A&A practice
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A proof of concept study was conducted to implement an automated preoperative triage and preparation service with 2 components: (1) triage between preoperative visits and phone screens, and (2) delivery of preoperative instructions to patients. The study enrolled 2604 patients, of whom 75.7% completed the preoperative triage questionnaire and 47.6% were triaged to preoperative phone screens. For the preoperative preparation component, 90.8% of patients viewed surgery preparation instructions, and average patient satisfaction score was 9.3/10. An automated preoperative triage and preparation service can facilitate preoperative triage using patient self-reported information and guide patient preparation with instructions delivered at relevant times.
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Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a process improvement strategy used in many industries. Its goal is to improve performance and quality by eliminating waste, optimizing flow, and reducing variability. ⋯ Incorporating LSS-driven changes resulted in a revised workflow, which decreased personnel workload and significantly reduced delivery time. We hope this article will encourage other health care institutions to integrate LSS strategies into their workflows.
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A significant number of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 develop strokes with large vessel obstructions that may require endovascular treatment for revascularization. Our series focuses on periprocedural issues and the anesthetic management of these patients. We analyzed medical records of 5 patients with positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 during their hospitalization who underwent endovascular treatment at our hospital between March and mid-June 2020. We found that our patients were different from the typical patients with ischemic stroke in that they had signs of hypercoagulability, hypoxia, and a lack of hypertension at presentation.
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A 22-year-old man, with a medical history significant for posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain, underwent ankle surgery at the United States Naval Hospital, Yokosuka, Japan. His immediate postoperative course was complicated by episodic muscle rigidity, necessitating admission for diagnostic evaluation. ⋯ Cultural and systemic differences in patient care delivery at a Japanese hospital helped to elucidate the mechanism. This case highlights cultural differences in pain management and navigates the differential of an acute onset movement disorder in the immediate postoperative period.
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Aspergillus spp. are widespread environmental pathogens that can induce invasive aspergillosis, especially in immunocompromised patients. An 86-year-old female patient presented with a rare case of invasive cerebral aspergillosis. ⋯ In contrast to routine diagnostic procedures, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was able to identify the fungal pathogen in the cerebrospinal fluid as well as in plasma samples, supporting the biopsy-based diagnosis of invasive cerebral aspergillosis. Therefore, NGS-based diagnostics may be of particular importance for difficult-to-diagnose disease states, when conventional diagnostic procedures fail.