Disparities in Surgical Care: Strategies for Enhancing Provider–Patient Communication

Patient–provider communication is critical to eliminating disparities in healthcare. Both the patient and the physician bring a variety of assumptions to the therapeutic partnership. As illustrated in a surgical case, these are based not only on race and ethnicity but also on a host of other factors, which may affect both partners’ perceptions of reality and their subsequent behavior. Communication is an essential component of quality and is necessary to improve patients’ understanding of the content of their care, their ability to make informed choices, and their ability to adhere to recommended therapies. There are a variety of practical strategies to enhance awareness of these issues and improve communication that we need to begin to incorporate into surgical culture.     

Evaluation and Management of Periprosthetic Joint Infection–an International,Multicenter Study

Background

Controversies still exist regarding the optimal diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in patients with prosthetic joint infections (PJI).

Questions/Purposes

How effective are preoperative and intraoperative cultures in isolating organisms and how do these culture results compare to one another? What are the results of surgical treatment of PJI in the hip and knee in an international, tertiary referral center cohort?

Patients and Methods

One hundred sixteen patients (N = 59 hip PJI, N = 57 knee PJI) were recruited prospectively to registries at three international, tertiary referral centers between December 2008 to November 2011. Retrospective review of prospective registry data including demographics, microbiology results, and operative reports was performed.

Results

Preoperative synovial fluid aspiration yielded an organism in only 45.2% and 44.4% of cases, respectively, for knee and hip PJI. False-negative rates of preoperative aspiration relative to intraoperative culture were 56% and 46% in hip and knee PJI, respectively, with discordance rates of 25% and 21.4%, respectively. Rates of negative intraoperative cultures were 15% in hip PJI and 20.7% in knee PJI. Open debridement with prosthetic retention was the most common initial revision procedure performed (48.3% of hip PJI and 63.8% of knee PJI). This method of revision was successful in 41.3% of hip PJI and 59.4% of knee PJI. Initial failure rates for prosthetic revision was lower than debridement with prosthetic retention but remained substantial in both hip PJI (initial success of one-stage exchange 60% and two-stage exchange 70%) and knee PJI (initial success of one-stage exchange 80% and two-stage exchange 75%).

Conclusion

Diagnosis and treatment of PJI remains challenging with difficulty in isolating the offending organism and with high rates of prosthetic revision and initial treatment failures. Future advances in organism isolation and international standardization of treatment protocols may improve patient outcomes.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11420-013-9366-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Abdominal Resection Rectopexy with an Absorbable Polyglactin Mesh: Prospective Evaluation of Morphological and Functional Changes with Consecutive Improvement of Patient’s Symptoms

Background  

The pathophysiology of rectal prolapse and intussusception has not yet been clarified. This is reflected in the multiplicity of surgical procedures. The aim of this prospective study was to measure morphological and functional changes of the pelvic floor and the rectum before and after resection rectopexy.     

Choosing a Cancer Surgeon: Analyzing Factors in Patient Decision Making Using a Best–Worst Scaling Methodology

Background

Surgeon experience has been shown to influence outcomes for many types of cancer. The factors that patients consider when selecting a hospital or surgeon for cancer treatment remain poorly defined.

Methods

All patients with a cancer diagnosis seeking treatment at a surgical clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital were asked to participate. A survey utilizing a best–worst scaling methodology was constructed to elicit the importance of various factors when selecting a cancer surgeon. Attributes were grouped into four categories: surgeon reputation, surgeon qualifications, hospital-related factors, and nonclinical factors.

Results

Two hundred fourteen patients with a cancer diagnosis participated in the study (82.0 % response rate). Patients placed the highest value on physician qualifications and hospital-related factors. Specifically, surgeon case-specific experience (coefficient 2.56, SE 0.06) and the receipt of specialized training by the surgeon (coefficient 2.32, SE 0.06) ranked highest (both P < 0.001). Among hospital-related factors, hospital case-specific volume (coefficient 1.32, SE 0.06; P < 0.001) was most important. The lowest rated factors were parking availability (coefficient ?2.81, SE 0.06) and home-to-clinic distance (coefficient ?2.12, SE 0.06) (both P < 0.001). The majority of patients reported their ideal surgeon to have at least 6 years of experience (n = 143, 68.1 %) and to have performed their specific procedure at least 50 times (n = 156, 75.3 %).

Conclusions

Patients consider several factors when choosing a cancer surgeon. Surgeon qualifications and hospital-related factors appear to be most influential in their decision. Easier and more widespread dissemination of surgeon and hospital cancer data such as case volume may be useful for patients.     

Post–Kidney-Transplant Diabetes: Evaluation of Risk Factors

IntroductionPost-transplant diabetes mellitus is a complication of kidney transplantation with deleterious effects on graft and patient survival and is associated with higher mortality. The goal of this paper is to identify risk factors that contribute to its development so that it can be avoided.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of 659 kidney transplants performed in adult patients between January 2013 and December 2017. We excluded patients with a previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and identified 61 patients with post-transplant diabetes mellitus (10.6%), then compared them to a control group of 61 patients who did not suffer from the disease, namely the kidney transplant pair or the patient submitted for transplant immediately after.DiscussionA comparative analysis of the 2 groups revealed significant differences regarding the use of β-blockers, fasting glucose on the fifth day post-transplant, kidney recipient age, and body mass index. Using multivariate logistic regression methods, 2 variables with an impact on post-transplant diabetes development were found: fasting glucose on the fifth day post-transplant (odds ratio 1.044, 95% confidence interval 1.010–1.079, P = .010) and body mass index (odds ratio 1.130, 95% confidence interval 1.009–1.264, P = .034). We did not find any differences for other potential risk factors.ConclusionA high plasma glucose level on the fifth day after the transplant and a high body mass index in the setting of the transplant can potentially impact the transplant's outcomes, so it is important to identify these levels as soon as possible to take measures to prevent this disease.     

Role of Coronary Angiography in Pre–Liver Transplantation Cardiac Evaluation: Experience From an Asian Transplant Institution

Background

Liver transplant (LT) patients with significant coronary artery disease (CAD) have poorer outcomes. Pre-LT coronary angiography (CA) is associated with significant complications in cirrhotic patients.

Evaluation of Epstein-Barr Virus–Specific Immunologic Response in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients With an Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSpot Assay

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a γ-herpes virus, responsible for infectious mononucleosis in immunocompetent hosts. Cellular immunity appears rapidly during EBV primary infection, keeping it silent despite long-life persistence in B lymphocytes. Defects of the EBV-specific cellular immunity are supposed to be the basis of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorders, promoted by high levels of immunosuppression. We retrospectively reviewed 197 solid organ transplant recipients to investigate EBV-specific lymphocyte responsiveness using Enzyme-linked ImmunoSpot assay (EliSpot), which assesses the EBV-specific interferon (IFN)-γ producing peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and kinetics of EBV infection/reactivation post-transplantation using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on whole blood. Overall, 102 of the 197 patients (51.8%) showed EBV responsiveness at the EBV-EliSpot assay: 68 (66.6%) showed a persistently positive EBV response in 3 or more determinations and 34 (33.3%) had transient episodes of nonresponsiveness. Ninety-five (48.2%) patients were persistently EBV nonresponders. EBV-DNAemia data were available for 58 patients: 27.6% presented at least one episode of EBV-DNA occurrence. No differences were found in EBV-EliSpot response stratification between the groups of patients who experienced episodes of EBV reactivation and those without EBV-DNAemia. However, EBV DNAemia peak values tended to be higher in the first year post-transplantation in the group of patients with a persistent positive EBV-specific immune response. EBV viral load quantitation in blood and EliSpot EBV-specific immune response determination may represent a powerful tool for monitoring solid organ transplant recipients, guiding immunosuppression modulation in patients with active EBV replication.     

ASO Editorial: Could Physician–Patient Communication Make a Difference in Cancer-Related Fatigue in Esophageal Cancer?

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

Evaluation of seminal oxidation–reduction potential in male infertility

The role of oxidative stress in male infertility has been broadly recognised, and the search for a new marker to determine the redox environment in semen has gained considerable interest. Oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) or redox potential, is a measure of the electron transfer from antioxidants to oxidants and provides information on the redox balance. In this review, the benefits of ORP as a new oxidative stress marker, the protocol for its evaluation and the importance of its measurement in the context of male infertility are discussed. In association with the standard semen analysis, seminal ORP has been analysed to evaluate semen quality and male fertility status. However, further studies are required to establish its use in assisted reproductive techniques (ART) practice.     

Anticipated Detection of Imminent Surgeon–Patient Barrier Breaches. A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial Using an Indicator Underglove System

The double gloving indicator underglove system (IUS) is based on a colored detection of the outer glove perforation. Our objective was to determine the IUS efficiency to detect outer glove perforations and to reduce the risks of blood and body fluids exposure, warning the surgeon before the breach of the surgeon–patient barrier (SPB). A series of 100 visceral surgical procedures were randomly assigned to either double (IUS) or single gloving. The noticed glove perforations (using the water test method) and the IUS efficiency were analyzed in 99 procedures. In 49 single-gloving procedures, 19 perforations were noticed: one was immediately perceived (perceived accidental exposure, PAE); 3 were discovered as the gloves were being removed, and 15 were undetected before the water test (unperceived prolonged contact, UPC). In 50 double-gloving procedures (IUS), 16 perforations were noticed, all of them involving only the outer glove: the IUS allowed immediate detection of 3 perforations without any blood exposure; 13 other perforations went undetected but without any UPC. In conjunction with the protective quality of double gloving, the IUS allows detection of significant breaches of the outer glove before the breach of the SPB.     

Evaluation of excess skin in Swedish adults 18–59 years of age

Background: Little is known about excess skin in the normal population. The aim of this study was, therefore, to analyse the prevalence, impairments, and discomfort of excess skin in a cross-section of the Swedish population.

Methods: From the population registry of the Swedish Tax Agency, 1408 subjects living in Västra Götaland County from 18–59 years of age were randomly selected with an equal distribution of the sexes. Additionally, age was equally distributed, although twice as many subjects under 40 years of age were sent the questionnaire due to an expected low response rate for younger people. All subjects were asked to fill out the Sahlgrenska Excess Skin Questionnaire (SESQ), which included questions concerning the amount of and discomfort due to excess skin.

Results: No excess skin was reported by 78% of responders, including 71% of women and 87% of men. The responders who reported any excess skin were significantly older, had a higher body mass index (BMI) and reported larger differences between their maximum and current BMI. The most common reported site of excess skin was the abdomen in both women and men (26% and 8%, respectively), and this was reported to cause the most discomfort (median 4 and 2, respectively, on a scale from 0–10). Women graded psychosocial symptoms significantly higher than men, but there were no significant differences in other symptoms.

Conclusions:The results indicate that Swedish adults, regardless of sex, do not suffer from excess skin and may be considered as reference values.