Surgery
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Acute type A aortic dissection is a cardiovascular emergency requiring operative intervention. Despite advancements in operative technique and increased specialization of cardiovascular care, operative mortality, and morbidity after repair of type A aortic dissection remain high. Our aim was to assess national trends in outcomes of type A aortic dissection repair and the impact of institutional thoracic aortic repair volume on clinical outcomes and resource use in the United States. ⋯ The volume of open surgical repair for type A aortic dissection in the United States has increased over the past decade, while mortality has decreased. Hospital aortic operative volume is strongly associated with outcomes for type A aortic dissection repair. Protocols for expeditious transfer of patients to high volume aortic centers may serve to further decrease the acute mortality and complications of this procedure.
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Posthepatectomy decompensation remains a frequent and poor outcome after hepatectomy, but its prediction is still inaccurate. Liver stiffness measurement can predict posthepatectomy decompensation, but there is a so-called "gray zone" that requires another predictor. Because splenomegaly is an objective sign of portal hypertension, we hypothesized that spleen volumetry could improve the identification of patients at risk. ⋯ Spleen volumetry (>380 cm3) and liver stiffness measurement (>12 kPa) are non-invasive, independent, and synergistic tools that appear to be able to predict posthepatectomy decompensation. The importance of this finding is that these measurements may help to anticipate posthepatectomy decompensation and may possibly be used to direct alternative treatments to resection.
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Although new persistent opioid use and high-risk prescribing have been recognized as important postoperative complications among younger patients (18-64 years of age), little is known about the incidence for postoperative opioid use among older patients (>65 years of age). ⋯ About 10% of Medicare beneficiaries who were previously opioid naïve continue to fill opioids past 3 months after surgery. In addition to comorbidities and mental health conditions, new persistent opioid use is associated with surgery type, preoperative opioid fill, high-risk prescribing practices, and sociodemographic factors.