Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Angioembolization (AE) is recommended for extravasation from liver injury on CT. Data supporting AE are limited to retrospective series that have found low mortality but high morbidity. These studies did not focus on stable patients. We hypothesized that AE is associated with increased complications without improving mortality in stable patients. ⋯ Hepatic AE was associated with increased morbidity without improving mortality, suggesting the benefits of AE do not outweigh the risks in stable liver injury. Observing these patients is likely a more prudent approach.
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Palliative medicine is an important component of care for patients with advanced cancer. Previous studies demonstrated that surgeons tend to underuse palliative care in comparison with medical services. In addition, little is known about the specific use of palliative care services among surgical oncology practices. Therefore, we designed and performed this study to evaluate the use of palliative care in medical and surgical oncology patients. ⋯ Surgical patients were less likely to undergo palliative care consultation for assistance with symptom management and more likely to undergo consultation for assistance with end-of-life discussions than were medical oncology patients. Advanced care planning and end-of-life discussions should be an area of focus in palliative care education for surgeons.
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Graduating surgery residents often feel unprepared to practice autonomously in the current era of surgical training. We implemented an integrated simulation curriculum to improve residents' autonomy and increase their confidence to practice independently. In this study, we chose a laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR) as our pilot operation to test proof of concept and on which we would construct our integrated curriculum. ⋯ Assessing procedure-specific and global laparoscopic skills through a simulation-based curriculum is feasible and can be used to augment resident training. Our curriculum demonstrated improvement in proficiency and self-confidence while performing an LVHR. Additional study is needed to examine the optimal way to integrate procedure-specific simulation models into training programs.