Sequencing cases in the operating room: predicting whether one surgical case will last longer than another

A microscope will be used for the first case of the day in operating room (OR) 1 and then may be used in the second case of the day by a different surgeon in a different OR, OR 2. Provided that the probability is reasonably high that the first case of the day in OR 2 will last longer than the first case in OR 1, the OR manager can be confident in scheduling the microscope to be used by both surgeons on the same day. The OR manager can use statistical decision theory to sequence cases to decrease the impact of limitations in equipment or personnel on case scheduling. This increases utilization of both the capital equipment and OR time. In this study, we derived equations that can be programmed into a surgical services information system to reliably estimate the probability that one case will have a longer duration than another. We confirmed the accuracy of our method by using actual case duration data. IMPLICATIONS: Our statistical method uses historical case duration data from an operating room information system to estimate the actual probability to within 1.5% that the second case of a pair will last longer than the first case of a pair.     

Day case haemorrhoidectomy

OBJECTIVE: Day case haemorrhoidectomy in a District General Hospital. We have investigated the uptake and outcome of day case haemorrhoidectomy in a small district general hospital. METHOD: Case note review with completion of standard proforma for all patients undergoing haemorrhoidectomy as day case (same day admission and discharge) or inpatient over a 4-year period. RESULTS: Sixty patients underwent day case closed haemorrhoidectomy, 2 day case stapled haemorrhoidectomy and 1 day case open haemorrhoidectomy, whilst 18 patients were treated as in-patients. One patient required re-admission within 31 days for reactionary haemorrhage after day case surgery. None suffered acute urinary retention. Concomitant medical disease or emergency admission were the only reasons for exclusion from day case haemorrhoidectomy. Of the 18 patients treated as in-patients haemorrhoidectomy two had unplanned readmission. CONCLUSION: Closed haemorrhoidectomy with same day discharge should be offered to all patients that require surgical treatment of haemorrhoids and do not have other contra-indications to day case surgery.     

The effects of surgical case duration and type of surgery on hourly clinical productivity of anesthesiologists

Surgical duration (hours per case; h/case) and type of surgery (ASA base units per case; base/case) determine the hourly clinical productivity (total ASA units per hour of anesthesia care; tASA/h) for anesthesiology groups. In previous studies, h/case negatively influenced tASA/h, but base/case did not differ significantly. However, when cases are grouped by surgical service, the mean base/case varies. In this study we evaluated the effect of h/case and base/case on tASA/h when these are grouped by surgical services. Data from one calendar year were collected from an academic anesthesiology department's billing database. All surgical cases for which the anesthesiology department provided care were included. Cases performed outside the main operating room, e.g., remote sites or obstetrics, were excluded. Any care not billed with ASA units was also excluded. Mean base/case and h/case were determined. For each service, tASA/h was calculated by dividing the sum of base/case and (4 x h/case) by h/case. A total of 12,769 cases were performed by 19 different surgical services. Mean base/case was 6.1 U, with a range of 4.0 U (orthopedics) to 16.0 U (cardiothoracic). Mean h/case was 2.9 h, with a range of 0.9 h (otolaryngology pediatric) to 5.4 h (orthopedic spine). Mean tASA/h was 6.35 U/h, with a range of 5.01 U/h (plastic surgery) to 9.71 U/h (otolaryngology pediatric). The services with high base/case did not necessarily have high tASA/h because of the longer h/case. The services with the shortest h/case had the highest tASA/h. The accurate prediction of both clinical and billing productivity requires inclusion of both base/case and surgical duration data. Anesthesiology groups should consider surgical duration when making strategic decisions.     

Acute occlusion of the iliac arteries due to blunt trauma

Two cases of acute iliac occlusion due to blunt trauma are presented. The cause of injuries were a fall from bicycle in case 1 and a compression between an automobile and a wall in case 2. The end-to-end anastomosis was possible in case 2, but an interposition of an artificial prosthesis was necessary because of the length of damaged artery in case 1. Both cases were associated with the pelvic fracture, adding the perforation of small bowels and the bladder in case 2. Postoperative course was almost uneventful except fasciotomy was needed for the compartment syndrome of the right lower extremity in case 2.     

Our experience with duodenal tumors

The authors report 3 cases of benign duodenal tumors and one case of duodenal cancer. In two cases the benign tumors were adenomatous polyps, in one case with signs of dysplasia. One case of benign tumor was a lipoma. All the three benign tumors were removed through a duodenotomy, in one case associated with a sphincteroplasty. The case of duodenal cancer, arisen in a patient operated since 24 years with a gastric resection, was treated with a Whipple technique but for the very old age and the bad health conditions, the patient died in 11th post-operative day for myocardium infarct.     

Renal lymphoma. Report of 2 cases and review of the literature]

Two cases of renal lymphoma were reported. Case 1 was a 73-year-old, and case 2 was a 59-year-old female. Their chief complaint was flank pain. The findings obtained by CT and angiography were not compatible with renal cancer. The tentative diagnosis of case 1 was inflammatory disease or soft tissue tumor, and that of case 2 was renal subcapsular tumor. Histological specimen was obtained by open biopsy from case 1, and by nephrectomy from case 2. Immunohistochemical surface marker study revealed both tumors were B cell lymphoma. Chemotherapy (CHOP-Bleo, or PPA) in both cases and additional radiotherapy in case 2 markedly reduced the tumor size. Nevertheless, case 1 died 5 months later from recurrence, and case 2 died 14 months later of gastrointestinal bleeding. At autopsy, the renal subcapsular layer was infiltrated by lymphoma cells in both cases, and lymphadenopathy was not observed. Reviewing 16 cases previously reported as renal lymphoma, the capsular or subcapsular diffuse infiltration to the kidney is considered to be a characteristic feature of renal lymphoma.     

Patient selection for day case surgery

Day surgery provides many benefits to patients and trusts. Currently, almost all surgery should be performed as day case or very short stay and as such the criteria for suitability for day case surgery have been much expanded over recent decades. Social and medical criteria should rarely prevent successful day case surgery; we present suggestions whereby historic barriers to discharge can be overcome. We discuss the suitability of surgical procedures to be performed as a day case and explain how emergency pathways can be utilised to enable an additional cohort of patients be treated as a day case. These suggestions will permit the vast majority of patients to reap the benefits of undergoing their procedure as a day case.     

2 cases of brain abscess as a complication of direct cranial traction

Two cases of brain abscess as a complication of direct cranial traction have been presented. In the first case traction was used in the treatment of aneurysmatic cyst of the cervical spine, in the second case for cervical spine trauma. In the first case development of abscess was related with local infection in the site of localization of traction, and in the second case, most probably, with direct contamination of the brain tissue in the site of dura mater perforation. In both cases abscess was treated surgically; in the first case, a female patient was discharged with severe neurological deficit and in the second case, the male patient recovered without neurological deficit.     

Complications of suture ligation ablation for ulnar polydactyly: a report of two cases

We report two cases resulting in complications following suture ligation treatment for ulnar polydactyly. One case consisted of bilateral, retained gangrene and cellulitis, and a second case consisted of a residual, sensitive skin tag. The case involving gangrene and cellulitis developed after an unsuccessful suture ligation of bilateral pedunculated duplicated digits. The second case developed after suture ligature ablation of a rudimentary digit in the nursery but presented 3 years later with a residual symptomatic nubbin. Both cases were treated by surgical excision of the residual tissue in the operating room. The first case illustrates a morbid complication following unsuccessful ligature while the second case demonstrates the inevitable suboptimal long-term outcome associated with what has traditionally been considered “successful” suture ligation.     

Validity and usefulness of a method to monitor surgical services’ average bias in scheduled case durations

PURPOSE: Unbiased prediction of case durations is an integral part of matching operating room (OR) staffing to workload. Monitoring systematic bias in surgeons' scheduled case durations can identify those services with estimates sufficiently inaccurate that statistical analysis of historical data may be useful in preference to the surgeons' estimates. We describe a method to monitor surgical services' average bias in scheduled case durations. METHODS: Actual case duration, predicted (scheduled) case duration, and service were obtained for all 58,291 cases during 39 four-week periods at an academic hospital. For each four-week period, a ratio was computed for each service. The numerator for each service equalled the sum of the differences in minutes between actual case duration and scheduled case duration. The denominator equalled the sum in hours of the actual durations of all of the service's cases. The ratio was multiplied by eight hours to yield the number of minutes of underestimated case duration per eight hours of OR time during the four-week period. RESULTS: The ratios followed a normal distribution for each service. Using the Student's t distribution, the 95% lower confidence bounds for the average underestimate of case duration ranged from three to 65 min per eight hours of used OR time. CONCLUSIONS: To reduce over-utilized OR time, we recommend monitoring each service's 95% lower confidence bound of the bias in scheduled case durations. For services consistently underestimating their case durations, schedule their cases using statistical estimates of case durations based on their historical data, and disregard their own estimates.     

Epstein-Barr virus-associated polymorphic B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders in the lungs of children with AIDS: a report of two cases.

Patients infected with HIV experience a spectrum of lymphoproliferative disorders, including generalized reactive lymphadenopathy to atypical lymphoproliferative lesions and lymphomas. Polymorphic B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders are rare and not well documented. We studied lung lesions from two children infected with HIV: an atypical polymorphic B-cell hyperplasia in a 14-year-old boy and a malignant polymorphic B-cell lymphoma in a 21-month-old girl. Morphologically, both lung lesions revealed similar polymorphic lymphoid infiltrations with numerous mitoses in case 1 and extensive necrosis and architectural distortion in case 2. Immunophenotypic examination showed no predominance of kappa or lambda light chain in case 1 and a predominance of kappa light chain in case 2. Genotypic analysis demonstrated an absence of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor gene rearrangements in case 1 and the presence of biallelic immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangement and a single clonal Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in case 2. The clinical course was indolent in case 1 and aggressive in case 2. The clinicopathologic features were similar to those of posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorders suggesting that these lung lesions might represent an immunosuppression-related spectrum of benign to malignant diseases. EBV infection may play a role in the pathogenesis of these lesions. This study highlights the importance of the molecular characterization of AIDS-associated lymphoproliferative disorders in children in establishing a definitive diagnosis.     

老年骨肉瘤10例治疗总结

目的探讨老年骨肉瘤（≥60岁）的临床特点和治疗效果。 方法回顾性分析2007年1月至2017年3月期间山东大学齐鲁医院骨科收治的≥60岁的骨肉瘤患者10例,女性8例,男性2例,年龄60~76岁,平均（66±6）岁,病变位于股骨5例、踝关节软组织1例、多中心1例、骨盆（Ⅲ区）1例、肱骨1例、距骨1例。确诊后行截肢术2例,截肢术结合化疗2例,广泛切除术1例,广泛切除术结合化疗3例,边缘切除结合放疗1例,单纯化疗1例。 结果10例患者中,4例就诊时病史已超过6个月,2例就诊时已出现肺转移,5例合并基础疾病,2例血清ALP水平升高（>125 U/L）。影像学方面,7例为混合型,1例为溶骨型,1例为成骨型,1例位于软组织。肿瘤组织类型方面,普通型骨肉瘤7例,骨旁骨肉瘤2例,髓内高分化性骨肉瘤1例。10例患者随访3.5~124个月,平均（40±37）个月。1例接受单纯化疗的肺转移患者于明确诊断后3.5个月死亡,另1例肺转移患者接受转移灶射频消融术,随访58个月带瘤生存,1例距骨骨肉瘤复发后行截肢术。其余7例均未出现肿瘤复发或远处转移。 结论老年骨肉瘤临床较为少见,具有不同于青少年骨肉瘤的临床特点和预后,应早期明确诊断,采取适合患者自身情况的治疗方法,以尽可能降低复发和转移的发生率,延长生存期。     

Renal cell carcinoma in a horseshoe kidney with abdominal aortic aneurysm: a case report

We herein report a case of renal cell carcinoma in a horseshoe kidney with an abdominal aortic aneurysm in a 69-year-old man. Radiological examinations showed a left renal tumor, horseshoe kidney and abdominal aortic aneurysm. We performed a left radical nephrectomy with the division of the isthmus and artificial graft through an abdominal transperitoneal approach. Histological findings revealed clear cell type renal cell carcinoma without invasion of the capsule or renal pelvis. Only 31 cases of renal cell carcinoma in a horseshoe kidney have been reported in Japan, and our case is the 32nd. No case with abdominal aortic aneurysm has been reported previously. We assume that abdominal aortic aneurysm was associated with renal cell carcinoma by chance in the horseshoe kidney in this case. The arterial and venous supplies vary from case to case. We emphasize that arteriography and venography are very important preoperative procedures.     

Bilateral traumatic abducens nerve paralysis with cervical spine flexion injury

Bilateral traumatic abducens nerve palsy is a rare condition. We report a case associated with cervical spine flexion injury. This may be the first such case report, as no similar case was found in our review of the literature. The mechanisms of injury in this case are relevant to theories that explain hyperextension injuries.     

Managing hypersexual disorders in brain-injured clients

Three case studies involving hypersexuality in brain-injured clients are illustrated. Two cases involved the inappropriate touching of the opposite sex, and the third case involved exhibitionism. In one case of touching, feedback was used to decrease inappropriate touching. In the other case of touching, scheduled massage was used to shift stimulus control to an appropriate setting. In the case of exhibitionism, a combination of self-monitoring, private self-stimulation and dating-skills training were used to suppress the behaviour.     

Deep Sylvian meningiomas

A case of deep Sylvian meningioma in a 35-year-old woman was precisely diagnosed preoperatively with the aid of computed tomography and stereoscopic cerebral angiography. On reviewing the literature, it appears to be the first case that has been accurately diagnosed preoperatively and successfully treated by a total excision without serious complication. We report this case in detail together with another, similar case which we had encountered previously.