Archives of surgery (Chicago, Ill. : 1960)
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To determine the extent to which the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and Trauma Mortality Probability Model (T-MPM), a new trauma injury score based on empirical injury severity estimates, agree on hospital quality. ⋯ The choice of expert-based or empirical Abbreviated Injury Score severity scores for individual injuries does not seem to have a significant effect on hospital quality measurement when physiologic information is included in the prediction model. This finding should help to convince all stakeholders that the quality of trauma care can be accurately measured and has face validity.
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Our group previously reported that organ failure and mortality in necrotizing pancreatitis (NP) are not different between patients with infected and sterile necrosis. Since that report, management of this disease has evolved to include image-guided percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) to improve morbidity and mortality. We evaluated the effect of PCD on mortality in NP. ⋯ The use of PCD did not improve the mortality of NP among patients with organ failure.
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To determine if the lower mortality often observed in teaching-intensive hospitals is because of lower complication rates or lower death rates after complications (failure to rescue) and whether the benefits at these hospitals accrue equally to white and black patients, since black patients receive a disproportionate share of their care at teaching-intensive hospitals. ⋯ Survival after surgery is higher at hospitals with higher teaching intensity. Improved survival is because of lower mortality after complications (better failure to rescue) and generally not because of fewer complications. However, this better survival and failure to rescue at teaching-intensive hospitals is seen for white patients, not for black patients.
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Multicenter Study
Quantifying surgical capacity in Sierra Leone: a guide for improving surgical care.
Lack of access to surgical care is a public health crisis in developing countries. There are few data that describe a nation's ability to provide surgical care. This study combines information quantifying the infrastructure, human resources, interventions (ie, procedures), emergency equipment and supplies for resuscitation, and surgical procedures offered at many government hospitals in Sierra Leone. ⋯ There are severe shortages in all aspects of infrastructure, personnel, and supplies required for delivering surgical care in Sierra Leone. While it will be difficult to improve the infrastructure of government hospitals, training additional personnel to deliver safe surgical care is possible. The situational analysis tool is a valuable mechanism to quantify a nation's surgical capacity. It provides the background data that have been lacking in the discussion of surgery as a public health problem and will assist in gauging the effectiveness of interventions to improve surgical infrastructure and care.
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To develop and implement a team-training curriculum. We hypothesized that better interactions between personnel would lead to improved patient safety, increased efficiency, and better staff satisfaction. ⋯ Our team-training program resulted in moderate compliance with behaviors taught in the curriculum. Even with only moderate compliance, we demonstrated improved perceptions of teamwork.