydronephrosis.

PURPOSE: The most common measurements of hydronephrosis are the anterior-posterior (AP) diameter and the Society for Fetal Urology (SFU) grading systems. To date, the inter-rater reliability (IRR) of these measures has not been compared in the postnatal period. The objectives of this study were to compare the IRR of the AP diameter and the SFU grading system in infants and to determine whether ultrasound findings other than pelvicalyceal dilation are associated with higher SFU grades. METHODS: Initial postnatal ultrasounds of infants seen from February 1, 2011, to January 31, 2012, with a primary diagnosis of congenital hydronephrosis were included for review. Ultrasound images were de-identified and reviewed by four pediatric urologists. IRR was calculated using the intraclass correlation (ICC) measure. A paired t test was used to compare ICCs. Associations between SFU grade and other ultrasound findings were tested using Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS: A total of 112 kidneys in 56 patients were reviewed. IRR of the SFU grading system was high (right kidney ICC = 0.83, left kidney ICC = 0.85); however, IRR of AP diameter measurement was higher (right kidney ICC = 00.97, left kidney ICC = 0.98; p < 0.001). Renal asymmetry (p < 0.001), echogenicity (p < 0.001), and parenchymal thinning (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with SFU grade 4 hydronephrosis on bivariable and multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The SFU grading system is associated with excellent IRR, although the AP diameter appears to have higher IRR. Physicians may consider ultrasound findings that are not explicitly included in the SFU system when assigning hydronephrosis grade, which may lead to variability in use of this classification system.

Correlation between CT-estimated tumor volume, pathologic tumor volume, and final pathologic specimen weight in children with Wilms' tumor.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship of Wilms' tumor (WT) volume to weight, and evaluate computed tomography (CT) scan-derived final pathologic specimen weight estimation models. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed WT patients from 2003 to 2011 who had a pre-operative CT scan, final pathologic specimen weight, and tumor dimensions. A partial nephrectomy tumor cohort (n = 12) was used derive WT density. A radical nephrectomy cohort (n = 45) was used to develop a simplified estimation equation of final pathologic specimen weight, and analysis of all known estimation models was performed. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients were identified. WT volume and weight were not equivalent (p = 0.0410). WT density was 1.3091 g/cm(3). WT volume and final pathologic specimen weight were not significant (p = 0.0007). Our model (p = 0.9983) and CT estimated ellipsoidal volume (p = 0.0741) were able to estimate final pathologic specimen weight in all tumors. However, CT-estimated ellipsoidal volume failed to estimate final pathologic specimen weight in specimens < 250 g (p = 0.0066). CONCLUSION: Pathologic WT volume is not equivalent to final pathologic specimen weight. Final pathologic specimen weight can be estimated from a pre-operative CT scan, which suggests that it may be used to improve pre-operative surgical planning and to reduce treatment morbidity.