Medication safety: just a label away

IN PERIOPERATIVE SETTINGS, medications are removed from manufacturers' identifying containers; therefore, scrub personnel should label medications placed on the sterile field.COMPLIANCE WITH MEDICATION labeling practices with the use of both blank and preprinted labels was tested in the OR at a Houston, Texas, hospital.SCRUB PERSONNEL WERE more likely to label medications and medication-delivery devices when preprinted medication labels were provided.DATA OBTAINED FROM this project influenced the hospital's management team to supply preprinted labels for all procedures to improve safety for surgical patients.     

Combination therapy with oncolytic viruses and immune checkpoint inhibitors

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have dramatically improved the outcome for cancer patients across multiple tumor types. However the response rates to ICI monotherapy remain relatively low, in part due to some tumors cultivating an inherently ‘cold’ immune microenvironment. Oncolytic viruses (OV) have the capability to promote a ‘hotter’ immune microenvironment which can improve the efficacy of ICI.

Areas covered: In this article we conducted a literature search through Pubmed/Medline to identify relevant articles in both the pre-clinical and clinical settings for combining OVs with ICIs and discuss the impact of this approach on treatment as well as changes within the tumor microenvironment. We also explore the future directions of this novel combination strategy.

Expert opinion: The imminent results of the Phase 3 study combining pembrolizumab with or without T-Vec injection are eagerly awaited. OV/ICI combinations remain one of the most promising avenues to explore in the success of cancer immunotherapy.     

Remembering Hospice

This book review essay discusses The Crisis of US Hospice Care: Family and Freedom at the End of Life (2019), by Harold Braswell.     

Primary and staged transposition arteriovenous fistulas

BACKGROUND: The use of catheters or prosthetic grafts for vascular access has significantly higher mortality and morbidity risks, in addition to higher costs, than arteriovenous fistulas (AVF). Many patients have a difficult access extremity due to complex medical illnesses, previous vascular access procedures, intravenous catheters, diabetes, vascular disease, female sex, age, and other complicating factors. Transposition AVFs (AVF-T) have been used for these individuals to avoid catheters and grafts. We report our experience with primary and staged basilic vein AVF-Ts and staged brachial vein AVF-Ts. METHODS: From our database of consecutive vascular access operations, we reviewed patients from May 2003 to September 2006 for all upper extremity AVF-Ts. A primary AVF-T was used when the basilic vein was continuous with a minimum diameter of 4 mm and of adequate length. When the basilic vein was 2.5 to 4 mm, the procedure was staged. The proximal radial artery was used for inflow, if possible. When the basilic vein was not suitable, a radial vein or brachial vein anastomosis was performed as the first stage of a planned brachial vein AVF-T. The second stage operations of staged AVF-Ts were generally done 4 to 6 weeks after the primary AVF construction. All patients were evaluated with preoperative ultrasound imaging by the operating surgeon. RESULTS: From a database of 412 consecutive vascular access patients, 78 upper extremity transposition procedures were identified. Of these, 57 patients (73.1%) were women, 44 (56.4%) were diabetic, and 46 (59.0%) had previous access surgery. Fifty-eight operations were staged procedures. The basilic vein was used in 68 AVF-T, the brachial vein in six, and cephalic vein in four. The anastomosis was based on the proximal radial artery in 60 patients. Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 3-48 months). Primary patency, primary assisted patency, and cumulative patency were 45.7%, 93.5%, and 96.0% at 12 months and 27.6%, 86.5%, and 88.9% at 24 months, respectively. No prosthetic grafts were used in the study period. CONCLUSION: Both primary and staged AVF-T procedures were successfully used in patients with difficult access extremities. AVF-Ts were durable, although many required an interventional procedure for maturation or maintenance. Cumulative (secondary) patency was 96.0% at 12 months and 88.9% at 24 months. The absence of an adequate basilic vein does not preclude the use of a staged AVF-T because the brachial vein offers a suitable alternative.