Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Patient engagement is an increasingly important component of surgical decision making. Given the many factors associated with successful ventral hernia repair (VHR), we developed and validated the Outcomes Reporting App for Clinical and Patient Engagement (ORACLE) tool to help facilitate preoperative surgeon-patient discussions about VHR. ⋯ Using a national data set for development, ORACLE can be used to facilitate patient engagement, with the goal of tailoring interventions for VHR given each patient's unique factors. With ongoing data input into the Americas Hernia Society Quality Collaborative and a continuous re-evaluation of these risk models, it is our intention that this tool will serve as an up-to-date resource for hernia surgeons and ventral hernia patients.
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Opioids are overprescribed after surgical procedures, leading to dependence and diversion into the community. This can be mitigated by evidence-based prescribing practices. We investigated the feasibility of an opioid-sparing pain management strategy after surgical procedures. ⋯ Patients reported minimal or no opioid use after implementation of an opioid-sparing pathway, and still reported high satisfaction and pain control. These results demonstrate the effectiveness and acceptability of major reduction and even elimination of opioids after discharge from minor surgical procedures.
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Comparative Study
Surgical Outcomes in Lateral Abdominal Wall Reconstruction: A Comparative Analysis of Surgical Techniques.
Lateral abdominal wall (LAW) myofascial defects are a challenging reconstructive problem, and no consensus exists on their surgical management. We hypothesized that mesh repairs anchored to the nonyielding LAW boundaries (pillar-anchored repairs [PARs]) would provide more durable reconstructions, with lower hernia recurrence and bulge occurrence rates, compared with mesh repairs anchored to the surrounding oblique muscle complexes (direct repairs [DRs]). ⋯ The PAR technique is superior to DR for reconstructing LAW defects in order to achieve the lowest hernia recurrence rates in this complex patient population.
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Previous studies have evaluated dose-to-weight ratios to define best practices for obtaining therapeutic anti-Xa assays for enoxaparin venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis. These studies have not examined relationships among dosing, patient characteristics, and therapeutic assays. This study examines factors associated with therapeutic assays and enoxaparin prophylaxis. ⋯ These data demonstrate that a dose of 0.4 mg/kg predicts a therapeutic anti-Xa level. When regimens of 0.31 to 0.4 mg/kg/dose are administered in males with a creatinine clearance >90 mL/min therapeutic results are 13.76 times more likely, suggesting that monitoring with anti-Xa assays might be unnecessary in this subgroup. Additional prospective study of these findings is warranted.
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The incidence and severity of civilian public mass shooting (CPMS) events continue to rise. Understanding the wounding pattern and incidence of potentially preventable death (PPD) after CPMS is key to updating prehospital response strategy. ⋯ The PPD rate after CPMS is high and is due mostly to non-hemorrhaging chest wounds. Prehospital care strategy should focus on immediate point of wounding care by both laypersons and medical personnel, as well as rapid extrication of victims to definitive medical care.