ACT-FAST: a quality improvement project to increase the percentage of acute stroke patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis within 60 minutes of arrival at the emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, with the administration of recombinant transcriptase-plasminogen activator (rtPA) improving outcomes in a time-dependent manner. Only 52.3% of eligible stroke patients at our institution received rtPA within 60 minutes of arrival. We aimed to improve the percentage of acute stroke patients receiving rtPA within 60 minutes of arrival at the emergency department (ED). METHODS: This study presents results from the first year of a clinical practice improvement project that implemented quality improvement interventions. The primary outcome measure was percentage of acute ischaemic stroke patients receiving rtPA within 60 minutes of arrival at the ED. Secondary outcome measures included components of total door-to-needle (DTN) time and factors for delay to thrombolysis. Interventions were establishment of standardised acute stroke activation guidelines, screening question at ED registration, prehospital notification of stroke activation, public education, scripting for thrombolysis consent and easy access to equipment. RESULTS: The percentage of patients thrombolysed within 60 minutes increased to 60.6% (p = 0.27), and DTN time decreased from 59 minutes to 54.5 minutes (p = 0.15). This was attributable to reduced door-to-physician time, door-to-imaging time and decision time, although the results were not significant. There was no significant increase in symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage or mortality secondary to stroke. Length of stay was significantly reduced by 1.5 days (p < 0.048). CONCLUSION: The interventions resulted in an increasing but non-significant trend of acute stroke patients receiving thrombolysis within 60 minutes. Outcomes will be monitored for a longer duration to demonstrate trends and sustainability.

Injury patterns in elderly cyclists and motorcyclists presenting to a tertiary trauma centre in Singapore.

INTRODUCTION: With Singapore's ageing population, there are increasing numbers of elderly cyclists and motorcyclists. Compared to younger riders, this cohort sustains more injuries and has poorer outcomes. This study aimed to describe and compare patient demographics, injury patterns and outcomes among elderly cyclists and motorcyclists at a Level 1 trauma centre. METHODS: Data of all cyclists, motorcyclists and pillion riders aged 65 years and above who presented to the emergency department after accidents from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017 was extracted from the hospital's trauma registry and reviewed. RESULTS: Cyclists and motorcyclists formed 42.0% and 58.0%, respectively, of 157 recruited patients. At the time of the accident, 40.8% of the patients were employed. The mean age of the patients was 71.6 ± 5.8 years. Extremities and pelvic girdle injuries (61.1%) were the most frequent, followed by chest injuries (48.4%), and head and neck injuries (40.1%). Among severe injuries (defined as Abbreviated Injury Scale score ≥ 3), chest injuries (39.5%) were the most common, followed by head and neck injuries (36.3%). The overall mortality rate was 9.6%, with cyclists at nearly three times the risk compared to motorcyclists. More cyclists than motorcyclists (18.2% vs. 11.0%) required intensive care. There were no significant differences in the length of hospital stay between cyclists and motorcyclists. CONCLUSION: Elderly riders have unique injury patterns and consume significant healthcare resources. Trauma systems need to acknowledge this changing injury epidemiology and equip trauma centres with the necessary resources targeted at elderly patients. Future work should focus on strategies to minimise extremity and chest injuries.

A case of unusual Gram-negative bacilli septic arthritis in an immunocompetent patient.

The Gram-negative bacilli Acinetobacter baumannii, Burkholderia cepacia, Ochrobactrum anthropi, Pseudomonas mendocina, Ralstonia spp., Serratia marcescens and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia are ubiquitous environmental organisms of low virulence, and do not usually cause illness in immunocompetent hosts. We report a case of multiple concurrent opportunistic Gram-negative bacilli causing septic arthritis in a healthy patient following trauma to the knee. Repeated operations, including arthroscopy, arthrotomy and debridement, were required before tissue cultures became negative. The patient also required an extended duration of intravenous and oral antibiotic treatment before he was discharged. Gram-negative bacillary septic arthritis is an uncommon but significant condition that requires repeated debridement and washouts in order to achieve bacterial eradication. This case report highlights the importance of an awareness of the external environment at the time of injury, as it impacts the type of organisms causing the infection, and consequently, the choice of empiric antibiotics required for successful treatment.

Cancer patients' preferences for communication of unfavourable news: an Asian perspective.

It is important to understand cancer patients' preferences for communication as it impacts on how unfavourable news should be delivered in such a way as not to demoralize the patients while at the same time maintain good doctor-patient relationships. However, few studies have been undertaken in the Asian countries. This study aims to determine the preferences of cancer patients regarding the disclosure of unfavourable news in an Asian population in Singapore. Two hundred cancer patients at the National Cancer Centre, Singapore, completed a Measure of Patients' Preferences (MPP) questionnaire on how they would like their physicians to tell them unfavourable news about their condition. The patients rated the content and context of the communication as well as the physicians' characteristics on a five-point Likert scale. Items that scored the highest mostly related to physicians' expertise and content of the interaction, while those relating to the supportive aspects scored the lowest. Gender was significantly associated with scores on the support subscale of the MPP such that women reported that the supportive elements were more important than the men did. No other demographic and medical characteristics were associated with patients' preferences. Exploratory factor analysis yielded two main factors, which accounted for 79.38% of the common variance. Patients' preferences in our local Asian population are fairly similar to those obtained from other studies conducted in the West, despite possible socio-cultural differences such as the use of euphemisms.