American journal of surgery
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Comparative Study
Blast lung injury: clinical manifestations, treatment, and outcome.
Blast lung injury (BLI) is a major cause of morbidity after terrorist bomb attacks (TBAs) and is seen with increasing frequency worldwide. Yet, many surgeons and intensivists have little experience treating BLI. Jerusalem sustained 31 TBAs since 1983, resulting in a local expertise in treating BLI. ⋯ Most patients with significant BLI injury require mechanical ventilation. Late deterioration is rare. Death because of BLI in patients who survived the explosion is unusual. Timely diagnosis and correct treatment result in excellent outcome.
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Comparative Study
Percutaneous tracheostomy: one center's experience with a new modality.
A retrospective review of our experience with percutaneous tracheostomy was performed to determine our complication rate and pattern of use since this modality was introduced at our institution. ⋯ OT continues to be a safe method of performing tracheostomies. PT has a steep learning curve but can be mastered quickly. Benefits include a shorter time to tracheostomy, elimination of patient transport, and saving in charges. Initial PT attempts should be supervised by an experienced surgeon.
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We hypothesized that total skin-sparing mastectomy (TSM) including where the skin overlying the nipple and areola is preserved would be oncologically safe and facilitate improved cosmetic reconstruction. ⋯ Our short-term experience suggests that TSM has an acceptable complication rate, is theoretically oncologically safe, and facilitates an improved cosmetic result.
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Comparative Study
Can we afford to do laparoscopic appendectomy in an academic hospital?
Multiple studies have shown laparoscopic appendectomy to be safe for both acute and perforated appendicitis, but there have been conflicting reports as to whether it is superior from a cost perspective. Our academic surgical group, who perform all operative cases with resident physicians, has been challenged to reduce expenses in this era of cost containment. We recognize resident training is an expensive commodity that is poorly reimbursed, and hypothesized laparoscopic appendectomy was too expensive to justify resident teaching of this procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine if laparoscopic appendectomy is more expensive than open appendectomy. ⋯ Although operative time was similar between the 2 groups, operative and total hospital charges were significantly higher in the laparoscopic group. Unless patient factors warrant a laparoscopic approach (questionable diagnosis, obesity), we submit open appendectomy remains the most cost-effective procedure in a teaching environment.
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Outcomes of patients who met trauma activation criteria were examined before and after implementation of in-house attending call. ⋯ Aggregate statistics and the use of surrogate markers to determine outcomes may not accurately portray the impact of attending surgeons on the quality of care. Implementation of in-house call resulted in a decreased incidence of preventable deaths.