Surgery
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Resident participation during hepatic and pancreatic resections varies. The impact of resident participation on surgical outcomes in hepatic and pancreatic operations is poorly defined. ⋯ Although resident participation resulted in slightly longer operative times and a modest increase in overall complications after liver and pancreatic resection, other metrics such as duration of stay, major morbidity, and mortality were unaffected. These data have important implications for educating patients regarding resident participation in these complex cases.
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Multicenter Study
When is it safe to forgo abdominal CT in blunt-injured children?
CT is the standard modality to diagnose solid organ injury after blunt trauma; however, the associated radiation carries a risk of cancer. We hypothesized that there are patient-specific factors that can identify those children who require abdominal CT. ⋯ Children who present to the emergency department after blunt abdominal trauma by a nonmotorized force with a normal GCS and SIPA are unlikely to have a solid organ injury that will require intervention.
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Comparative Study
Hospital-level resource use by the oldest-old for pancreaticoduodenectomy at high-volume hospitals.
Owing to limited data on hospital resources consumed in caring for the oldest-old, we examined the use of pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD)-relevant hospital resources in patients of increasing age treated in high-volume hospitals participating in the University HealthSystem Consortium. ⋯ Our findings suggest the ability to deliver quality pancreatic surgical care to an aging population without strong associations to increased resource utilization. As the number of octogenarians undergoing PD continues to grow, the impact of this technically complex procedure on other important cancer care metrics, including patient-reported outcomes and quality of life, requires further assessment.
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Most risk adjustment approaches adjust for patient comorbidities and the primary procedure. However, procedures done at the same time as the index case may increase operative risk and merit inclusion in adjustment models for fair hospital comparisons. Our objectives were to evaluate the impact of surgical complexity on postoperative outcomes and hospital comparisons in gastric cancer surgery. ⋯ Surgical complexity variables are associated with adverse outcomes in gastrectomy, but complexity adjustment does not affect hospital rankings appreciably.
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Disparate lower-extremity ultrasonography (LUS) screening practices among trauma institutions reflecta lack of consensus regarding screening indications and whether screening improves outcomes. We hypothesized that LUS screening for deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) is not associated with a reduced incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE). ⋯ LUS in trauma patients is not associated with a change in the incidence of PE. Aggressive LUS DVT screening protocols appear to detect many clinically insignificant DVTs for which subsequent therapeutic intervention may be unnecessary, and the use of these protocols should be questioned.