The Effect of a Required 48-Hour Window to Schedule Genetic Counseling on Time From Diagnosis of Breast Cancer to Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The length of time from diagnosis of breast cancer to surgery has steadily increased. Consultations and tests, in addition to a lack of available counseling programs, contribute to delays. Evidence suggests that delays between diagnosis and surgery may adversely affect patients. OBJECTIVES: This article examines the effect of time from diagnosis of breast cancer to surgery by requiring nurse navigators to contact the genetic counseling office within 48 hours of the diagnosis to schedule an appointment for the patient as soon as possible. METHODS: Using a quasiexperimental design, data of time from diagnosis to surgery among patients with breast cancer were collected retrospectively preintervention (N = 30) and prospectively postintervention (N = 30). FINDINGS: Time from diagnosis to surgery decreased significantly from pre- (mean = 50.3 days, SD = 22 days) to postintervention (mean = 39 days, SD = 16 days) (t = 2.25, p = 0.03).

Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology & Critical Care (SNACC) Neuroanesthesiology Education Milestones for Resident Education.

BACKGROUND: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has introduced competency-based assessments (milestones) for resident education. However, the existing milestones for Anesthesiology are not specific to Neuroanesthesiology. The Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology & Critical Care (SNACC) commissioned a task force to adapt the ACGME anesthesiology milestones for use in Neuroanesthesiology training, and to provide recommendations for implementing milestones. METHODS: A 7-member expert task force supported by an advisory committee developed the initial milestones by consensus. Written permission was given by the ACGME. The milestones were refined following 3-month pilot use in 14 departments across the United States and inputs from SNACC members. Final milestones were approved by the SNACC Board of Directors. RESULTS: Twelve Neuroanesthesiology-specific milestones in 5 major ACGME domains are recommended; these were identified as most pertinent to this subspecialty rotation. These pertain to patient care (7 milestones), medical knowledge (2 milestones), practice-based learning and improvement (1 milestone), and interpersonal and communication skills (2 milestones). Each milestone was described in detail, with clear outline of expectations at various levels of training. CONCLUSIONS: The SNACC Neuroanesthesiology milestones provide a framework for reviewing resident performance and are expected to facilitate improved use of ACGME milestones during Neuroanesthesiology subspecialty training. The task force recommends that the target should be to accomplish level 4 or higher milestones by the end of residency training. Individual programs should decide the implications of a resident not meeting the expected milestones.

Outcome Measurement: Patient Satisfaction Scores and Contact With Oncology Nurse Navigators.

BACKGROUND: Satisfaction with care is a reported outcome of patient navigation. Assessment methods vary, as do navigation programs, including the use of oncology nurse navigators (ONNs). OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of contact with an ONN on patient satisfaction. METHODS: A retrospective review of oncology Press Ganey outpatient satisfaction surveys was conducted. Groups with and without ONN contact were compared on responses to survey items relevant to ONN roles. For those 15 items, mean scores, top box scores, and all-facility percentile rank were compared between those who did and did not report contact with an ONN. FINDINGS: For all items, mean scores and percentile rank comparisons were higher for the group with ONN contact. In the group with ONN contact, top box scores were significantly higher for items pertaining to nurses' concern for patients' questions and worries and staff sensitivity to difficulties and inconvenience caused by the condition or treatment.

Exploring the Lived Experience of Women Immediately Following Mastectomy: A Phenomenological Study.

BACKGROUND: In 2014, it is estimated that 232,670 new cases of breast cancer occurred in the United States. Unilateral or bilateral mastectomy is a frequently chosen option for treating this disease. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore, through an in-depth interview process, the lived experience of women immediately following mastectomy when they see their scars for the first time. METHODS: Purposeful sampling was used until saturation was reached. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 women related to their mastectomy experience. The data were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. RESULTS: The following 8 themes emerged from the data; lasting impact, personal impact, relational impact, gratitude, support system, coping strategies, timing, and discomfort. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study provide evidence that women face ongoing challenges following seeing their mastectomy scars for the first time that is not adequately addressed by healthcare professionals. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurses and other healthcare professionals need to gain a better understanding of the difficulties perceived by women following seeing the scars from mastectomy and implement strategies to assist in successful adaptation to the experience.

Sevoflurane anesthesia decreases cardiac vagal activity and heart rate variability.

We evaluated cardiac vagal activity during sevoflurane anesthesia in neurosurgical patients. Heart rate variability was determined by power spectral analysis and entropy with the patient awake and during sevoflurane anesthesia. High frequency power (0.15-0.50 Hz) and heart rate entropy decreased during sevoflurane and these effects were significantly correlated (r = 0.71 +/- 0.12, P < 0.05). The results confirm that cardiac vagal activity was the primary determinant of heart rate variability, which was attenuated by sevoflurane.

Autonomic activity during desflurane anesthesia in patients with brain tumors.

OBJECTIVE: Although intracranial tumors may affect autonomic function, there are few reports of autonomic changes during anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate autonomic effects of anesthesia in patients with brain tumors compared to neurosurgical controls. METHODS: Two groups were evaluated: group 1 = 10 neurosurgical patients undergoing spinal cord surgery, group 2 = 10 patients with intracranial tumors. After placement of electrocardiogram and Response Entropy electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes, 10 min baseline measures were made. Heart periods were transformed into a percentage index and heart rate entropy determined as a measure of variance of autonomic activity. Tone was evaluated as the balance between accelerator and inhibitory activity. Tone-entropy was measured during propofol anesthetic induction and the first 60 min of desflurane anesthesia before the start of surgery. RESULTS: Blood pressure and heart rate were similar between the groups. Starting at awake levels, vagal heart tone was observed. Anesthesia decreased vagal dominance to near zero in both groups. Heart rate entropy and EEG activity decreased during anesthesia with no significant difference between the groups. Desflurane concentrations required to maintain anesthesia were significantly lower in patients in brain tumors. CONCLUSION: Tone-entropy analysis of heart rate indicates anesthetic related depression of autonomic activity with no difference between groups. Normal titration of desflurane concentrations to maintain adequate blood pressure produced desflurane requirements that were lower in patients with brain tumors, while autonomic and EEG activity were similar.

Recovery from paralysis with succinylcholine increased Response entropy and EMG but not State entropy.

OBJECTIVE: It is reported that the electromyogram is an indicator of patient arousal during pain stimulation if anesthesia is inadequate. This may not be true during recovery from succinylcholine induced paralysis. We evaluated State entropy of the electroencephalogram (EEG, 0.8-32 Hz) and Response entropy, a combined measure of the electromyogram (EMG) and EEG (0.8-47 Hz), during recovery from paralysis with succinylcholine. METHODS: Twenty patients were randomized to receive either 0.8% (n = 10) or 1.4% isoflurane (n = 10), with 2 mg/kg succinylcholine administered for paralysis in all patients. State entropy and Response entropy were evaluated using a Datex-Ohmeda Entropy module. Frontal EMG was measured separately by an EEG module. State entropy, Response entropy, and EMG were measured in awake patients, during isoflurane anesthesia and paralysis, and after 100% recovery to train of four stimulation. RESULTS: Response entropy and State entropy decreased from awake levels in a dose related manner during 0.8% or 1.4% isoflurane and succinylcholine. Recovery from succinylcholine significantly increased Response entropy and EMG in 5 of 10 patients with 0.8% isoflurane and 8 of 10 with 1.4% isoflurane without a change in State entropy. CONCLUSION: Although RE and EMG increased during recovery from paralysis with succinylcholine, SE, an indicator of EEG, was not stimulated. EMG activity may not be an indicator of patient arousal after succinylcholine treatment.

Response entropy increases during painful stimulation.

Frontal electromyography (FEMG) may increase during painful stimulation and indicate patient arousal. The Datex-Ohmeda Entropy Module calculates state entropy (SE) of the electroencephalogram (EEG; 0.8-32 Hz) and response entropy (RE) of EEG and FEMG (0.8-47 Hz). We determined whether RE increases above SE (RE--SE), an indication of FEMG, increase during painful stimuli and if this is related to paralysis or level of anesthesia. With the unanesthetized baseline measurement, SE was 89 +/- 2 and RE was 98 +/- 2. During paralysis and anesthesia with either 0.8% (n = 10) or 1.4% (n = 10) isoflurane, SE decreased to 63 +/- 7 and 34 +/- 14, respectively, and the RE--SE difference decreased 90%. Before recovery from paralysis, arterial catheter or head pin placement increased RE--SE above unanesthetized levels in eight patients (five treated with 0.8% and three with 1.4% isoflurane), consistent with an increase in FEMG. The elevated RE--SE difference was related to a significant increase in SE, blood pressure, and heart rate. After recovery from paralysis, tetanic stimulation of the ulnar nerve increased the RE--SE difference above unanesthetized levels in 8 of 20 patients (6 treated with 0.8% and 2 with 1.4% isoflurane). In these patients, SE increased significantly. The remaining 12 patients did not show an increase in RE--SE during tetanic stimulation and SE did not increase. We conclude that increased RE during painful stimulation was not dependent on recovery from paralysis but was seen more often in patients anesthetized with 0.8% compared with 1.4% isoflurane. This suggests that RE reflects FEMG and may be useful to identify inadequate anesthesia and patient arousal during painful stimuli.

Loss of SSEP during sitting craniotomy.

A 54-year-old woman with a past medical history of asthma and depression presented with right side hearing loss and ataxia. She was scheduled for a sitting craniotomy for cerebellopontine angle tumor resection. Somatosensory evoked potential, brainstem auditory evoked response, and facial nerve EMG were monitored intraoperatively. Approximately 30 minutes into the case, there was an episode of air embolism, which resolved after the source was identified and treated. Near the conclusion of the case, there was an abrupt loss of the right cortical somatosensory evoked potential signal, which never returned to baseline. A postoperative CT scan showed a substantial amount of subarachnoid air and intraventricular air in the frontal and temporal regions. The patient awakened in the ICU with no new neurologic deficit besides preoperative hearing loss on the right side. Despite the high specificity of somatosensory evoked potential change associated with postoperative neurodeficit when the change never returns to the baseline, there was no postoperative neurologic deficit in this patient. This case indicates the false-positive somatosensory evoked potentials caused by pneumocephalus in the sitting position.