The Journal of surgical research
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Comparative Study
No Difference in Mortality Between Level I and II Trauma Centers for Combined Burn and Trauma.
Trauma patients with burn injuries have higher morbidity and mortality rates compared with patients who solely experience burn or trauma injuries. There is a paucity of data regarding burn-trauma (BT) patient outcomes at level I (LI) trauma centers compared with level II (LII) centers. We hypothesized that BT patients at LI trauma centers have lower mortality rates than those at LII trauma centers. ⋯ We report that LI trauma center BT patients had an increased hospital and ICU LOS compared with those at LII centers. However, there was no significant difference in mortality between patients cared for at LI and LII trauma centers in risk-adjusted models.
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Observational Study
Cerebral and Renal Oxygenation in Infants Undergoing Laparoscopic Gastrostomy Tube Placement.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum on cerebral and renal oxygenation and oxygen extraction, in a cohort of infants from the neonatal intensive care unit, undergoing laparoscopic gastrostomy. ⋯ During a short infant laparoscopic procedure, no significant alteration in cerebral or renal oxygenation or oxygen extraction was observed. No seizure activity or changes in infant sleep-wake cycles occurred.
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Postoperative opioid use can lead to dependence, contributing to the opioid epidemic in the United States. New persistent opioid use after minor surgeries occurs in 5.9% of patients. With increased documentation of persistent opioid use postoperatively, surgeons must pursue interventions to reduce opioid use perioperatively. ⋯ Clear and standardized education regarding postoperative pain management is feasible and associated with high patient satisfaction. Initiation of such education may support efforts to minimize unnecessary opioid prescriptions in the population undergoing endocrine surgery.
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Critical thyroid nodule features are contained in unstructured ultrasound (US) reports. The Thyroid Imaging, Reporting, and Data System (TI-RADS) uses five key features to risk stratify nodules and recommend appropriate intervention. This study aims to analyze the quality of US reporting and the potential benefit of Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems in efficiently capturing TI-RADS features from text reports. ⋯ These results suggest a gap between current US reporting styles and those needed to implement TI-RADS and achieve NLP accuracy. Synoptic reporting should prompt more complete thyroid US reporting, improved recommendations for intervention, and better NLP performance.
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Trauma-related disorders rank among the top five most costly medical conditions to the health care system. However, the impact of out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenses for traumatic conditions is not known. In this cross-sectional study, we use nationally representative data to investigate whether patients with a traumatic injury experienced financial hardship from OOP health expenses. ⋯ Households with an injured family member requiring hospitalization are significantly more vulnerable to financial hardship from OOP health expenses than the noninjured population. Prescription drug and inpatient costs were the most significant drivers of OOP health expenses.