A bump in the night: a 15-year retrospective analysis of urgent inpatient and emergency CT reporting out of hours in a tertiary referral centre.

AIM: To assess the impact on specialty trainee (ST) experience of out-of-hours (OOH) working, focusing on what might be improved with both patient safety and staff wellbeing in mind. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The number of acute computed tomography (CT) examinations reported OOH over the last 15 years (2007-2021) at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was analysed. Qualitative data from the radiology STs participating in the acute OOH rotas were obtained using questionnaires during winter months in 2019 and 2021, before and after the introduction of an OOH CT outsourcing service in 2020. RESULTS: Overnight acute CT has increased over 10-fold over the last decade to almost 50 CT examinations in 2021, and similar increases were observed during evening and weekend shifts. The option to outsource acute CT on an ad hoc basis was introduced in 2020 to manage the increase in demand. This resulted in a statistically significant improvement in the STs' level of reported satisfaction for OOH shifts (p<0.018), despite significantly increased perception of how busy the shifts were (p<0.035). CONCLUSION: OOH acute CT reporting at Oxford NHS Foundation Trust has increased dramatically over the previous 15 years. Working patterns and resources have changed incrementally to absorb this increase in demand, most recently with the option for outsourcing at times of peak demand. The trend for increasing OOH CT demand has considerable implications for future resource planning.

Native nephrectomy in pediatric transplantation--less is more!

OBJECTIVE: Indications for pre-transplantation native nephrectomy (PTNN) include chronic renal parenchymal infection, proteinuria, intractable hypertension, polycystic kidneys and malignancy. Our aim was to establish the frequency and reasons for PTNN in children undergoing renal transplant at our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Children listed for renal transplant between 1998 and 2010 who underwent PTNN were analyzed. Etiology of established renal failure, indication for nephrectomy, stage of chronic kidney disease, laterality, complications, and timing of subsequent transplant were determined. Outcome of children, and that of preserved native kidneys following transplant, was reviewed. RESULTS: 21/203 children listed for transplant (10.3%) underwent PTNN (32 nephrectomies). Indications were drug-resistant proteinuria (6 children), recurrent upper tract urosepsis (6), refractory hypertension (4), malignancy/malignant predisposition (4), concomitant procedure during ureterocystoplasty (1). Median age at nephrectomy was 3.3 years; 86% had impaired renal function at time of (first) nephrectomy. Median time until transplantation following bilateral nephrectomy was 1.7 years. 19/21 children have been transplanted; 17 reached stable graft function. Only 2 children who did not undergo PTNN required nephrectomy post-transplant. CONCLUSION: When malignancies were excluded, PTNN was performed in a minority (8.4%) of children, mainly for proteinuria. This adds great advantage by reducing morbidity. Resulting graft function seems favorable.

Development of standard test methods for evaluating defibrillation recovery characteristics of disposable ECG electrodes.

A clinically relevant test for the measurement of defibrillation overload recovery of prefilled disposable ECG electrodes was developed and is proposed for use in an ECG electrode standard under development by AAMI. Defibrillation overload voltages and currents, as well as electrode polarization recovery voltages, were first measured in animal tests on 12 types of electrodes to allow correlation with various bench tests using a capacitor discharge at 10, 200, or 1000 V. Current overloads absorbed by the electrodes under worst conditions in animal tests were in the range of 2 percent of the defibrillation current flowing through the chest. These overloads were absorbed by most Ag-AgCl electrodes without excessive polarization. However, stainless steel, brass, and tin electrodes tended to polarize to levels that would saturate many ECG monitors. A standard bench test using a 200-V 10-muF capacitor was recommended for inclusion in the AAMI standard to determine whether electrodes are acceptable for use during defibrillation.