Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Injured patients cared for in trauma centers have a lower risk of death than those cared for in nontrauma centers. However, many patients are transported to a non-trauma center after injury (undertriaged) and require transfer to trauma center care. Previous analyses of undertriage focused only on survivors to trauma center care and were potentially subject to survivor bias. Using a novel population-based design, we evaluated the true mortality cost of undertriage. ⋯ Undertriage after major trauma is associated with substantial mortality. These data suggest a need to design strategies to improve triage to trauma center.
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Facility-level process measure adherence is being publicly reported. However, the association between measure adherence and surgical outcomes is not well-established. Our objective was to determine the degree to which Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) process measures are associated with American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) risk-adjusted outcomes. ⋯ Better adherence to infection-related process measures over the observed range was not significantly associated with better outcomes with one exception. Different measures of quality might be needed for surgical infection.
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Review Meta Analysis
Prevention of parastomal herniation with biologic/composite prosthetic mesh: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Parastomal herniation is a frequent complication of stoma formation and can be difficult to repair satisfactorily, making it a recognized cause of significant morbidity. A systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials was performed to determine the benefits and risks of mesh reinforcement versus conventional stoma formation in preventing parastomal herniation. ⋯ Composite or biologic mesh reinforcement of stomas in the preperitoneal/sublay position is associated with a reduced incidence of parastomal herniation with no excess morbidity. Mesh reinforcement also demonstrates a trend toward a decreased incidence of parastomal herniation requiring surgical repair.
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The Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative began in 2003 to address and alleviate the shortage of organs available for transplantation. This study investigated the patterns of organ donation by race to determine if the Collaborative had an impact on donation rates among ethnic minorities. ⋯ Conversion rates among all ethnic minorities were significantly lower than the rates observed in Caucasians. However, when controlling for other factors, race was not a significant risk factor for the number of organs transplanted per donor. The Collaborative has not had an identifiable effect on race conversion rates during the 5 years since its implementation. Further intervention is necessary to improve the conversion rate in ethnic minorities in Southern California.