The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyComputerized tomography utilization in children with appendicitis-differences in referring and children's hospitals.
Increasingly, physicians rely on computerized tomography (CT) to aid in the workup of acute appendicitis (AA) in children despite the potential negative effects of CT-associated radiation exposure. Few studies have investigated the context or location in which the decision to perform CT for AA is made. We sought to determine where the decision to use CT was made during the initial workup of pediatric patients who later underwent an appendectomy. ⋯ RHs used CT more often than CH to diagnose AA in our cohort. CH avoided CT for patients with higher Alvarado scores. Further research is needed to elucidate factors that lead healthcare providers to use CT for children with suspected AA to eliminate unnecessary CT-associated radiation exposure.
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The American surgeon · Aug 2011
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyOutcomes of emergent incisional hernia repair.
This study examines the effect of emergent repair on incisional hernia repair outcomes at 16 Veteran's Affairs Medical Centers between 1998 and 2002. Of the 1452 cases reviewed, 63 (4.3%) were repaired emergently. Patients undergoing emergent repair were older (P = 0.02), more likely to be black (P = 0.02), and have congestive heart failure (P = 0.001) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P = 0.001). ⋯ However, there was no significant difference between emergent and elective repairs in long-term complications. Emergent hernia repair is associated with increased mortality rates, early complications, and longer length of stay; however, long-term outcomes are equivalent to elective cases. These data suggest that technical outcomes for emergent repairs approach those of elective operations.
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The American surgeon · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyThe effects of protocolized use of recombinant factor VIIa within a massive transfusion protocol in a civilian level I trauma center.
Despite conflicting data regarding its effectiveness, many massive transfusion protocols (MTPs) include recombinant Factor VIIa (rFVIIa) as an adjunct to hemorrhage control. Over a 3-year period, outcome data for massively transfused patients was compared based on administration of rFVIIa as part of a mature MTP. Of 228 MTP activations, 117 patients were candidates for rFVIIa, and, of these, 39 patients received rFVIIa under the MTP. ⋯ For initial requirement ≥ 30 units of PRBCs, 24-hour mortality (26 vs 64%, P = 0.02) was significantly decreased in patients that received rFVIIa (n = 19) compared with those who did not (n = 17). These mortality differences were not maintained at 30 days (68 vs 71%). rFVIIa had minimal clinical impact on outcomes for patients requiring less than 30 units of PRBCs. For patients transfused more than 30 units of PRBCs, differences in 24-hour and 30-day mortality suggest that rFVIIa converted early deaths from exsanguination to late deaths from multiorgan failure.
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The American surgeon · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyObesity in trauma patients: correlations of body mass index with outcomes, injury patterns, and complications.
Current understanding of the effects of obesity on trauma patients is incomplete. We hypothesized that among older trauma patients, obese patients differ from nonobese patients in injury patterns, complications, and mortality. Patients older than 45 years old presenting to a Level I trauma center were included in this retrospective database analysis (n = 461). ⋯ Among older blunt trauma patients, increasing BMI is associated with higher rates of torso and proximal upper extremity injuries. Our study suggests that obesity is not an independent risk factor for complications or mortality after trauma in older patients. Conversely, underweight trauma patients had a lower 90-day survival.
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The American surgeon · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyErrors in administrative-reported ventilator-associated pneumonia rates: are never events really so?
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common problem in an intensive care unit (ICU), although the incidence is not well established. This study aims to compare the VAP incidence as determined by the treating surgical intensivist with that detected by the hospital Infection Control Service (ICS). Trauma and surgical patients admitted to the surgical critical care service were prospectively evaluated for VAP during a 5-month time period. ⋯ When compared with BAL, SIS-VAP had 61.3 per cent sensitivity and ICS-VAP had 29 per cent sensitivity. VAP rates reported by hospital administrative sources are significantly less accurate than physician-reported rates and dramatically underestimate the incidence of VAP. Proclaiming VAP as a never event for critically ill for surgical and trauma patients appears to be a fallacy.