Journal of the American College of Surgeons
-
Legal intervention trauma (LIT) is defined as injury due to any encounter with law enforcement. This study investigates associations between demographics, violent status, and law enforcement tactics among youth decedents of LIT. ⋯ These findings indicate a racial disparity among youth decedents of LIT.
-
This was a retrospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing uncomplicated elective colectomy using the NSQIP database from January 2012 to December 2019. A colectomy is deemed uncomplicated if there are no complications reported during the hospitalization. The objective of this study was to examine the association between discharge timing and postdischarge complications in patients who undergo uncomplicated elective colectomy. ⋯ Early discharge after uncomplicated colectomy appears to be safe and is associated with lower odds of postdischarge complications in minimally invasive approaches. Our findings suggest that surgical teams practice sound clinical judgments on selecting patients who benefit from early discharge.
-
Most patients who sustain a traumatic injury require outpatient follow-up. A common barrier to outpatient postadmission care is patient failure to follow-up. One of the most significant factors resulting in failure to follow-up is age more than 35 years. Recent work has shown that follow-up telephone calls reduce readmission rates. Our aim was to decrease no-show appointments by 10% in 12 months. ⋯ Reminder calls led to a 12.2% reduction in no-show rate and were an independent predictor of a patient's likelihood of attending their appointment. Other predictors of attendance included insurance status and abdominal injury.