JAMA surgery
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Multicenter Study
The association between hospital care intensity and surgical outcomes in medicare patients.
Hospitals' care intensity varies widely across the United States. Payers and policy makers have become focused on promoting quality, low-cost, efficient health care. ⋯ Failure-to-rescue rates were lower at high-care intensity hospitals. Conversely, care intensity explains a very small proportion of variation in failure-to-rescue rates across hospitals.
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Hospital readmission after colorectal surgery is common, with reported 30-day readmission rates ranging from 10% to 14%. Readmission has become a major hospital quality metric, but it is unclear whether there is much difference in readmission among hospitals after appropriate risk adjustment. ⋯ Little risk-adjusted variation exists in hospital readmission rates after colorectal surgery. The use of readmission rates as a high-stakes quality measure for payment adjustment or public reporting across surgical specialties should proceed cautiously and must include appropriate risk adjustment.
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BRCA mutation carriers are at increased risk of developing breast cancer. However, the incidence of breast cancer after a diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), one of the tubal/peritoneal cancers collectively referred to as pelvic serous carcinomas, is not well known. Optimal breast cancer surveillance and detection for these patients have also not been well characterized. ⋯ The risk of metachronous breast cancer is low in patients with known BRCA mutations and EOC. A majority of these cases of breast cancer at an early stage are detected by use of mammography. Despite the small number of patients in our study, these results suggest that optimal breast cancer surveillance for patients with BRCA-associated EOC needs to be reevaluated given the low incidence of breast cancer among these high-risk patients. Confirmation of our findings from larger studies seems to be indicated.
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Review Meta Analysis
Analgesia after open abdominal surgery in the setting of enhanced recovery surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The optimal analgesic technique following open abdominal surgery within an enhanced recovery protocol remains controversial. Thoracic epidural is often recommended; however, its role is increasingly being challenged and alternative techniques are being suggested as suitable replacements. ⋯ Epidurals may be associated with superior pain control but this does not translate into improved recovery or reduced morbidity when compared with alternative analgesic techniques when used within an enhanced recovery protocol.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Observational Study
Surgeon's 30-day outcomes supporting the carotid revascularization endarterectomy versus stenting trial.
While the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy Versus Stenting Trial (CREST) has been widely accepted as a landmark trial establishing an equivalent risk of major adverse events following carotid endarterectomy (CEA) or carotid artery stenting (CAS), the applicability of these findings to single centers has been questioned owing to the rigid selection criteria for investigators in the study. Although refuted by the findings of a subsequent study, a substudy of CREST established a higher periprocedural stroke rate for CAS when the surgeon was a vascular surgeon. ⋯ Similar to CREST, the 30-day risk of composite major adverse events was equivalent for the 2 treatment modalities. We attribute our comparable incidence of perioperative stroke with CAS and CEA to improved patient selection. We excluded most patients older than 80 years and those with complex anatomy from consideration for CAS. Our results confirm those of CREST and demonstrate that both CEA and CAS can be performed safely by a vascular surgeon in properly selected patients.