scholarly journals 781. Nurse-Driven Time-of-Triage Sepsis Screening Tool Improves Timely Intervention in Ambulatory Emergency Department (ED) Patients with Suspected Sepsis

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S346-S347
Author(s):  
Catalina Howland ◽  
Arthur Chang ◽  
Stephen Selvanayagam ◽  
Stacy Kim ◽  
Mark Bounthavong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Screening Tool ◽  
Early Recognition ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Primary Outcome Measure ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Antibiotic Administration ◽  
Suspected Sepsis ◽  
Sepsis Screening

Abstract Background Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening, systemic complication of infection. Rapid intervention is critical to reduce morbidity and mortality; however, early recognition of sepsis is challenging due to a highly variable and nonspecific presentation. Recognition is particularly problematic in ambulatory (walk-in) patients who receive minimal to no medical attention prior to ED presentation. There is limited literature addressing sepsis intervention among the ambulatory population in the ED. Our organization has employed an electronic, nurse-driven sepsis screening tool into the triage process for all ambulatory patients who present to the ED. Methods This was a retrospective, quasi-experimental study conducted from November 2015 to May 2018 in three consecutive timeframes: pre-implementation (12 months), implementation (7 months), and post-implementation (12 months). Adult ambulatory ED patients were included if they had a coded diagnosis of sepsis, septic shock, or an infectious syndrome, had fever or hypothermia and systemic inflammatory response syndrome signs on presentation. The primary outcome measure was hourly time interval to antibiotic administration from time of ED registration. Results A total of 902 patients were included with 286, 208, and 408 patients in the pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation cohorts, respectively. Baseline characteristics including comorbid conditions and infection source were similar between cohorts. The primary outcome of hourly time interval to antibiotic administration was significantly different (P = 0.044) between the three cohorts with the most substantial increase in administration specifically in the less than 1-hour interval. Between the pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation cohorts, significant decreases were observed in mean time to fluids (3.6, 3.0, and 2.5 hours, respectively, P = 0.003) and average length of stay (5.5, 5.8, and 4.2 days, respectively, P < 0.001) and a significant increase was observed in ED sepsis alert activations (26%, 48%, 51%, respectively, P < 0.001). Conclusion A nurse-driven electronic time-of-triage sepsis screening tool improved timely recognition and intervention in ambulatory ED patients with suspected sepsis. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Reducing surgical site infections following craniotomy: examination of the use of topical vancomycin

2015 ◽  
Vol 123 (6) ◽  
pp. 1600-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalil G. Abdullah ◽  
Mark A. Attiah ◽  
Andrew S. Olsen ◽  
Andrew Richardson ◽  
Timothy H. Lucas
Keyword(s):  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Primary Outcome Measure ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Skin Flora ◽  
Vancomycin Powder ◽  
Subgaleal Space ◽  
Typical Skin

OBJECT Although the use of topical vancomycin has been shown to be safe and effective for reducing postoperative infection rates in patients after spine surgery, its use in cranial wounds has not been studied systematically. The authors hypothesized that topical vancomycin, applied in powder form directly to the subgaleal space during closure, would reduce cranial wound infection rates. METHODS A cohort of 150 consecutive patients who underwent craniotomy was studied retrospectively. Seventy-five patients received 1 g of vancomycin powder applied in the subgaleal space at the time of closure. This group was compared with 75 matched-control patients who were accrued over the same time interval and did not receive vancomycin. The primary outcome measure was the presence of surgical site infection within 3 months. Secondary outcome measures included tissue pH from a subgaleal drain and vancomycin levels from the subgaleal space and serum. RESULTS Vancomycin was associated with significantly fewer surgical site infections (1 of 75) than was standard antibiotic prophylaxis alone (5 of 75; p < 0.05). Cultures were positive for typical skin flora species. As expected, local measured vancomycin concentrations peaked immediately after surgery (mean ± SD 499 ± 37 μg/ml) and gradually decreased over 12 hours. Vancomycin in the circulating serum remained undetectable. Subgaleal topical vancomycin was associated with a lower incidence of surgical site infections after craniotomy. The authors attribute this reduction in the infection rate to local vancomycin concentrations well above the minimum inhibitory concentration for antimicrobial efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Topical vancomycin is safe and effective for reducing surgical site infections after craniotomy. These data support the need for a prospective randomized examination of topical vancomycin in the setting of cranial surgery.

scholarly journals Strengthening sepsis care at a tertiary care teaching hospital in New Delhi, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. e001335
Author(s):  
Charu Malhotra ◽  
Akshay Kumar ◽  
Ankit Kumar Sahu ◽  
Akshaya Ramaswami ◽  
Sanjeev Bhoi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Culture ◽  
Hospital Mortality ◽  
Teaching Hospital ◽  
Screening Tool ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Antibiotic Administration ◽  
Suspected Sepsis ◽  
Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital ◽  
Care Teaching

IntroductionFailure of early identification of sepsis in the emergency department (ED) leads to significant delays in antibiotic administration which adversely affects patient outcomes.AimThe primary objective of our Quality Improvement (QI) project was to reduce the door-to-antibiotic time (DTAT) by 30% from the preintervention in patients with suspected sepsis. Secondary objectives were to increase the blood culture collection rate by 30% from preintervention, investigate the predictors of improving DTAT and study the effect of these interventions on 24-hour in-hospital mortality.MethodsThis QI project was conducted in the ED of a tertiary care teaching hospital of North India; the ED receives approximately 400 patients per day. Adult patients with suspected sepsis presenting to our ED were included in the study, between January 2019 and December 2020. The study was divided into three phases; preintervention phase (100 patients), intervention phase (100 patients) and postintervention phase (93 patients). DTAT and blood cultures prior to antibiotic administration was recorded for all patients. Blood culture yield and 24-hour in-hospital mortality were also recorded using standard data templates. Change ideas planned by the Sepsis QI Team were implemented after conducting plan-do-study-act cycles.ResultsThe median DTAT reduced from 155 min in preintervention phase to 78 min in postintervention phase. Drawing of blood cultures prior to antibiotic administration improved by 67%. Application of novel screening tool at triage was found to be an independent predictor of reduced DTAT.ConclusionOur QI project identified the existing lacunae in implementation of the sepsis bundle which were dealt with in a stepwise manner. The sepsis screening tool and on-site training improved care of patients with sepsis. A similar approach can be used to deal with complex quality issues in other high-volume low-resource settings.

Validating the Interval to Biochemical Failure for the Identification of Potentially Lethal Prostate Cancer

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15) ◽  
pp. 1857-1863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark K. Buyyounouski ◽  
Tom Pickles ◽  
Larry L. Kestin ◽  
Roger Allison ◽  
Scott G. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Prognostic Factor ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Specific Antigen ◽  
Primary Outcome Measure ◽  
Biochemical Failure ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Data Set

Purpose To validate the interval to biochemical failure (IBF) as a prognostic factor at the time of biochemical failure for prostate cancer mortality (PCM) following radiotherapy (RT). Patients and Methods From a collaborative data set of men with clinically localized prostate cancer treated with RT from four institutions in three countries, we identified 1,722 men with biochemical failure (BF; prostate-specific antigen nadir + 2 ng/mL). The IBF was defined as the time interval from completion of treatment to the date of BF. The primary outcome measure was discriminatory power in the form of the concordance index (c-index). Results Seventeen percent of men had an IBF ≤ 18 months. Median potential follow-up beyond the time of BF was 67 months. There were 290 deaths from prostate cancer. The IBF was the most discriminating individual prognostic factor overall, with a sensitivity of IBF ≤ 18 months to predict PCM within 10 years of 48.4% (95% CI, 43.3% to 54.1%); the specificity was 86.1% (95% CI, 84.5% to 87.7%), equating to a c-index of 0.611 (95% CI, 0.578 to 0.647). The 5-year cumulative incidence of PCM for IBF more than 18 months versus IBF ≤ 18 months was 9.4% (95% CI, 7.7% to 11.5%) versus 26.3% (95% CI, 21.2% to 31.8%); corresponding 10-year estimates were 26.2% (95% CI, 21.5% to 30.8%) versus 55.9% (95% CI, 48.9% to 63.0%), respectively (P < .001 for both). IBF exhibited minimal change in performance across various follow-up durations. Conclusion IBF is the single most robust prognostic factor for PCM following RT without androgen deprivation therapy. This external validation demonstrates that patients and clinicians can use this information to make decisions about subsequent treatments.

scholarly journals Electronic prescribing: introducing a stat optional dose to improve time to antibiotic on the acute medical unit

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. e000292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Robert Edward Jones ◽  
Kim Nurse
Keyword(s):  
Early Recognition ◽  
District General Hospital ◽  
Electronic Prescribing ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
Antibiotic Administration ◽  
Sepsis Management ◽  
Suspected Sepsis ◽  
Medical Unit ◽  
North East ◽  
Acute Medical Unit

Darlington Memorial Hospital is a district general hospital in the North East of England. The acute medical unit (AMU) takes referrals from the emergency department and also direct from general practitioners (GPs) in the region. Research shows that early recognition and management of sepsis is key to improving outcomes and significantly decreases mortality. Having observed several cases of delayed sepsis management in patients referred from their GP, we aimed to improve time to antibiotic therapy in patients identified as having sepsis as per the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence 2016 NG51 sepsis guidelines. We analysed the time from admission to antibiotic administrations for patients referred to AMU via their GP with suspected sepsis. We found there was a significant delay between antibiotic prescribing and administration. Baseline data showed that only 36% of patients received a stat dose of antibiotic on admission. Results showed that those patients with a stat dose prescribed had a median time of 36 min from prescription to antibiotic compared with 98 min for those without. We introduced a stat antibiotic option with all antibiotic prescriptions on the electronic prescribing system, encouraging prescribers to administer a stat dose. Through focusing on antibiotic prescribing systems and practices over two PDSA cycles, we were able to improve the time from prescription to administration of antibiotics for patients with sepsis. We reduced the delay in antibiotic administration in patients with sepsis from 49 to 34 min, an improvement of 31% (15/49). The percentage of patients receiving a stat dose of antibiotics increased from 36% to 63%. While we acknowledge that there remains room for improvement with regards to antibiotic prescribing and sepsis management, we have made sustainable interventions with important improvements. E-prescribing systems must be evaluated and modified accordingly on a regular basis to ensure that they positively contribute to quality patient care and clinical practice.

Recognition and management of sepsis: the nurse's role

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (21) ◽  
pp. 1248-1251
Author(s):  
Greg Bleakley ◽  
Mark Cole
Keyword(s):  
Early Recognition ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Suspected Sepsis ◽  
Intervention Delivery ◽  
Nursing Role ◽  
Early Warning Scores ◽  
Red Flag ◽  
Time Critical ◽  
Sepsis Screening ◽  
Critical Intervention

Caring for a patient with suspected sepsis is a challenging nursing role. Early recognition and appropriate management of a patient with sepsis saves lives. Nurses play a fundamental role in detecting changes in physiological observations that could indicate the onset of sepsis. Additionally, an awareness of the pathophysiology of sepsis allows the nurse to better understand how rapid intervention prevents the onset of septic shock. Furthermore, knowledge and use of clinical guidelines and sepsis screening tools are established methods to help reduce patient mortality. Nurse familiarity with ‘red flag’ criteria for sepsis and thorough completion of early warning scores facilitate earlier recognition and time critical intervention. Delivery of the ‘sepsis six’ within 1 hour of suspected sepsis saves lives.

scholarly journals Time-to-Treatment in Oral Cancer: Causes and Implications for Survival

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1321
Author(s):  
Constanza Saka-Herrán ◽  
Enric Jané-Salas ◽  
Antoni Mari-Roig ◽  
Albert Estrugo-Devesa ◽  
José López-López
Keyword(s):  
Oral Cancer ◽  
Previous Treatment ◽  
Diagnostic Procedures ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Primary Treatment ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Lack Of Knowledge

The purpose of this review was to identify and describe the causes that influence the time-intervals in the pathway of diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer and to assess its impact on prognosis and survival. The review was structured according to the recommendations of the Aarhus statement, considering original data from individual studies and systematic reviews that reported outcomes related to the patient, diagnostic and pre-treatment intervals. The patient interval is the major contributor to the total time-interval. Unawareness of signs and/or symptoms, denial and lack of knowledge about oral cancer are the major contributors to the process of seeking medical attention. The diagnostic interval is influenced by tumor factors, delays in referral due to higher number of consultations and previous treatment with different medicines or dental procedures and by professional factors such as experience and lack of knowledge related to the disease and diagnostic procedures. Patients with advanced stage disease, primary treatment with radiotherapy, treatment at an academic facility and transitions in care are associated with prolonged pre-treatment intervals. An emerging body of evidence supports the impact of prolonged pre-treatment and treatment intervals with poorer survival from oral cancer.

111 Burn Sepsis Screening Tool to Facilitate Diagnosis of Burn Sepsis

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S74-S75
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn Libraro ◽  
Palmer Bessey ◽  
Jamie Heffernan ◽  
James Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
Critically Ill ◽  
Screening Tool ◽  
Burn Injury ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Inhalation Injury ◽  
Clinical Feature ◽  
Sepsis Diagnosis ◽  
Acute Decompensation ◽  
Sepsis Screening

Abstract Introduction Sepsis following critical burn injury is an ominous development that can lead to death. Most patients will manifest a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), even without being septic. This may obscure the clinical recognition of developing sepsis and delay the initiation of effective treatment. We developed a burn sepsis screening tool (BSST) to facilitate the recognition of developing burn sepsis. The purpose of this study was to review the utility of that tool. Methods The BSST was based on several clinical signs, laboratory values, and changes in physiologic support modalities associated with sepsis. It consisted of nine parameters that could be scored as indicating or not indicating sepsis or not applicable. If three were positive, the patient was identified as septic, and a search for a septic source was undertaken and treatment initiated. The BSST was completed on patients judged to be critically ill during morning rounds over a period of nine months. The values were transcribed into a secure web database and analyzed using SAS 9.4. Results There were 593 individual encounters on 31 critically ill patients with burns and/or inhalation injury for which the BSST was completed. The mean age of the patients was 57 ± 4 years (Mean ± SEM), and the burn size was 24 ± 15 % TBSA. Eleven patients were women (36%) and 7 patients had inhalation injury (23%). The expected case fatality was 21 - 30% depending on the statistical model used. Six patients (19%) died. The length of stay was 64 ± 10 days and ranged from 3 to 267 days. A patient was judged to be septic in only 45 of the daily encounters (8.0 % ± 1.1). There were 21 instances of a new septic event made in 12 patients. Episode of sepsis separated by at least 5 days of no sepsis, were considered to be a new septic event. There was a substantial amount of data that was missing or not applicable. There were no significant differences in the septic parameters on days with new sepsis diagnosis when compared to the day prior, or compared to all encounters in patients that were never septic. Patients deteriorated acutely between BSST completions on only two occasions and both were stabilized. Conclusions The BSST was used consistently to help evaluate the daily status of critically ill burn injured patients. The expected case fatality of the group was moderately high, based on statistical models derived from the ABA Burn Registry. The observed outcome was as good as or better than predicted. Acute decompensation was rare. The BSST added daily administrative work to rounds, and the data recorded were often incomplete. Although the BSST did not demonstrate any single clinical feature that identified the transition from SIRS to sepsis, it did add structure and rigor to daily rounds. That contributed to the effectiveness of rounds, and it may have been responsible, in part, for the favorable outcomes.

Comparative study of intracranial access in thrombectomy using next generation 0.088 inch guide catheter technology

2021 ◽  
pp. neurintsurg-2021-017341
Author(s):  
Devin V Bageac ◽  
Blake S Gershon ◽  
Jan Vargas ◽  
Maxim Mokin ◽  
Zeguang Ren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Primary Outcome Measure ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Anterior Circulation ◽  
Guide Catheter ◽  
Catheter Failure ◽  
Catheter Technology ◽  
Intracranial Vasculature

BackgroundMost conventional 0.088 inch guide catheters cannot safely navigate intracranial vasculature. The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety of stroke thrombectomy using a novel 0.088 inch guide catheter designed for intracranial navigation.MethodsThis is a multicenter retrospective study, which included patients over 18 years old who underwent thrombectomy for anterior circulation large vessel occlusions. Technical outcomes for patients treated using the TracStar Large Distal Platform (TracStar LDP) or earlier generation TRX LDP were compared with a matched cohort of patients treated with other commonly used guide catheters. The primary outcome measure was device-related complications. Secondary outcome measures included guide catheter failure and time between groin puncture and clot engagement.ResultsEach study arm included 45 patients. The TracStar group was non-inferior to the control group with regard to device-related complications (6.8% vs 8.9%), and the average time to clot engagement was 8.89 min shorter (14.29 vs 23.18 min; p=0.0017). There were no statistically significant differences with regard to other technical outcomes, including time to recanalization (modified Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction (mTICI) ≥2B). The TracStar was successfully advanced into the intracranial internal carotid artery in 33 cases (73.33%); in three cases (6.67%), it was swapped for an alternate catheter. Successful reperfusion (mTICI 2B-3) was achieved in 95.56% of cases. Ninety-day follow-up data were available for 86.67% of patients, among whom 46.15% had an modified Rankin Score of 0–2%, and 10.26% were deceased.ConclusionsTracstar LDP is safe for use during stroke thrombectomy and was associated with decreased time to clot engagement. Intracranial access was regularly achieved.

scholarly journals The Impact of Time Interval between Hepatic Resection and Liver Transplantation on Clinical Outcome in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2398
Author(s):  
Matteo Serenari ◽  
Enrico Prosperi ◽  
Marc-Antoine Allard ◽  
Michele Paterno ◽  
Nicolas Golse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Transplantation ◽  
Hepatic Resection ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Polynomial Regression ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Comprehensive Complication Index ◽  
Fractional Polynomial ◽  
The Impact

Hepatic resection (HR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may require secondary liver transplantation (SLT). However, a previous HR is supposed to worsen post-SLT outcomes. Data of patients treated by SLT between 2000 and 2018 at two tertiary referral centers were analyzed. The primary outcome of the study was to analyze the impact of HR on post-LT complications. A Comprehensive Complication Index ≥ 29.6 was chosen as cutoff. The secondary outcome was HCC-related death by means of competing-risk regression analysis. In the study period, 140 patients were included. Patients were transplanted in a median of 23 months after HR (IQR 14–41). Among all the features analyzed regarding the prior HR, only time interval between HR and SLT (time HR-SLT) was an independent predictor of severe complications after LT (OR = 0.98, p < 0.001). According to fractional polynomial regression, the probability of severe complications increased up to 15 months after HR (43%), then slowly decreased over time (OR = 0.88, p < 0.001). There was no significant association between HCC-related death and time HR-SLT at the multivariable competing risks regression model (SHR, 1.06; 95% CI: 0.69–1.62, p = 0.796). This study showed that time HR-SLT was key in predicting complications after LT, without affecting HCC-related death.

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