The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Dec 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialDoes corticosteroid have any beneficial effect on voice change after thyroidectomy?
Voice alteration is one of the most common complications after thyroidectomy. It has a serious effect on social communication and economic and psychosocial status of patients. It has been hypothesized that inflammation and edema in the surgery site has a major role in voice change after thyroidectomy. ⋯ VIS score significantly decreased on the seventh day related to the first day (P < 0.001) in both groups. There were no significant dexamethasone complications in either group. Preoperative dexamethasone may decrease voice change after thyroidectomy.
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The American surgeon · May 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyA double-blind, randomized, active-controlled study for post-hemorrhoidectomy pain management with liposome bupivacaine, a novel local analgesic formulation.
This randomized, active-controlled study evaluated the extent and duration of analgesia after administration of liposome bupivacaine (LB), a novel formulation of bupivacaine, compared with bupivacaine HCl given via local infiltration in excisional hemorrhoidectomy. One hundred patients were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of bupivacaine HCl 75 mg (0.25% with 1:200,000 epinephrine) or LB 66, 199, or 266 mg upon completion of hemorrhoidectomy. Postoperative pain intensity was assessed using a numeric rating scale at rest to calculate a cumulative pain score (area under the curve). ⋯ Median time to first opioid use was 19 hours for LB 266 mg versus 8 hours for bupivacaine HCl (P = 0.005). Incidence of opioid-related adverse events was 4 per cent for LB 266 mg compared with 35 per cent for bupivacaine HCl (P = 0.007). Local infiltration with LB resulted in significantly reduced postsurgical pain compared with bupivacaine HCl in patients after hemorrhoidectomy surgery.
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The American surgeon · May 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPeritonitis from perforated appendicitis: stress response after laparoscopic or open treatment.
Elevated intra-abdominal pressure during laparoscopy may promote systemic inflammatory response. In patients with generalized peritonitis from perforated appendicitis, we sought to compare acute phase response and immunologic status from laparoscopic and open approach. One hundred and forty-seven consecutive patients underwent appendectomy for perforated appendicitis (73 patients had laparoscopic appendectomy and 74 patients had open appendectomy. ⋯ We recorded 6 cases (8.1%) of intra-abdominal abscess in the open group and one (1.3%) in the laparoscopic group (P < 0.05). Open appendectomy, in case of peritonitis, increased the incidence of bacteremia, endotoxemia, and systemic inflammation compared with laparoscopic appendectomy. Early enhanced postoperative systemic inflammation may cause lower transient immunologic defense after laparotomy (decrease of HLA-DR), leading to enhanced sepsis in these patients.
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The American surgeon · Sep 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyThe surgical safety checklist: lessons learned during implementation.
Procedural checklists may be useful for increasing the reliability of safety-critical processes because of their potential capacity to improve teamwork, situation awareness, and error catching. To test the hypothesized utility and adaptability of checklists to surgical teams, we performed a randomized controlled trial of procedural checklists to determine their capacity to increase the frequency of safety-critical behaviors during 47 laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Ten attending surgeons at an academic tertiary care center were randomized into two equal groups - half of these surgeons received basic team training and used a preprocedural checklist whereas the other half performed standard laparoscopic cholecystectomies. ⋯ Participants in the intervention (checklist) group consistently rated their cases as involving less satisfactory subjective levels of comfort, team efficiency, and communication compared with those performed by surgeons in the control group. Surgical procedural safety checklists have the capacity to increase the frequency of positive team behaviors in the operating room during laparoscopic surgery. Adapting to the use of a procedural checklist may be initially uncomfortable for participants.