scholarly journals Careful return to elective orthopaedic surgery in an acute hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic shows no increase in morbidity or mortality

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 940-944
Author(s):  
Monu Jabbal ◽  
Nathan Campbel ◽  
Terence Savaridas ◽  
Ali Raza

Aims Elective orthopaedic surgery was cancelled early in the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently running at significantly reduced capacity in most institutions. This has resulted in a significant backlog to treatment, with some hospitals projecting that waiting times for arthroplasty is three times the pre-COVID-19 duration. There is concern that the patient group requiring arthroplasty are often older and have more medical comorbidities—the same group of patients advised they are at higher risk of mortality from catching COVID-19. The aim of this study is to investigate the morbidity and mortality in elective patients operated on during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare this to a pre-pandemic cohort. Primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were perioperative complications, including nosocomial COVID-19 infection. These operations were performed in a district general hospital, with COVID-19 acute admissions in the same building. Methods Our institution reinstated elective operations using a “Blue stream” pathway, which involves isolation before and after surgery, COVID-19 testing pre-admission, and separation of ward and theatre pathways for “blue” patients. A register of all arthroplasties was taken, and their clinical course and investigations recorded. Results During a seven-month period, 340 elective arthroplasties were performed. There was zero mortality. One patient had a positive swab for COVID-19 while an inpatient, but remained asymptomatic. There were two readmissions within a 12-week period for hip dislocation. Patients had a mean age of 68 years (28 to 90), mean BMI of 30 kg/m2 (19.0 to 45.6), and mean American Society of Anesthesiologists grade of 2 (1 to 3). Conclusion Results show no increased morbidity or mortality in this cohort of patients compared to the same hospital’s morbidity and mortality pre-COVID-19. The screened pathway for elective patients is effective in ensuring that patients can be safely operated on electively in an acute hospital. This study should reassure clinicians and patients that arthroplasties can be carried out safely when the appropriate precautions are in place. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(11):940–944.

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Appleby ◽  
Seán Boyle ◽  
Nancy Devlin ◽  
Mike Harley ◽  
Anthony Harrison ◽  
...  

Objectives: To assess and quantify the impact of guarantees on maximum waiting times on clinical decisions to admit patients from waiting lists for orthopaedic surgery. Methods: Before and after comparative study, analysing changes in waiting times distributions between 1997/8 and 2001/2 for waiting list and booked inpatients and day cases admitted for elective treatments in trauma and orthopaedics in English hospitals. Results: The 2001/2 maximum waiting time target of 15 months did change the pattern of admissions for trauma and orthopaedic elective inpatients, with a net increase in admissions in that year, compared with 1997/8 (and over and above the 30,259 (7.6%) overall increase in all admissions) of patients who had waited around 15 months, of 9333. There was little indication that these additional admissions displaced shorter wait patients. In absolute and proportional terms, admissions increased for all waiting time categories except very short waiters – one to two weeks (an absolute fall of 2901 and a relative fall of 6591), and those waiting 40–41 weeks. The latter fall was only 111 patients in absolute terms (or 577 relative to the expected increase), however. The former much larger reduction may be an indication of clinical distortions, but it is unclear why very short wait (presumably more urgent) patients should disproportionately suffer compared with longer wait (presumably less urgent) cases. In addition, there was little indication that more minor cases usurped more major cases: 57% of the increase consisted of knee and hip replacement procedures, for example. Conclusions: While the 2001/2 waiting times target demonstrably changed admission patterns (and was a major contribution to the reduction in long waits), the extent to which this represented significant and clinically relevant distortions is questionable given the lack of widely accepted admission criteria. However, as targets become progressively tougher, there is a need to monitor consultants' concerns more closely.


Author(s):  
Khalid Alabbasi ◽  
Estie Kruger ◽  
Marc Tennant

<b><i>Purpose:</i></b> Excessive delays and emergency department (ED) overcrowding have become an increasingly major problem for public health worldwide. This study was to assess the key strategies adopted by an ED, at a public hospital in Jeddah, to reduce delays and streamline patient flow. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> This study was a service evaluation for a Saudi patient population of all age-groups who attended the ED of a public hospital for the period between June 2016 and July 2019. The Saudi initiative to reduce the ED visits at the King Abdullah Medical Complex hospital has started on August 7, 2018. The initiative was to apply an urgency transfer policy which outlines the procedures to follow when patients arrive to the ED where they are reviewed based on the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS). Patients with less-urgent conditions (category 4 and 5) are referred to a primary health-care practice (where a family medicine consultant is available). Patients with urgent conditions (category 1–3) are referred to a specialized health-care centre if the service is not currently provided. To test the effectiveness of ED initiative on reducing the overcrowd, data were categorized into before and after the initiative. The bivariate analysis χ<sup>2</sup> tests and 2 sample <i>t</i>-tests were run to explore the relationship of gender and age with dependent variable emergency. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 233,998 patients were included in this study, 61.8% of them were males and the average age of ED patients were 35.5 ± 18.6 years. The majority of cases were those classified as “less urgent” (CTAS 4), which accounted for 65.4%. Number of ED visits before and after the initiative was 67 and 33%, respectively. ED waiting times after the initiative have statistically significantly decreased across all acuity levels compared to ED waiting times before the initiative. <b><i>Conclusion and Implication:</i></b> The findings suggest that the majority of patients arrive to the ED with less-urgent conditions and arrived by walking-in. The number of cases attending the ED significantly decreased following the introduction of the urgency transfer policy. Referral for less-urgent patients to primary health-care centre may be an important front-end operational strategy to relieve congestion.


Author(s):  
Dafina Petrova ◽  
Marina Pollán ◽  
Miguel Rodriguez-Barranco ◽  
Dunia Garrido ◽  
Josep M. Borrás ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The patient interval—the time patients wait before consulting their physician after noticing cancer symptoms—contributes to diagnostic delays. We compared anticipated help-seeking times for cancer symptoms and perceived barriers to help-seeking before and after the coronavirus pandemic. Methods Two waves (pre-Coronavirus: February 2020, N = 3269; and post-Coronavirus: August 2020, N = 1500) of the Spanish Onco-barometer population survey were compared. The international ABC instrument was administered. Pre–post comparisons were performed using multiple logistic and Poisson regression models. Results There was a consistent and significant increase in anticipated times to help-seeking for 12 of 13 cancer symptoms, with the largest increases for breast changes (OR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.22–1–96) and unexplained bleeding (OR = 1.50, 1.26–1.79). Respondents were more likely to report barriers to help-seeking in the post wave, most notably worry about what the doctor may find (OR = 1.58, 1.35–1.84) and worry about wasting the doctor’s time (OR = 1.48, 1.25–1.74). Women and older individuals were the most affected. Conclusions Participants reported longer waiting times to help-seeking for cancer symptoms after the pandemic. There is an urgent need for public interventions encouraging people to consult their physicians with symptoms suggestive of cancer and counteracting the main barriers perceived during the pandemic situation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. ii10-ii10
Author(s):  
Hideki Kashiwagi ◽  
Shinji Kawabata ◽  
Seigo Kimura ◽  
Ryokichi Yagi ◽  
Naokado Ikeda ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The standard treatment for glioblastoma is surgical resection following chemoradiation therapy. The rate of removal or the amount of residual tumor has some impact on the prognosis of patients with glioblastoma, but the highly invasive nature of this tumor makes complete removal limited to the contrast-enhanced lesions difficult due to its localization. Furthermore, when postoperative seizures and venous thrombosis are included in surgery-related complications, these perioperative adverse events can cause delays in the initiation of chemoradiotherapy and delay the return to work and home, such as prolonged hospitalization and rehabilitation time. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the perioperative status of the recent 50 consecutive cases with histologically confirmed as glioblastoma at our hospital, the patient background, tumor localization, and perioperative treatment, and so on. Results: The major perioperative complications were ischemic or hemorrhagic complications, epileptic seizures, venous thrombosis, and pneumonia; CTCAE grade 2 or higher, grade 3 or higher, and grade 4 occurred in about 40%, 20%, and 10%, respectively, with some patients having multiple complications. Discussion: Although there was a tendency for ischemic changes around the cavity of the resection as the resection rate increased, most cases were asymptomatic and it seemed to be acceptable if residual brain function could be preserved. Residual tumors tended to show hemorrhagic changes and epileptic seizures because this is thought to be that the tumor was deliberately left in place to preserve function, based on the localization of the tumor. Postoperative FDP levels were useful in predicting the development of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary artery thromboembolism. Conclusion: Because glioblastoma has short survival time and patient PS before and after surgery varies greatly depending on tumor localization, it is important to consider risk-benefit strategies for each case and to establish a scheme for a seamless transition from perioperative management to the introduction of postoperative therapy and maintenance therapy.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Raymond B. Mailhot Vega ◽  
Omar F. Ishaq ◽  
Inaya Ahmed ◽  
Luis Rene ◽  
Beatriz E. Amendola ◽  
...  

Purpose The International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group (ILROG) published consensus guidelines on the management of Hodgkin disease (HD) and nodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), which became the most downloaded articles from International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics. E-contouring workshops allow for interactive didactic sessions, allowing participants to see case-based contouring in real time. A pilot 1-hour curriculum was developed with the objective of reviewing ILROG guidelines for HD and NHL management with incorporation of e-contouring tools. This represents the first international education intervention in Spanish using e-contouring with a pre- and postintervention questionnaire. Methods A 1-hour presentation was prepared in Spanish reviewing the ILROG recommendations for HD and NHL. The review was followed by the author’s demonstration of contour creation using patients with HD and NHL prepared for the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 2015 e-contouring lymphoma session. A five- question evaluation was prepared and administered before and after intervention. A two-tailed paired t test was performed to evaluate any significant change in test value before and after intervention. Results A total of nine quizzes were collected before and after the intervention. The average test score before the intervention was 75.6%, and the average test score after the intervention was 86.7% ( P = .051). Four students scored 100% on both the pre- and postintervention evaluations, and no student had a decrease in score from pre- to postintervention evaluation. The topic with the lowest score tested dose consideration. Conclusion A substantial but nonsignificant improvement in test evaluation was seen with this pilot curriculum. This pilot intervention identified obstacles for truly interactive didactic sessions that, when addressed, can lead to fully developed interactive didactic sessions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000313482110385
Author(s):  
Claudio F. Feo ◽  
Chiara Ninniri ◽  
Cinzia Tanda ◽  
Giulia Deiana ◽  
Alberto Porcu

Background There is increasing evidence that many anorectal surgical procedures may be performed under local anesthesia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of local anesthesia in the outpatient clinic vs spinal anesthesia in the operating room for open hemorrhoidectomy. Methods Sixty-two patients with grade III or IV hemorrhoids underwent open hemorrhoidectomy with LigaSure™ between 2018 and 2020. Of them, 32 procedures were performed in the operating room under spinal anesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine and other 30 procedures were undertaken in the outpatient clinic under local anesthesia with ropivacaine. Results There were no significant differences regarding age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, and Goligher’s grade in between groups. No significant differences were observed in postoperative pain score (P = .85), perioperative complications (P = .51), and reoperation rate (P = .96). No recurrences and no differences in patients’ satisfaction degree (P = .76) were documented at long-term follow-up in both study groups. Discussion Our results suggest that open hemorrhoidectomy with LigaSure™ performed in selected patients under local anesthesia in the outpatient clinic is a well-tolerated, safe, and effective procedure.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 1175-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mir Sadat-Ali ◽  
Moaad Alfaraidy ◽  
Abdulaziz AlHawas ◽  
Ahmed Abdallah Al-Othman ◽  
Dakheel A Al-Dakheel ◽  
...  

Objective To determine the functional morbidity and mortality after fragility hip fracture and compare the mortality with three other common diseases. Methods Data were collected from patients admitted to King Fahd Hospital of the University, AlKhobar from January 2010 to December 2014. Demographic data included the preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score as assessed by the anesthetist and the type of surgery. Personal and telephone interviews were performed, and data were entered into a database and analyzed. Results We identified 203 patients with fragility proximal femoral fractures, and the data of 189 patients (109 male, 80 female; average age, 66.90 ± 13.43 years) were available for analysis. The overall mortality rate was 26.98% (51 patients). The mortality rate was significantly higher among patients with an ASA score of 4 (36.36%) than 1 (20.45%). With respect to morbidity, only 48.23% of patients were able to return to their pre-fracture status; 32.35% of those who required assisted walking and 83.4% of those who required a wheelchair became bedridden. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that patients with fragility hip fractures have high morbidity and a mortality rate approaching 30%. Age and the ASA score significantly influence this high mortality rate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Rachmawati Rachmawati

Background: Soft foods are foods with a texture that is easy to chew, swallow, digest than regular food. The purpose of administration is to be easily swallowed and digested according to nutritional needs and disease conditions. Modification of recipes is very important to improve the appearance in shape, taste, color, aroma, and temperature of food so that it can be well received by patients.Objectives: The aim was to determine the effect of soft food modification on the level of patient satisfaction and food waste at the Meuraxa General Hospital in Banda Aceh City.Methods: Quasi-experimental research design. This research was conducted at Meuraxa Public Hospital in Banda Aceh City. Which will be carried out from November to December 2018. The population in this study is all inpatients at the Meuraxa general hospital in Banda Aceh city from November to December receiving soft diets. The sample in this study was carried out using the purposive sampling technique in which the sample taken in the Arrahman Room and Arafat Room. Quantitative data analysis with an independent sample t-test was performed to compare food scraps before modification and after modifications to the soft food menu, the data presentation was presented in tabular and narrative form.Results: The rest of the food on the 3rd menu after statistical tests using the t-test can be concluded that there is a significant influence between the remaining rice on the modification of soft foods before and after modification (p < 0.05). Soft food scraps on the 4th menu showed a significant effect between vegetable residues on modified soft foods before and after they were modified (p < 0.05). Soft food residues on the 5th menu before and after modification also showed a significant effect between vegetable residues on modification of soft foods before and after modification (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Modifications to the menu on soft foods showed a significant influence on the level of patient satisfaction and food waste at the Meuraxa District General Hospital in Banda Aceh. Suggestions, modification of soft food menu can be used as an alternative dish that can be served to inpatients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 1030-1036
Author(s):  
Galih Aktama ◽  
Henky Agung Nugroho ◽  
Muhammad David Perdana Putra

The pandemic that began in late 2019, COVID-19, affects all patients, including cancer patients. Patients with cancer that continues to spread and  there is no other effective alternative treatment must undergo surgery so that cancer does not get worse. Given this problem, many health care centers have developed a protocol system in the form of a COVID-19-free surgical route. This study is a retrospective cohort study comparing the incidence of pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective cancer surgery at dr. Moewardi Surakarta before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study sample was adult patients  aged ≥ 18 years which underwent elective surgical procedures with the aim of curative cancer starting before COVID-19 (March 2019-February 2020) until the time the COVID-19 pandemic emerged (March 2020 - February 2021). The data obtained were 768 patients. Of these patients, 384 were classified as having a COVID19-free operation route during the pandemic, and 384 others underwent elective surgery in the pre-pandemic period. Based on the Chi-Square test, a p-value of 0.850 was obtained (P>0.05) which shows that there is significant difference between cases of pulmonary complications in surgical patients before and after the pandemic who were carried out through the COVID-19-free protocol route. In conclusion, there is no significant change in effect of the covid-19 free operation path protocol on the incidence of lung complications in postoperative elective patients at dr. Moewardi Hospital Surakarta, although this patented and mandatory protocol can reduce cancer patients’ morbidity and mortality who undergoing elective surgery during a pandemic.


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