Surgery
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Observational Study
Review of 1,000 consecutive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation runs as a quality initiative.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is a resource-intensive mode of life-support potentially applicable when conventional therapies fail. Given the initial success of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to support neonates and infants in the 1980s, indications have expanded to include adolescents, adults, and selected moribund patients during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This single-institution analysis was conducted to evaluate programmatic growth, outcomes, and risk for death despite extracorporeal membrane oxygenation across all ages and diseases. ⋯ Our extracorporeal membrane oxygenation program, an Extracorporeal Life Support Organization-designated Center of Excellence, has experienced substantial growth in volume and indications, including increasing age and disease severity. Considering the entire cohort, pre-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ventilation exceeding 7 days was associated with an increased probability of death.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Hybrid transgastric appendectomy is feasible but does not offer advantages compared with laparoscopic appendectomy: Results from the transgastric appendectomy study.
Very few transgastric procedures, the original objective of natural orifice translumenal surgery, have been reported in the international Natural Orifice Translumenal Surgery registers. In addition, most cases were controlled mainly by laparoscopy. To show the feasibility of hybrid transgastric appendectomy and to compare results with laparoscopic a prospective, nonrandomized study was conducted. ⋯ These preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of transgastric appendectomy. The postoperative course and quality of life are comparable with laparoscopic appendectomy, but no improvement due to transgastric appendectomy could be demonstrated.
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Impaired capacity of patients necessitates the use of surrogates to make decisions on behalf of patients. Little is known about surrogate decision-making in the surgical intensive care unit, where the decline to critical illness is often unexpected. We sought to explore surrogate experiences with decision-making in the surgical intensive care unit. ⋯ The experiences of surrogates in the surgical intensive care unit are related to their understanding of what it means to be a surrogate and how they fulfill this role. Future work is needed to identify and manage the informational needs of surrogate decision-makers.
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A minimum-volume policy restricting hospitals not meeting the threshold from performing complex operation may increase travel burden and decrease spatial access to operation. We aim to identify vulnerable populations that would be sensitive to an added travel burden. ⋯ In patients undergoing pancreatectomy, the elderly, racial minorities, and patients with self-pay or Medicaid payer status were associated with an increased sensitivity to an added travel burden. This vulnerable cohort may be affected disproportionately by a minimum-volume policy.
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Sepsis remains one of the leading causes of infant death worldwide. It is characterized by uncontrolled inflammatory responses due to proven bacterial infection. Despite improvement in supportive care and the availability of effective antibiotics, no specific therapy targeting the dysregulated inflammatory response is available for neonatal sepsis. Milk fat globule epidermal growth factor-factor 8 (MFG-E8) is a secretory glycoprotein abundantly present in human milk. MFG-E8 suppresses the systemic inflammatory responses in adult murine injury models by improving the clearance of dying cells. We hypothesized that exogenous administration of recombinant mouse MFG-E8 could inhibit the exaggerated inflammatory response and lung injury in a murine model of neonatal sepsis. ⋯ Treatment with recombinant mouse MFG-E8 attenuated inflammation and lung injury in murine neonatal sepsis. Thus, MFG-E8 could be developed as a possible therapy for neonatal sepsis.