Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Type or lack of insurance may affect access to care, treatment, and outcomes. We evaluated trends for surgical management of all peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in-hospital admissions by insurer status in New York State. ⋯ EVI increased tremendously and was used without disparity across insurer status. Amputation declined steadily and may have been related to increased EVI or to decreased admission for gangrene. Advanced age, low socioeconomic class or minority status, and lack of insurance negatively affect presentation and limb salvage. Universal health care may be beneficial in improving outcomes but must address root causes for delayed presentation.
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Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has improved the survival of patients with peritoneal surface malignancy. On recurrence, a repeat CRS/HIPEC is a treatment option. ⋯ In experienced tertiary centers and for selected patients, a repeat CRS/HIPEC procedure has morbidity and mortality similar to the initial cytoreduction. Survival depends primarily on the completion of the repeat cytoreduction and favorable biology of the tumor.
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The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Case Log represents a data system that satisfies the American Board of Surgery (ABS) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program, yet has broad data fields for surgical subspecialties. Using the ACS Case Log, we have developed a method of data capture, categorization, and reporting of acute care surgery fellows' experiences. ⋯ Using the ACS Case Log satisfies the ABS MOC program requirements and provides a method for monitoring and reporting acute care surgery fellow experiences. This system is flexible to accommodate the needs of surgical subspecialties and their training programs. As documentation requirements expand, efficient clinical documentation is a must for the busy surgeon. Although, our data entry and processing method has the immediate capacity for acute care surgery fellowships nationwide, multiple larger decisions regarding national case log systems should be encouraged.
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The ability to assess and compare the impact of postoperative complications in major cancer surgery is currently limited. The Accordion Severity Grading System provides the opportunity to categorize complications according to treatment responses and resource use. ⋯ The Accordion Severity Grading System provides a meaningful approach to classifying complications according to resource use, which also directly correlates with treatment costs and length of stay. Survival is affected by overall occurrence of complications, but was not related to individual Accordion grades in this study. The Accordion Severity Grading System should be a component of prospective data collections and can be used in major cancer surgery to study areas appropriate for quality improvement and cost containment.