Return to work after major trauma

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the prevalence of return to work after major trauma, and to investigate the determinants of postinjury work status. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: University Medical Centre Utrecht, a level 1 trauma centre in the Netherlands. METHOD: All severely injured (ISS > 16) adult (age = 16+) trauma survivors admitted from January 1999 to December 2000 who were full-time employed at the time of the injury were selected for follow-up (n = 214). Response rate was 93%. Outcome was assessed at a mean of 15 months (SD = 1.5) after injury. Multivariate logistic regression analyses identified determinants at hospital discharge and at follow-up. RESULTS: Following injury 58.4% of the patients (n = 125) were able to return to full-time employment, 21.5% had a part-time job, and 20.1% did not return to work. Univariate analysis yielded the following significant determinants of postinjury work status: age, comorbidity, injury severity score, brain injury, spinal cord injury, length of stay in an intensive care unit, hospital stay, discharge destination, percentage of permanent impairment (according to the fourth American Medical Association guide (AMA)), limitations in activities of daily living and cognitive complaints. Logistic regression analyses (23% explained variance) identified spinal cord injury, duration of hospital stay, discharge destination and age as determinants of return to work at hospital discharge. At follow-up, determinants of return to work included AMA, activities of daily living, cognitive complaints and being discharged home (51% explained variance). CONCLUSIONS: Around 60% of the patients returned to their pre-injury work status after major trauma. The return to work rate was only partly explained by disability at follow-up. Independent determinants of return to work differ with the time of assessment.     

The development of caring in the perioperative culture: nurse leaders' perspective on the struggle to retain sight of the patient

This article focuses on Swedish nurse leaders and is aimed at achieving a more complete and differentiated understanding of what constitutes caring in the perioperative culture as well as their knowledge and responsibility for the development of caring. Interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with 10 nurse leaders, in which they described their experiences of developing perioperative caring. The interpretation process was based on Gadamer's philosophy of hermeneutics. The findings indicate that developing a perioperative caring culture is a struggle to retain sight of the patient, a process that includes the following 6 phases: (1) when the nurse leaders understood perioperative caring as a process, the nurse's and patient's shared world became obvious to them; (2) safeguarding the patient's position as a unique human being; (3) safeguarding the nurse's welfare by creating a compassionate atmosphere; (4) promoting an idea means never giving up; (5) attaching importance to being trustworthy; and (6) being involved in a dynamic interaction, comprising communion and reciprocity. The most important goal of nursing leadership is to safeguard the welfare of the suffering patient and the relationship between the nurse leader and nursing staff, based on the motive of caritas derived from the idea of humanistic caring.     

Lymphovascular Space Invasion in Robotic Surgery for Endometrial Cancer

Background:

Minimally invasive surgery has become a standard treatment for endometrial cancer and offers significant benefits over abdominal approaches. There are discrepant data regarding lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) and positive peritoneal cytology with the use of a uterine manipulator, with previous small-scale studies demonstrating an increased incidence of these prognostically important events. We sought to determine if there was a higher incidence of LVSI in patients who underwent robot-assisted surgery for endometrial cancer.

Methods:

We performed a single-institution review of medical records for patients who underwent open abdominal or robot-assisted hysterectomy for endometrial cancer over a 24-month period. The following data were abstracted: age, tumor grade and stage, size, depth of invasion, LVSI, and peritoneal cytology. For patients with LVSI, slides were reviewed by 2 pathologists for confirmation of LVSI.

Results:

Of 104 patients identified, LVSI was reported in 39 (37.5%) and positive peritoneal cytology in 6 (4.8%). Rates of peritoneal cytology were not significantly different between the 2 groups (odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.10–3.17; P = .50). LVSI was reported in significantly fewer robot-assisted hysterectomies than open procedures (odds ratio, 0.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.17–0.92; P = .03). In subgroup analyses restricted to early-stage disease (stage ≤ II), there was no significant difference in LVSI between open and robot-assisted hysterectomies (odds ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.22–1.85; P = .43).

Conclusion:

In this retrospective study, we found that use of a uterine manipulator in robot-assisted surgery did not increase the incidence of LVSI.     

Factors Predicting Long-Term Survival Following Pancreatic Resection for Ductal Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas: 40 Years of Experience

Background

Long-term survival after resection for pancreas carcinoma has rarely been reported. Factors influencing long-term survival are still under debate. The aim of this study was to define predictors for long-term survival.

Methods

Between 1972 and 2004, a total of 415 patients underwent resection. Data were collected in a prospective data base. Data of 360 patients were available for further analysis in 2011. All specimens of long-term survivors were histologically reviewed.

Results

Long-term survivors (n?=?69) had a median survival of 91 months. Pathological re-evaluation of all specimens re-confirmed the diagnosis. Predictive factors for long-term survival in univariate analysis were no preoperative biliary stent, low CA 19-9 level, lack of blood transfusion, R0 resection, tumour diameter, and -grading, absence of lymph node or distant metastases, lymphangiosis, and perineural infiltration. Adjuvant chemotherapy showed a significant influence on overall survival but not on long-term survival. In multivariate analysis, lymph node ratio and volume of blood transfusion were predictors of long-term survival.

Conclusion

Nearly 20 % of patients with pancreas carcinoma who undergo surgical resection have a chance of long-term survival. Survival beyond 5 years is predicted by clinical and tumour-specific factors. Adjuvant chemotherapy might prolong overall survival but is, according to these results, unable to contribute to long-term survival. There is still a risk of recurrence after a 5- or even a 12-year mark. Survival beyond 5 or even 12 years, therefore, does not assure cure.     

Therapeutic hypercapnia reduces pulmonary and systemic injury following in vivo lung reperfusion

Permissive hypercapnia, involving tolerance to elevated Pa(CO(2)), is associated with reduced acute lung injury (ALI), thought to result from reduced mechanical stretch, and improved outcome in ARDS. However, deliberately elevating inspired CO(2) concentration alone (therapeutic hypercapnia, TH) protects against ALI in ex vivo models. We investigated whether TH would protect against ALI in an in vivo model of lung ischemia-reperfusion (IR). Anesthetized open chest rabbits were ventilated (standard eucapnic settings), and were randomized to TH (FI(CO(2)) 0.12) versus control (FI(CO(2)) 0.00). Pa(CO(2)) and arterial pH values achieved in the TH versus CON groups were 101 +/- 3 versus 44.4 +/- 4 mm Hg and 7.10 +/- 0.03 versus 7.37 +/- 0.03, respectively. Following left lung ischemia and reperfusion, TH versus control was associated with preservation of lung mechanics, attenuation of protein leakage, reduction in pulmonary edema, and improved oxygenation. Indices of systemic protection included improved acid-base and lactate profile, in the absence of systemic hypoxemia. In the TH group, mean BALF TNF-alpha levels were 3.5% of CON levels (p < 0.01), and mean 8-isoprostane levels were 30% of CON levels (p = 0.02). Western blot analysis demonstrated reduced lung tissue nitrotyrosine in TH, indicating attenuation of tissue nitration. Finally, preliminary data suggest that TH may attenuate apoptosis following lung IR. We conclude that in the current model TH is protective versus IR lung injury and mechanisms of protection include preservation of lung mechanics, attenuation of pulmonary inflammation, and reduction of free radical mediated injury. If these findings are confirmed in additional models, TH may become a candidate for clinical testing in critical care.     

Impact of Resting and Ischemic Blood Flow on Infarct Probability in Ischemic Preconditioning-a New Approach to Infarct Size-Blood Flow Data by Logistic Regression

The linear regression analysis of infarct size (IS)vischemic myocardial blood flow (MBF) does not account for the heterogeneity of MBF and infarcted tissue; moreover, it cannot assess a blood flow threshold for infarction (MBFT) accurately, as with ischemic preconditioning (IP) the close relationship between ischemic MBF and IS otherwise observed is lost. Finally, the impact of resting blood flow on myocardial infarction cannot be considered in such analysis. Therefore, in a retrospective data analysis of 32 enflurane-anaesthetized swine undergoing 90 min severe ischemia and 120 min reperfusion without (CON,n=12) or with IP induced by either 3 (IP3,n=8) or 10 min ischemia (IP10,n=12) and 15 min reperfusion, a MBFT was assessed by logistic regression (LR) in individual tissue pieces. MBFT was arbitrarily defined as that ischemic MBF (microspheres) at which infarct probability was 0.2, derived from the ratio of infarcted (n=141, TTC) to all tissue samples (n=684). The duration of the preconditioning ischemia and MBF both at rest and during the sustained ischemia were significant predictors of infarct probability. Ischemic MBFT at an infarct probability of 0.2, was 0.089±0.023 ml/min/g in CON. MBFT was decreased to 0.051±0.03 ml/min/g with IP3 (P<0.05vCON) and further to 0.004±0.037 ml/min/g with IP10 (P<0.05vCON, IP3). Corresponding to the leftward shift of MBFT, the relationships between infarct probability and MBF were shifted in parallel by IP with no change in their slopes.     

Comparison of outcome and complications using different types of devices for percutaneous closure of a secundum atrial septal defect in adults: a single-center experience.

The objective of this study was to find differences in outcome and complications using three different types of devices for percutaneous atrial septal defect (ASD) closure in adults. Percutaneous closure of a secundum-type ASD is increasingly performed in adult patients. All adult patients who underwent a percutaneous closure of a secundum-type ASD in our center between November 1996 and November 2004 were included. Failure was defined as dislocation or embolization of the device, which required surgical intervention. Periprocedural and mid-term complications were registered. Sixty-five patients, mean age 45.7+/-18.1 years (18 men, 47 women), underwent a percutaneous closure of an ASD with an ASDOS in 3, an Amplatzer in 36, and a Cardioseal/Starflex closure device in 26 patients. During an overall median follow-up of 1.2 years (range, 0.1-6.7 years), the failure occurred in four patients, all Cardioseal/Starflex (P=0.04). Within the Cardioseal/Starflex subgroup, the ASD and device diameters were significantly higher in those patients in whom the primary endpoint occurred compared to the others, 18.8+/-3.8 vs. 13.0+/-3.8 mm for ASD diameter (P=0.01) and 40 (range, 40-43) vs. 33 mm (range, 20-40) for device diameter (P=0.008). Overall complications were transient arrhythmias in 15.4%, pericardial effusion in 1.5%, and transient ischemic attack in 1.5%. Complete closure 6 months after the procedure occurred in 79.6%, without difference between the devices. Percutaneous ASD closure seems to be a relatively safe and effective procedure. However, using the larger Cardioseal/Starflex devices for closure seems to be related to a higher rate of device dislocation and embolization.     

Contemporary prevalence of pulmonary arterial hypertension in adult congenital heart disease following the updated clinical classification

Background

The aging congenital heart disease (CHD) population is prone to develop a variety of sequelae, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Previous prevalence estimates are limited in applicability due to the use of tertiary centers, or database encoding only. We aimed to investigate the contemporary prevalence of PAH in adult CHD patients, using a nationwide population.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was performed, using the population-based Dutch CONgenital CORvitia (CONCOR) registry. All patients born with a systemic-to-pulmonary shunt, thereby at risk of developing PAH, were identified. From this cohort, a random sample was obtained and carefully reviewed.

Results

Of 12,624 registered adults with CHD alive in 2011, 5,487 (44%) were at risk of PAH. The random sample consisted of 1,814 patients (mean age 40 ± 15 years) and 135 PAH cases were observed. PAH prevalence in patients born with a systemic-to-pulmonary shunt was 7.4%. The prevalence of PAH after corrective cardiac surgery was remarkably high (5.7%). Furthermore, PAH prevalence increased with age, from 2.5% under 30 years until 35% in the eldest. PAH prevalence in the entire CHD population was 3.2%. Based on 3000 per million adult CHD patients in the general population, we can assume that PAH-CHD is present in 100 per million.

Conclusions

This new approach using a nationwide CHD population reports a PAH prevalence of 3.2% in CHD patients, and 100 per million in the general adult population. Especially in patients after shunt closure and the elderly, physicians should be aware of PAH-CHD, to provide optimal therapeutic and clinical care.