Impact of automatic orders to discontinue vancomycin therapy on vancomycin use in an antimicrobial stewardship program.

We examined the possible unintended consequences of a 72-hour automatic order to discontinue vancomycin therapy in an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). Of 120 patients, 11 had vancomycin therapy discontinued at 72 hours without a call to the ASP, and 7 experienced a treatment interruption of 6-36 hours. All discontinuation of therapy was considered appropriate, and the 7 treatment interruptions did not have clear clinical consequences. Only one-third of patients had ASP stickers that warned of impending discontinuation of vancomycin therapy placed appropriately in the medical record.     

Contemporary staging and prognosis for primary tracheal malignancies: a population-based analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Determine staging characteristics and survival outcomes for primary malignancies of the trachea. Design Cross-sectional analysis of national cancer database. METHODS: Cases of primary tracheal malignancy were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for the time period 1988-2000. T-stage, N-stage, and overall stage of presentation were determined. Mean, median, and 5-year survival statistics were computed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis for each tumor histology and for the overall cohort according to stage. RESULTS: Ninety-two cases with adequate histologic information were identified. Mean age at presentation was 59.3 years with an equal sex distribution. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common tumor type (41 cases) followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma (19 cases). Forty-nine cases (53%) presented with stage 3 or stage 4 disease. Squamous cell carcinoma exhibited poorer survival (mean survival, 44.0 month, 5-year survival, 34%) than adenoid cystic carcinoma (mean survival, 115 month, 5-year survival, 78%). Five-year unadjusted survival rates according to overall stage were 52.8%, 70.0%, 75.0%, 15.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Primary tracheal malignancies often present with advanced stage. Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the trachea have poorer prognoses when compared with adenoid cystic carcinoma and other tumor types. Staging tracheal cancer with a TNM-based system helps predict survival. EBM rating: C.     

Teaching with a Video System Improves the Training Period but Not Subsequent Success of Tracheal Intubation with the Bullard Laryngoscope

Background: The Bullard laryngoscope is useful for the management of a variety of airway management scenarios. Without the aid of a video system, teaching laryngoscopy skills occurs with indirect feedback to the instructor. The purpose of this study was to determine if use of a video system would quicken the process of learning the Bullard laryngoscope or improve the performance (speed or success) of its use.

Methods: Thirty-six anesthesia providers with no previous Bullard laryngoscope experience were randomly divided into two groups: initial training (first 15 intubations) with looking directly through the eyepiece (n = 20), or with the display of the scope on a video monitor (n = 16). The subjects each then performed 15 Bullard intubations by looking directly through the eyepiece.

Results: There was not an overall significant difference in laryngoscopy or intubation times between the groups. When only the first 15 intubations were considered, the laryngoscopy time was shorter in the video group (26 +/- 24) than in the nonvideo group (32 +/- 34;P < 0.04). In the first 15 patients, there were fewer single attempts at intubation (67.9%vs. 80.3%;P < 0.002) and more failed intubations (17.2%vs. 6.0%;P < 0.0001) in the nonvideo group.     

Factors affecting survival in maxillary sinus cancer.

PURPOSE: The study goal was to determine survival parameters and clinical factors influencing survival for maxillary sinus malignancies. METHODS: Cases of maxillary sinus malignancy for the time period 1988 to 1998 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. Cases with distant metastatic disease at presentation were excluded. Clinical information, including tumor histology, grade and stage, and extent of surgery and radiation therapy, were determined. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox proportional hazards analyses were conducted to determine the influence of these factors on overall survival. RESULTS: The study sample was composed of 650 patients with maxillary sinus cancer (mean age, 64 years; male-to-female ratio, 3:2). The most common histology was squamous cell carcinoma (61.7%), followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma (9.8%). The overall mean (median) survival was 52 months (25 months), and 77.5% and 7.4% of patients presented with advanced (T3/T4) disease or cervical metastasis, respectively. Radiation therapy was administered in 441 patients (67.9%) and significantly improved survival mainly for those with T4 lesions. On multivariate analysis, increasing age, T stage, N stage, and tumor grade independently predicted poorer survival, whereas gender did not. Adenoid cystic carcinoma exhibited a significantly improved overall survival (P <.001). CONCLUSIONS: Survival for patients with maxillary sinus cancer is determined not only by TNM staging but also by tumor histology and grade. TNM staging effectively stratifies patients according to survival. Radiation therapy significantly improves survival for those with T4 lesions.     

The emerging role of induced hypothermia in the management of acute stroke.

Current treatment of acute stroke remains unsatisfactory. This review presents experimental and clinical data which suggest that mild induced hypothermia could be a potent and practicable neuroprotective treatment of acute ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage. Hypothermia, if proven to be safe, effective and widely practicable in patients with acute stroke, could have an enormous positive impact on reducing the burden of stroke worldwide. Critical issues that will need to be considered in a well designed randomised controlled trial of induced hypothermia in acute stroke patients are discussed.