Surgery

BACKGROUND: The surgical workforce particularly in rural regions needs novel approaches to reinforce the skills and confidence of health practitioners. Although conventional telementoring systems have proven beneficial to address this gap, the benefits of platforms of augmented reality-based telementoring in the coaching and confidence of medical personnel are yet to be evaluated. METHODS: A total of 20 participants were guided by remote expert surgeons to perform leg fasciotomies on cadavers under one of two conditions: (1) telementoring (with our System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality) or (2) independently reviewing the procedure beforehand...

BACKGROUND: In the era of subspecialization and duty-hour restrictions, many General Surgery residents desire additional training in their future subspecialty areas. This study examines the relationship between case distributions performed by General Surgery residents and their chosen future subspecialty. METHODS: A retrospective review of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education case logs of 101 graduated General Surgery residents at a single academic institution (2002-2018) was performed...

BACKGROUND: Although early survival from sepsis has improved with timely resuscitation and source control, survivors frequently experience persistent inflammation and develop chronic critical illness. We examined whether increased copy number of endogenous alarmins, mitochondrial DNA, and nuclear DNA are associated with the early "genomic storm" in blood leukocytes and the development of chronic critical illness in hospitalized patients with surgical sepsis. METHODS: A prospective, observational, cohort study of critically ill septic patients was performed at a United States tertiary health care center...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Nox4 has been associated with tumor progression in various types of malignancies. This study aimed to evaluate the importance of the expression of Nox4 in patients undergoing curative esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively 121 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who had undergone a curative esophagectomy, including 67 patients with overexpression and 54 patients with low expression of Nox4 as evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis...

BACKGROUND: The association between mortality and off-hour presentation to a medical center has been studied in relation to various diseases and settings, but little is known of what the association indicates. This study explored the association in severe trauma patients among Japanese emergency and critical care centers and their association with the structural factors of the medical center. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using a Japanese, nationwide administrative database and the annual emergency and critical care centers evaluation report...

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer and impaired postresection survival. For pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms, no evidence is available for a similar effect of diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the glycemic profile in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms and to assess the potential impact of glycemic control on the pathology and long-term outcomes in patients undergoing resection of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms...

BACKGROUND: Male and female hernia patients often have different surgical history, fat distribution, and medical comorbidities. Female surgical patients seemingly experience worse outcomes after open ventral hernia repair. This study evaluates the impact of sex and the distribution of abdominal adiposity on outcomes after open ventral hernia repair. METHODS: A prospective hernia database was queried for patients from 2007 to 2018 with a computed tomography within 1 year of open ventral hernia repair...

BACKGROUND: A mesh-related intestinal fistula is an uncommon and challenging complication of ventral hernia repair. Optimal management is unclear owing to lack of prospective or long-term data. METHODS: We reviewed our prospective data for mesh-related intestinal fistulas from 2004 to 2017and compared suture repair versus ventral hernia repair with mesh at the time of mesh-related intestinal fistula takedown. RESULTS: Eighty-two mesh-related intestinal fistulas were treated; none of the fistulas had closed spontaneously, and all fistula persisted at the time of our treatment...

BACKGROUND: Simulation assessments are not yet standardized among surgical programs. We instituted a 5-task simulation program to assess surgical technical skills longitudinally during internship. METHODS: First-year residents completed 5 simulation tasks: suturing, knot-tying, vascular anastomosis, and the peg-transfer and the intracorporeal suturing of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Skills. Assessments occurred just before residency, mid-year, and at the completion of the intern year...

BACKGROUND: Repeat hepatectomy is a feasible treatment modality for intrahepatic recurrence after hepatectomy of hepatocellular carcinoma, yet the survival benefit remains ill-defined. The objective of the current study was to define long-term, oncologic outcomes after repeat hepatectomy among patients with early and late recurrence. METHODS: Patients undergoing curative-intent repeat hepatectomy for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma were identified using a multi-intuitional database...

BACKGROUND: Subtotal cholecystectomy is a viable alternative approach to the proverbial "difficult" gallbladder. To date, only a few studies have observed the establishment of those bail-out procedures as an increasingly common surgical practice. The purpose of this study is to assess nationwide trends of subtotal cholecystectomy through evaluation of operative variables and patient- and institution-level characteristics in procedure preference. METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Inpatient Sample for the years between 2003 and 2014...

BACKGROUND: Informed consent discussions have been identified as a core entrustable professional activity for medical students by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Medical students, however, rarely receive formal instruction on how to appropriately conduct informed consent discussions before residency, resulting in inconsistent levels of experience and deficiencies in performance. This study explores medical students' understanding of the elements of informed consent discussions and their readiness to perform a comprehensive informed consent discussion...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database is increasingly used for surgical research. However, it is unclear how well this database represents the breadth of work performed by different specialties. METHODS: Using the 2017 NSQIP participant use file and the 2017 Medicare Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary file, we evaluated (1) what proportion of surgical work is captured by NSQIP, (2) what procedures and disciplines are undersampled, and (3) the overall concordance between the NSQIP sample and a national sample...

The Stanford Biodesign Innovation process, which identifies meaningful clinical needs, develops solutions to meet those needs, and plans for subsequent implementation in clinical practice, is an effective training approach for new generations of healthcare innovators. Continued success of this process hinges on its evolution in response to changes in healthcare delivery and an ever-increasing demand for economically viable solutions. In this article, we provide perspective on opportunities for value-driven innovation in surgery and relate these to value-related teaching elements currently integrated in the Stanford Biodesign process...

BACKGROUND: Survivors of cancer in the United States are often financially encumbered by expenses and lost wages from cancer treatment. The majority of patients with thyroid cancer are diagnosed before age 65, when they are not eligible for Medicare. We hypothesized that financial distress would be common among thyroid cancer survivors and would be associated with poor health-related quality of life. METHODS: A financial distress questionnaire and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (29-item) were completed online by 1,743 adult thyroid cancer survivors living in the United States...

BACKGROUND: Injury is the leading cause of death in people under 45 years of age in the United States; however, how care decisions occur in critical injury is poorly understood. This exploratory study sought to generate hypotheses about how care decisions are made among interdisciplinary providers caring for patients who have been critically injured. METHODS: This was a qualitative study conducted at two intensive care units in a level 1 trauma center in an urban, teaching, safety-net hospital...