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REBOA improves survival for trauma patients
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In a small, single-center study of patients with subdiaphragmatic hemorrhage, resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) improved hemodynamic status and 30-day survival rates, compared with resuscitative thoracotomy (RT).
Although the technique was first developed during the Korean War, REBOA never really caught on, possibly because of limitations in endovascular technology. But recent advances in surgical technique have revitalized interest.
Despite the success of the study, some audience members expressed concerns about the skill set required. One questioner pointed out that emergency department physicians may be tempted to use the technique, even though they may not possess the requisite catheter and wire skills. That is a legitimate concern, according to senior author R. Stephen Smith, MD, FACS, professor of acute care surgery at the University of Florida, Gainesville. But this is already happening, he said. “They’ve already done it in the field in Britain, and most are placed by nonsurgeons in Japan. Frankly, we need to pay particular attention to the skills of those emergency medicine physicians, because the average emergency medicine physician at this point really doesn’t have the catheter or wire-based skills to do this safely,” Dr. Smith said at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The researchers examined outcomes in patients who underwent REBOA versus RT over a 21-month (2015-2017) period at their institution. Before adopting REBOA, attending surgeons and senior surgical residents attended a 1.5-hour slide presentation combined with simulation training. No external course was required. Operating room personnel received a 30-minute slide presentation. The procedures were conducted in a dedicated trauma operating room equipped with imaging.
Sixteen patients underwent REBOA during the study period, with a mean injury severity score of 38.6. Preoperative hemoglobin levels ranged from 5 to 14.4 mg/dL, and the majority were acidotic because of trauma.
Fourteen of the 16 patients who underwent REBOA survived the operative procedure, and 6 survived to 30 days. By contrast, 8 patients were treated with RT, and none survived to 30 days. Ten of the 16 patients who underwent REBOA experienced an improvement in hemodynamic status, with systolic blood pressure improving to a mean of 131.83 mm Hg (±8.24) and improvement of heart rate to 87.5 (±5.47). One survivor developed a common femoral pseudoaneurysm.
Compared with nonsurvivors, REBOA patients who survived had a significant increase in Initial Glasgow Coma scores (15.0 vs. 6.18; P less than .05), and higher initial platelet counts (276.40 vs. 124.75; P = .01). Survivors also had higher initial postoperative systolic blood pressure (151.40 mm Hg vs. 112.33; P = .05), and a higher mean postoperative arterial blood pressure (109.00 mm Hg vs. 72.78; P = .01).
Overall, the findings were similar to those reported in previous multicenter trials.
The researchers pointed out that REBOA does not replace RT. The latter procedure is still appropriate for some moribund patients with super-diaphragmatic injury and in patients who require open cardiac massage.
The techniques are not mutually exclusive – two patients in the sample were treated with both techniques.
The researchers also mentioned some future possibilities for REBOA. Research in animals has demonstrated the promise of partial REBOA, in which an automated system can partially inflate the balloon and gradually deflate it as the patient’s vital signs improve. That can lighten the load for surgeons and anesthesiologists, according to Dr. Smith. “We look forward to developing that technology in the future,” he said.
The funding source was not disclosed. Dr. Smith is on the speakers bureau for Prytime Medical and is a consultant for Boehringer Laboratory LLC.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In a small, single-center study of patients with subdiaphragmatic hemorrhage, resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) improved hemodynamic status and 30-day survival rates, compared with resuscitative thoracotomy (RT).
Although the technique was first developed during the Korean War, REBOA never really caught on, possibly because of limitations in endovascular technology. But recent advances in surgical technique have revitalized interest.
Despite the success of the study, some audience members expressed concerns about the skill set required. One questioner pointed out that emergency department physicians may be tempted to use the technique, even though they may not possess the requisite catheter and wire skills. That is a legitimate concern, according to senior author R. Stephen Smith, MD, FACS, professor of acute care surgery at the University of Florida, Gainesville. But this is already happening, he said. “They’ve already done it in the field in Britain, and most are placed by nonsurgeons in Japan. Frankly, we need to pay particular attention to the skills of those emergency medicine physicians, because the average emergency medicine physician at this point really doesn’t have the catheter or wire-based skills to do this safely,” Dr. Smith said at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The researchers examined outcomes in patients who underwent REBOA versus RT over a 21-month (2015-2017) period at their institution. Before adopting REBOA, attending surgeons and senior surgical residents attended a 1.5-hour slide presentation combined with simulation training. No external course was required. Operating room personnel received a 30-minute slide presentation. The procedures were conducted in a dedicated trauma operating room equipped with imaging.
Sixteen patients underwent REBOA during the study period, with a mean injury severity score of 38.6. Preoperative hemoglobin levels ranged from 5 to 14.4 mg/dL, and the majority were acidotic because of trauma.
Fourteen of the 16 patients who underwent REBOA survived the operative procedure, and 6 survived to 30 days. By contrast, 8 patients were treated with RT, and none survived to 30 days. Ten of the 16 patients who underwent REBOA experienced an improvement in hemodynamic status, with systolic blood pressure improving to a mean of 131.83 mm Hg (±8.24) and improvement of heart rate to 87.5 (±5.47). One survivor developed a common femoral pseudoaneurysm.
Compared with nonsurvivors, REBOA patients who survived had a significant increase in Initial Glasgow Coma scores (15.0 vs. 6.18; P less than .05), and higher initial platelet counts (276.40 vs. 124.75; P = .01). Survivors also had higher initial postoperative systolic blood pressure (151.40 mm Hg vs. 112.33; P = .05), and a higher mean postoperative arterial blood pressure (109.00 mm Hg vs. 72.78; P = .01).
Overall, the findings were similar to those reported in previous multicenter trials.
The researchers pointed out that REBOA does not replace RT. The latter procedure is still appropriate for some moribund patients with super-diaphragmatic injury and in patients who require open cardiac massage.
The techniques are not mutually exclusive – two patients in the sample were treated with both techniques.
The researchers also mentioned some future possibilities for REBOA. Research in animals has demonstrated the promise of partial REBOA, in which an automated system can partially inflate the balloon and gradually deflate it as the patient’s vital signs improve. That can lighten the load for surgeons and anesthesiologists, according to Dr. Smith. “We look forward to developing that technology in the future,” he said.
The funding source was not disclosed. Dr. Smith is on the speakers bureau for Prytime Medical and is a consultant for Boehringer Laboratory LLC.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In a small, single-center study of patients with subdiaphragmatic hemorrhage, resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) improved hemodynamic status and 30-day survival rates, compared with resuscitative thoracotomy (RT).
Although the technique was first developed during the Korean War, REBOA never really caught on, possibly because of limitations in endovascular technology. But recent advances in surgical technique have revitalized interest.
Despite the success of the study, some audience members expressed concerns about the skill set required. One questioner pointed out that emergency department physicians may be tempted to use the technique, even though they may not possess the requisite catheter and wire skills. That is a legitimate concern, according to senior author R. Stephen Smith, MD, FACS, professor of acute care surgery at the University of Florida, Gainesville. But this is already happening, he said. “They’ve already done it in the field in Britain, and most are placed by nonsurgeons in Japan. Frankly, we need to pay particular attention to the skills of those emergency medicine physicians, because the average emergency medicine physician at this point really doesn’t have the catheter or wire-based skills to do this safely,” Dr. Smith said at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The researchers examined outcomes in patients who underwent REBOA versus RT over a 21-month (2015-2017) period at their institution. Before adopting REBOA, attending surgeons and senior surgical residents attended a 1.5-hour slide presentation combined with simulation training. No external course was required. Operating room personnel received a 30-minute slide presentation. The procedures were conducted in a dedicated trauma operating room equipped with imaging.
Sixteen patients underwent REBOA during the study period, with a mean injury severity score of 38.6. Preoperative hemoglobin levels ranged from 5 to 14.4 mg/dL, and the majority were acidotic because of trauma.
Fourteen of the 16 patients who underwent REBOA survived the operative procedure, and 6 survived to 30 days. By contrast, 8 patients were treated with RT, and none survived to 30 days. Ten of the 16 patients who underwent REBOA experienced an improvement in hemodynamic status, with systolic blood pressure improving to a mean of 131.83 mm Hg (±8.24) and improvement of heart rate to 87.5 (±5.47). One survivor developed a common femoral pseudoaneurysm.
Compared with nonsurvivors, REBOA patients who survived had a significant increase in Initial Glasgow Coma scores (15.0 vs. 6.18; P less than .05), and higher initial platelet counts (276.40 vs. 124.75; P = .01). Survivors also had higher initial postoperative systolic blood pressure (151.40 mm Hg vs. 112.33; P = .05), and a higher mean postoperative arterial blood pressure (109.00 mm Hg vs. 72.78; P = .01).
Overall, the findings were similar to those reported in previous multicenter trials.
The researchers pointed out that REBOA does not replace RT. The latter procedure is still appropriate for some moribund patients with super-diaphragmatic injury and in patients who require open cardiac massage.
The techniques are not mutually exclusive – two patients in the sample were treated with both techniques.
The researchers also mentioned some future possibilities for REBOA. Research in animals has demonstrated the promise of partial REBOA, in which an automated system can partially inflate the balloon and gradually deflate it as the patient’s vital signs improve. That can lighten the load for surgeons and anesthesiologists, according to Dr. Smith. “We look forward to developing that technology in the future,” he said.
The funding source was not disclosed. Dr. Smith is on the speakers bureau for Prytime Medical and is a consultant for Boehringer Laboratory LLC.
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: REBOA improved hematological outcomes and survival rates, compared with resuscitative thoracotomy.
Major finding: Six of 16 patients in the REBOA group survived to 30 days, compared with none of the 8 resuscitative thoracotomy patients.
Data source: Retrospective analysis of 24 patients at a single center.
Disclosures: The funding source was not disclosed. Dr. Smith is on the speakers bureau for Prytime Medical and is a consultant for Boehringer Laboratory LLC.
In bariatric surgery, leak test may backfire
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A test used to detect anastomotic leaks during bariatric surgery may in fact be a potential cause of leaks, since performance of the test was associated with double the frequency of 30-day postoperative leaks, a study showed.
Based on this finding from an analysis of the 2015 Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) database, the researchers suggested that the use of an endoscope could lead to fewer complications.
The test itself is valuable, since surgeons hope to find and repair a leak immediately, but Dr. Nguyen said the wrong method is being used. “The technique of doing the test should be endoscopy rather than the use of an orogastric tube,” he said. The database did not indicate which technique was being used, but Dr. Nguyen said that use of endoscopy is rare. Surgeons “don’t want to break scrub to go around and perform the endoscopy. It’s easier to ask the anesthesiologist to put a tube down,” said Dr. Nguyen, who is chair of surgery at University of California Irvine Medical Center.
The study, which was presented at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association, is the first to look at intraoperative and postoperative procedures and risk of leaks during bariatric surgery, and was possible only because of the recent availability of the MBSAQIP database. The study cannot prove causation between performance of the provocative test and heightened leak risk, and one audience member suggested the possibility that the tests were ordered when a surgeon believed the patient was at higher risk. If so, the association wouldn’t be causative.
However, the provocation test was performed 82% of the time, suggesting that the test was being carried out routinely, said Dr. Nguyen.
By contrast, when the surgeon inserted a surgical drain, the risk of leak was nearly four times higher. “It is most likely that the surgeon only decided to place the drain because they were worried about that particular operation, since it was only done a small percentage of the time. Our results suggest that they were right [to be concerned]. We believe it’s a reflection of the knowledge of the surgeon for that particular case,” said Dr. Nguyen.
If indeed there is a risk associated with the provocation test, the use of endoscopy could reduce that risk. Dr. Nguyen also pointed out that endoscopy provides anatomical detail that can help guide revision surgery, and it’s a useful training exercise for residents. “This is an important skill that you need when you graduate from general surgery,” said Dr. Nguyen.
The researchers analyzed data from 133,478 patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB), excluding emergent and revisional cases; 69.3% of patients underwent LSG, while 30.7% underwent LRYGB. The researchers looked at the association between leak frequency and the presence of the provocative test, surgical drain, and swallow study.
The 30-day leak rate was 0.7% overall, and 0.5% in LSG and 1.2% in LRYGB (adjusted odds ratio for LSG, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.44-0.61; P less than .001). The rate was higher in the 81.9% of patients who received the provocative test than in those who did not (0.8% vs. 0.4%; aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.14-1.76; P = .02). The leak risk was also higher in the 24.5% of patients who had a drain placed (1.6% vs. 0.4%; aOR, 3.46; 95% CI, 3.01-3.98; P less than .001).
A total of 41.1% of patients received a swallow study, but their leak rate (0.7%) was identical to that of those who did not have a swallow study.
The study received no outside funding. Dr. Nguyen reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A test used to detect anastomotic leaks during bariatric surgery may in fact be a potential cause of leaks, since performance of the test was associated with double the frequency of 30-day postoperative leaks, a study showed.
Based on this finding from an analysis of the 2015 Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) database, the researchers suggested that the use of an endoscope could lead to fewer complications.
The test itself is valuable, since surgeons hope to find and repair a leak immediately, but Dr. Nguyen said the wrong method is being used. “The technique of doing the test should be endoscopy rather than the use of an orogastric tube,” he said. The database did not indicate which technique was being used, but Dr. Nguyen said that use of endoscopy is rare. Surgeons “don’t want to break scrub to go around and perform the endoscopy. It’s easier to ask the anesthesiologist to put a tube down,” said Dr. Nguyen, who is chair of surgery at University of California Irvine Medical Center.
The study, which was presented at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association, is the first to look at intraoperative and postoperative procedures and risk of leaks during bariatric surgery, and was possible only because of the recent availability of the MBSAQIP database. The study cannot prove causation between performance of the provocative test and heightened leak risk, and one audience member suggested the possibility that the tests were ordered when a surgeon believed the patient was at higher risk. If so, the association wouldn’t be causative.
However, the provocation test was performed 82% of the time, suggesting that the test was being carried out routinely, said Dr. Nguyen.
By contrast, when the surgeon inserted a surgical drain, the risk of leak was nearly four times higher. “It is most likely that the surgeon only decided to place the drain because they were worried about that particular operation, since it was only done a small percentage of the time. Our results suggest that they were right [to be concerned]. We believe it’s a reflection of the knowledge of the surgeon for that particular case,” said Dr. Nguyen.
If indeed there is a risk associated with the provocation test, the use of endoscopy could reduce that risk. Dr. Nguyen also pointed out that endoscopy provides anatomical detail that can help guide revision surgery, and it’s a useful training exercise for residents. “This is an important skill that you need when you graduate from general surgery,” said Dr. Nguyen.
The researchers analyzed data from 133,478 patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB), excluding emergent and revisional cases; 69.3% of patients underwent LSG, while 30.7% underwent LRYGB. The researchers looked at the association between leak frequency and the presence of the provocative test, surgical drain, and swallow study.
The 30-day leak rate was 0.7% overall, and 0.5% in LSG and 1.2% in LRYGB (adjusted odds ratio for LSG, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.44-0.61; P less than .001). The rate was higher in the 81.9% of patients who received the provocative test than in those who did not (0.8% vs. 0.4%; aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.14-1.76; P = .02). The leak risk was also higher in the 24.5% of patients who had a drain placed (1.6% vs. 0.4%; aOR, 3.46; 95% CI, 3.01-3.98; P less than .001).
A total of 41.1% of patients received a swallow study, but their leak rate (0.7%) was identical to that of those who did not have a swallow study.
The study received no outside funding. Dr. Nguyen reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A test used to detect anastomotic leaks during bariatric surgery may in fact be a potential cause of leaks, since performance of the test was associated with double the frequency of 30-day postoperative leaks, a study showed.
Based on this finding from an analysis of the 2015 Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) database, the researchers suggested that the use of an endoscope could lead to fewer complications.
The test itself is valuable, since surgeons hope to find and repair a leak immediately, but Dr. Nguyen said the wrong method is being used. “The technique of doing the test should be endoscopy rather than the use of an orogastric tube,” he said. The database did not indicate which technique was being used, but Dr. Nguyen said that use of endoscopy is rare. Surgeons “don’t want to break scrub to go around and perform the endoscopy. It’s easier to ask the anesthesiologist to put a tube down,” said Dr. Nguyen, who is chair of surgery at University of California Irvine Medical Center.
The study, which was presented at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association, is the first to look at intraoperative and postoperative procedures and risk of leaks during bariatric surgery, and was possible only because of the recent availability of the MBSAQIP database. The study cannot prove causation between performance of the provocative test and heightened leak risk, and one audience member suggested the possibility that the tests were ordered when a surgeon believed the patient was at higher risk. If so, the association wouldn’t be causative.
However, the provocation test was performed 82% of the time, suggesting that the test was being carried out routinely, said Dr. Nguyen.
By contrast, when the surgeon inserted a surgical drain, the risk of leak was nearly four times higher. “It is most likely that the surgeon only decided to place the drain because they were worried about that particular operation, since it was only done a small percentage of the time. Our results suggest that they were right [to be concerned]. We believe it’s a reflection of the knowledge of the surgeon for that particular case,” said Dr. Nguyen.
If indeed there is a risk associated with the provocation test, the use of endoscopy could reduce that risk. Dr. Nguyen also pointed out that endoscopy provides anatomical detail that can help guide revision surgery, and it’s a useful training exercise for residents. “This is an important skill that you need when you graduate from general surgery,” said Dr. Nguyen.
The researchers analyzed data from 133,478 patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB), excluding emergent and revisional cases; 69.3% of patients underwent LSG, while 30.7% underwent LRYGB. The researchers looked at the association between leak frequency and the presence of the provocative test, surgical drain, and swallow study.
The 30-day leak rate was 0.7% overall, and 0.5% in LSG and 1.2% in LRYGB (adjusted odds ratio for LSG, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.44-0.61; P less than .001). The rate was higher in the 81.9% of patients who received the provocative test than in those who did not (0.8% vs. 0.4%; aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.14-1.76; P = .02). The leak risk was also higher in the 24.5% of patients who had a drain placed (1.6% vs. 0.4%; aOR, 3.46; 95% CI, 3.01-3.98; P less than .001).
A total of 41.1% of patients received a swallow study, but their leak rate (0.7%) was identical to that of those who did not have a swallow study.
The study received no outside funding. Dr. Nguyen reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: Use of endoscopy to perform the provocative test may reduce the incidence of anastomotic leaks.
Major finding: The rate of leaks was 0.8% in patients who had the provocative test, compared with 0.4% in patients who didn’t have the test.
Data source: A retrospective analysis of 133,478 procedures.
Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. Dr. Nguyen reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
Living liver donation safety supported in single-center study
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A single-center analysis of complications following living liver donation found a low rate of severe complications, and a high quality of life among donors. The results are similar to what has been seen in a previous multicenter study in the United States, and the authors hope that the results can help inform potential donors and their physicians.
There is a significant shortage of deceased liver donors, leading to the death of about 3,500 liver transplant hopefuls in 2016, compared with about 2,900 who received a transplant. Living donor transplant was developed and first attempted in 1996 as an attempt to counter this shortage, and for a brief period it was popular, peaking at 500 donor surgeries in 2001. But that year the death of a donor occurred in New York and received widespread publicity.
Overall, though, the study showed relatively few complications, and that donors reported good quality of life. “There was a slight dip in health-related quality of life at 5 years and 10 years, but at all times the donors had significantly better quality of life compared to the standard population,” said Dr. Chinnakotla, clinical director of pediatric transplantation at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
The researchers examined long-term complications and quality of life among 176 liver donors who underwent surgery between 1997 and 2016 at the University of Minnesota. At total of 140 donors underwent a right-lobe hepatectomy without middle hepatic vein, 14 underwent right lobe with middle hepatic vein, 4 underwent left lobe, and 18 underwent left lateral segmentectomy.
The researchers then analyzed complications graded by the Clavien scale. They found that 59.1% of right-lobe donors experienced no complications at all; 5.8% had Clavien scale 1 complications, meaning something abnormal occurred but required no intervention; and 27.3% had a Clavien 2 complication, requiring pharmaceutical treatment, a blood transfusion, or parenteral nutrition. Clavien 3a complications, which required an intervention without general anesthesia, occurred in 1.9% of cases, and Clavien 3b complications, which required anesthesia, occurred in 5.8%.
A total of 81.8% of left-lobe donors experienced no complications, 4.5% had a Clavien 1 complication, and 13.6% a Clavien 2. There were no Clavien 3 or 4 complications in left-lobe donors.
Overall, the incidence of Clavien grade 3 or higher complications was 7%, there were no complications involving organ failure, and there were no deaths.
Quality of life, as measured by the 36-item Short Form Health Survey and an internally designed donor-specific survey, was higher among recipients than in the general population at all time points. The primary long-term complaints were incisional discomfort, which ranged from about 23% to 38% in frequency, and intolerance to fatty meals, which had a frequency of 20%-30%, and is likely attributable to accompanying cholecystectomy, according to Dr. Chinnakotla.
“The overall results appear to have been excellent,” said William C. Chapman, MD, who was invited by the meeting organizers to review and comment on the study. Dr. Chapman is surgical director of transplant surgery at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Chapman also noted that some studies in Asia have looked at reducing complications in donors, while avoiding a small-for-size graft, by using two left-lobe grafts from separate living donors (Liver Transpl 2015;21[11]1438-48). “We haven’t been brave enough to do that in the United States, but I think that is a strategy we can look forward to in the future,” said Dr. Chinnakotla.
No funding source was disclosed.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A single-center analysis of complications following living liver donation found a low rate of severe complications, and a high quality of life among donors. The results are similar to what has been seen in a previous multicenter study in the United States, and the authors hope that the results can help inform potential donors and their physicians.
There is a significant shortage of deceased liver donors, leading to the death of about 3,500 liver transplant hopefuls in 2016, compared with about 2,900 who received a transplant. Living donor transplant was developed and first attempted in 1996 as an attempt to counter this shortage, and for a brief period it was popular, peaking at 500 donor surgeries in 2001. But that year the death of a donor occurred in New York and received widespread publicity.
Overall, though, the study showed relatively few complications, and that donors reported good quality of life. “There was a slight dip in health-related quality of life at 5 years and 10 years, but at all times the donors had significantly better quality of life compared to the standard population,” said Dr. Chinnakotla, clinical director of pediatric transplantation at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
The researchers examined long-term complications and quality of life among 176 liver donors who underwent surgery between 1997 and 2016 at the University of Minnesota. At total of 140 donors underwent a right-lobe hepatectomy without middle hepatic vein, 14 underwent right lobe with middle hepatic vein, 4 underwent left lobe, and 18 underwent left lateral segmentectomy.
The researchers then analyzed complications graded by the Clavien scale. They found that 59.1% of right-lobe donors experienced no complications at all; 5.8% had Clavien scale 1 complications, meaning something abnormal occurred but required no intervention; and 27.3% had a Clavien 2 complication, requiring pharmaceutical treatment, a blood transfusion, or parenteral nutrition. Clavien 3a complications, which required an intervention without general anesthesia, occurred in 1.9% of cases, and Clavien 3b complications, which required anesthesia, occurred in 5.8%.
A total of 81.8% of left-lobe donors experienced no complications, 4.5% had a Clavien 1 complication, and 13.6% a Clavien 2. There were no Clavien 3 or 4 complications in left-lobe donors.
Overall, the incidence of Clavien grade 3 or higher complications was 7%, there were no complications involving organ failure, and there were no deaths.
Quality of life, as measured by the 36-item Short Form Health Survey and an internally designed donor-specific survey, was higher among recipients than in the general population at all time points. The primary long-term complaints were incisional discomfort, which ranged from about 23% to 38% in frequency, and intolerance to fatty meals, which had a frequency of 20%-30%, and is likely attributable to accompanying cholecystectomy, according to Dr. Chinnakotla.
“The overall results appear to have been excellent,” said William C. Chapman, MD, who was invited by the meeting organizers to review and comment on the study. Dr. Chapman is surgical director of transplant surgery at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Chapman also noted that some studies in Asia have looked at reducing complications in donors, while avoiding a small-for-size graft, by using two left-lobe grafts from separate living donors (Liver Transpl 2015;21[11]1438-48). “We haven’t been brave enough to do that in the United States, but I think that is a strategy we can look forward to in the future,” said Dr. Chinnakotla.
No funding source was disclosed.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A single-center analysis of complications following living liver donation found a low rate of severe complications, and a high quality of life among donors. The results are similar to what has been seen in a previous multicenter study in the United States, and the authors hope that the results can help inform potential donors and their physicians.
There is a significant shortage of deceased liver donors, leading to the death of about 3,500 liver transplant hopefuls in 2016, compared with about 2,900 who received a transplant. Living donor transplant was developed and first attempted in 1996 as an attempt to counter this shortage, and for a brief period it was popular, peaking at 500 donor surgeries in 2001. But that year the death of a donor occurred in New York and received widespread publicity.
Overall, though, the study showed relatively few complications, and that donors reported good quality of life. “There was a slight dip in health-related quality of life at 5 years and 10 years, but at all times the donors had significantly better quality of life compared to the standard population,” said Dr. Chinnakotla, clinical director of pediatric transplantation at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
The researchers examined long-term complications and quality of life among 176 liver donors who underwent surgery between 1997 and 2016 at the University of Minnesota. At total of 140 donors underwent a right-lobe hepatectomy without middle hepatic vein, 14 underwent right lobe with middle hepatic vein, 4 underwent left lobe, and 18 underwent left lateral segmentectomy.
The researchers then analyzed complications graded by the Clavien scale. They found that 59.1% of right-lobe donors experienced no complications at all; 5.8% had Clavien scale 1 complications, meaning something abnormal occurred but required no intervention; and 27.3% had a Clavien 2 complication, requiring pharmaceutical treatment, a blood transfusion, or parenteral nutrition. Clavien 3a complications, which required an intervention without general anesthesia, occurred in 1.9% of cases, and Clavien 3b complications, which required anesthesia, occurred in 5.8%.
A total of 81.8% of left-lobe donors experienced no complications, 4.5% had a Clavien 1 complication, and 13.6% a Clavien 2. There were no Clavien 3 or 4 complications in left-lobe donors.
Overall, the incidence of Clavien grade 3 or higher complications was 7%, there were no complications involving organ failure, and there were no deaths.
Quality of life, as measured by the 36-item Short Form Health Survey and an internally designed donor-specific survey, was higher among recipients than in the general population at all time points. The primary long-term complaints were incisional discomfort, which ranged from about 23% to 38% in frequency, and intolerance to fatty meals, which had a frequency of 20%-30%, and is likely attributable to accompanying cholecystectomy, according to Dr. Chinnakotla.
“The overall results appear to have been excellent,” said William C. Chapman, MD, who was invited by the meeting organizers to review and comment on the study. Dr. Chapman is surgical director of transplant surgery at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Chapman also noted that some studies in Asia have looked at reducing complications in donors, while avoiding a small-for-size graft, by using two left-lobe grafts from separate living donors (Liver Transpl 2015;21[11]1438-48). “We haven’t been brave enough to do that in the United States, but I think that is a strategy we can look forward to in the future,” said Dr. Chinnakotla.
No funding source was disclosed.
AT WSA 2017
Enhanced recovery protocol applied to liver surgery reduced costs
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A new study shows that an Enhanced Recovery in Liver Surgery (ERLS) program reduced costs at a high-volume liver surgery center. The savings were lower in patients receiving epidurals, which is prompting the center to explore alternative methods of pain control. The program reduced costs in minor hepatectomies, but not major hepatectomies.
“It has been clearly demonstrated that patients benefit from enhanced recovery programs – they’re getting home sooner, they’re on fewer opioids, and they do better. What’s less clear is if it’s cost effective. If you can demonstrate lower costs, then all the major stakeholders involved would potentially benefit,” Michael Egger, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Louisville (Ky.), said in an interview.
The study was conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Dr. Egger presented the research at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The liver program is similar to other enhanced recovery protocols and includes use of nonnarcotic analgesia, early ambulation, and early initiation of oral diet. Aspects unique to liver surgery include avoidance of drains and tubes placed in the operating room and limitation of intravenous fluids during and following surgery.
The researchers analyzed data from 212 patients who underwent hepatectomy between February 2012 and September 2016: 72 patients who were in an ERLS program and 140 were enrolled in a traditional recovery (TR) program. The ERLS program included patient education, narcotic-sparing anesthesia and analgesia, rapid diet advancement, restrictive fluid use, early ambulation, and avoidance of drains and tubes.
A total of 32% of patients in the ERLS group underwent major hepatectomy, compared to 64% of patients in the TR group. Forty-three percent in the ERLS group had an epidural, compared with 75% in the TR group.
The ERLS group had a shorter median length of stay (5 days vs. 6 days; P = .001) and had a 9.1% reduction in costs (P = .001). The largest cost differences were attributable to lab costs (–15.0%), room and board (–13.9%), and professional costs (–19.3%; all P less than .05).
ERLS was not associated with a statistically significant cost saving in patients undergoing major hepatectomy. In minor hepatectomy, ERLS was associated with a 17.6% reduction in overall costs (P less than .05). There was no reduction in patients who had a hospital stay over 90 days
Among patients who received patient-controlled analgesia, those in the ERLS program had a 32.0% reduction in overall costs (P less than .001), largely driven by a 34.3% reduction in lab costs, a 33.3% reduction in room and board, a 51.6% reduction in professional costs, and a 22.5% reduction in pharmacy costs (all P less than .05).
There was also no difference in cost between the two programs in patients who underwent an epidural, which suggests an avenue for improvement. “We’re looking at other regional pain blocks, such as transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block using a long-acting analgesic, and that’s our trend going forward. We’re hoping we can reduce some of those increased costs associated with the epidural, but still reap the benefits of improved pain control and reduction of narcotics use,” said Dr. Egger.
The National Institutes of Health funded the study. Dr. Egger reported having no financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A new study shows that an Enhanced Recovery in Liver Surgery (ERLS) program reduced costs at a high-volume liver surgery center. The savings were lower in patients receiving epidurals, which is prompting the center to explore alternative methods of pain control. The program reduced costs in minor hepatectomies, but not major hepatectomies.
“It has been clearly demonstrated that patients benefit from enhanced recovery programs – they’re getting home sooner, they’re on fewer opioids, and they do better. What’s less clear is if it’s cost effective. If you can demonstrate lower costs, then all the major stakeholders involved would potentially benefit,” Michael Egger, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Louisville (Ky.), said in an interview.
The study was conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Dr. Egger presented the research at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The liver program is similar to other enhanced recovery protocols and includes use of nonnarcotic analgesia, early ambulation, and early initiation of oral diet. Aspects unique to liver surgery include avoidance of drains and tubes placed in the operating room and limitation of intravenous fluids during and following surgery.
The researchers analyzed data from 212 patients who underwent hepatectomy between February 2012 and September 2016: 72 patients who were in an ERLS program and 140 were enrolled in a traditional recovery (TR) program. The ERLS program included patient education, narcotic-sparing anesthesia and analgesia, rapid diet advancement, restrictive fluid use, early ambulation, and avoidance of drains and tubes.
A total of 32% of patients in the ERLS group underwent major hepatectomy, compared to 64% of patients in the TR group. Forty-three percent in the ERLS group had an epidural, compared with 75% in the TR group.
The ERLS group had a shorter median length of stay (5 days vs. 6 days; P = .001) and had a 9.1% reduction in costs (P = .001). The largest cost differences were attributable to lab costs (–15.0%), room and board (–13.9%), and professional costs (–19.3%; all P less than .05).
ERLS was not associated with a statistically significant cost saving in patients undergoing major hepatectomy. In minor hepatectomy, ERLS was associated with a 17.6% reduction in overall costs (P less than .05). There was no reduction in patients who had a hospital stay over 90 days
Among patients who received patient-controlled analgesia, those in the ERLS program had a 32.0% reduction in overall costs (P less than .001), largely driven by a 34.3% reduction in lab costs, a 33.3% reduction in room and board, a 51.6% reduction in professional costs, and a 22.5% reduction in pharmacy costs (all P less than .05).
There was also no difference in cost between the two programs in patients who underwent an epidural, which suggests an avenue for improvement. “We’re looking at other regional pain blocks, such as transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block using a long-acting analgesic, and that’s our trend going forward. We’re hoping we can reduce some of those increased costs associated with the epidural, but still reap the benefits of improved pain control and reduction of narcotics use,” said Dr. Egger.
The National Institutes of Health funded the study. Dr. Egger reported having no financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – A new study shows that an Enhanced Recovery in Liver Surgery (ERLS) program reduced costs at a high-volume liver surgery center. The savings were lower in patients receiving epidurals, which is prompting the center to explore alternative methods of pain control. The program reduced costs in minor hepatectomies, but not major hepatectomies.
“It has been clearly demonstrated that patients benefit from enhanced recovery programs – they’re getting home sooner, they’re on fewer opioids, and they do better. What’s less clear is if it’s cost effective. If you can demonstrate lower costs, then all the major stakeholders involved would potentially benefit,” Michael Egger, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Louisville (Ky.), said in an interview.
The study was conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Dr. Egger presented the research at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The liver program is similar to other enhanced recovery protocols and includes use of nonnarcotic analgesia, early ambulation, and early initiation of oral diet. Aspects unique to liver surgery include avoidance of drains and tubes placed in the operating room and limitation of intravenous fluids during and following surgery.
The researchers analyzed data from 212 patients who underwent hepatectomy between February 2012 and September 2016: 72 patients who were in an ERLS program and 140 were enrolled in a traditional recovery (TR) program. The ERLS program included patient education, narcotic-sparing anesthesia and analgesia, rapid diet advancement, restrictive fluid use, early ambulation, and avoidance of drains and tubes.
A total of 32% of patients in the ERLS group underwent major hepatectomy, compared to 64% of patients in the TR group. Forty-three percent in the ERLS group had an epidural, compared with 75% in the TR group.
The ERLS group had a shorter median length of stay (5 days vs. 6 days; P = .001) and had a 9.1% reduction in costs (P = .001). The largest cost differences were attributable to lab costs (–15.0%), room and board (–13.9%), and professional costs (–19.3%; all P less than .05).
ERLS was not associated with a statistically significant cost saving in patients undergoing major hepatectomy. In minor hepatectomy, ERLS was associated with a 17.6% reduction in overall costs (P less than .05). There was no reduction in patients who had a hospital stay over 90 days
Among patients who received patient-controlled analgesia, those in the ERLS program had a 32.0% reduction in overall costs (P less than .001), largely driven by a 34.3% reduction in lab costs, a 33.3% reduction in room and board, a 51.6% reduction in professional costs, and a 22.5% reduction in pharmacy costs (all P less than .05).
There was also no difference in cost between the two programs in patients who underwent an epidural, which suggests an avenue for improvement. “We’re looking at other regional pain blocks, such as transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block using a long-acting analgesic, and that’s our trend going forward. We’re hoping we can reduce some of those increased costs associated with the epidural, but still reap the benefits of improved pain control and reduction of narcotics use,” said Dr. Egger.
The National Institutes of Health funded the study. Dr. Egger reported having no financial disclosures.
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: An enhanced recovery program reduced hospital costs for livery surgery.
Major finding: The program was associated with a 9% reduction in costs, but only in minor hepatectomy procedures.
Data source: Retrospective analysis of 212 patients.
Disclosures: The National Institutes of Health funded the study. Dr. Egger reported having no financial disclosures.
High-volume centers have lower costs for some pancreatic surgeries
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Surgeons who perform five or more pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or Whipple operations per year had significant cost reductions, compared with lower-volume surgeons, but there was no such relationship among surgeons performing distal pancreatectomy procedures.
The finding suggests that “high volume” may need to be defined differently for the two procedures to maximize cost effectiveness.
In the age of increased pressure to reduce health care costs, and with the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) set to be introduced, referring pancreatic procedures to high-volume centers has the potential to increase efficiency and reduce costs, but researchers are still working to determine how high a volume is required to realize such savings. High volume has been defined by as few as two operations per year and as many as 200, according to Brooke Vuong, MD, who presented the study at at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
There have been few studies of the impact of surgeon volume on costs and outcomes, and many of those rely on databases and emphasize academic medical centers.
“There was a significant cost reduction for a low-volume threshold of five, so it raises the idea that minimum volume requirements have value,” said Dr. Vuong, who is a surgical oncology fellow at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif.
The study, which is the first to look at detailed costs and value drivers for individual surgeons performing pancreatic surgery, suggests more work needs to be done to determine a high-volume cutoff for distal pancreatectomy (DP). The study, however, also revealed another cost-saving mechanism: After participating surgeons began sharing financial data with each other, overall costs dropped by about 7%.
“The sharing of detailed financial data with [other surgeons] on a regular basis provides the opportunity to evaluate practice patterns and thereby reduce cost, and this is especially important as health care systems and individual physicians are held accountable for value-based care,” Dr. Vuong said.
That point struck a chord with one audience member. “There’s nothing like seeing your data among your peers to drive down your length-of-stay costs and make you pay real attention to complications,” one surgeon said during the Q & A period.
The researchers examined data from procedures performed at 14 hospitals in five different states. The analysis included 54 surgeons and all patients who underwent DP (n = 270) or PD (n = 526) between January 2014 and July 2017. Average length of stay (LOS), 30-day mortality, and readmission rates were collected and compared by surgeon volume. Beginning in 2016, the team conducted bimonthly video conferences to share data in a hepatobiliary clinical performance group.
High-volume surgeons had PD costs of $21,026, compared with $24,706 among low-volume surgeons (difference, $3,680; P = .005). Specific areas of savings included operating room and anesthesia (P = .005); room and board (P = .03), and ICU (P = .042). Average LOS was 9 days among high-volume surgeons, compared with 11 days among low-volume surgeons (P less than .001).
In contrast, the researchers found no significant difference in overall cost between high-volume ($14,016) and low-volume ($15,856) surgeons performing DP, though there was a lower average LOS among high-volume surgeons (6 days vs. 7 days; P = .001). High-volume surgeons also had a lower associated frequency of blood transfusions (10.2% vs. 22.6%; P = .007).
In PD surgeries, low-volume surgeons were more likely to produce a cost in the top quartile than were high-volume surgeons (odds ratio, 6.89; P less than .001). The same was true with DP surgeries (odds ratio, 5.78; P less than .001).
The researchers compared surgical costs from before and after the hepatobiliary clinical performance group was established and found a median decrease of $1,397, from $19,411 in 2014-2015 to $18,014 for 2016 (P = .013).
Readmission rates and 30-day mortality were not significantly different between high-volume and low-volume surgeons in either procedure.
The study received no outside support. Dr. Vuong reported having no financial disclosures..
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Surgeons who perform five or more pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or Whipple operations per year had significant cost reductions, compared with lower-volume surgeons, but there was no such relationship among surgeons performing distal pancreatectomy procedures.
The finding suggests that “high volume” may need to be defined differently for the two procedures to maximize cost effectiveness.
In the age of increased pressure to reduce health care costs, and with the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) set to be introduced, referring pancreatic procedures to high-volume centers has the potential to increase efficiency and reduce costs, but researchers are still working to determine how high a volume is required to realize such savings. High volume has been defined by as few as two operations per year and as many as 200, according to Brooke Vuong, MD, who presented the study at at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
There have been few studies of the impact of surgeon volume on costs and outcomes, and many of those rely on databases and emphasize academic medical centers.
“There was a significant cost reduction for a low-volume threshold of five, so it raises the idea that minimum volume requirements have value,” said Dr. Vuong, who is a surgical oncology fellow at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif.
The study, which is the first to look at detailed costs and value drivers for individual surgeons performing pancreatic surgery, suggests more work needs to be done to determine a high-volume cutoff for distal pancreatectomy (DP). The study, however, also revealed another cost-saving mechanism: After participating surgeons began sharing financial data with each other, overall costs dropped by about 7%.
“The sharing of detailed financial data with [other surgeons] on a regular basis provides the opportunity to evaluate practice patterns and thereby reduce cost, and this is especially important as health care systems and individual physicians are held accountable for value-based care,” Dr. Vuong said.
That point struck a chord with one audience member. “There’s nothing like seeing your data among your peers to drive down your length-of-stay costs and make you pay real attention to complications,” one surgeon said during the Q & A period.
The researchers examined data from procedures performed at 14 hospitals in five different states. The analysis included 54 surgeons and all patients who underwent DP (n = 270) or PD (n = 526) between January 2014 and July 2017. Average length of stay (LOS), 30-day mortality, and readmission rates were collected and compared by surgeon volume. Beginning in 2016, the team conducted bimonthly video conferences to share data in a hepatobiliary clinical performance group.
High-volume surgeons had PD costs of $21,026, compared with $24,706 among low-volume surgeons (difference, $3,680; P = .005). Specific areas of savings included operating room and anesthesia (P = .005); room and board (P = .03), and ICU (P = .042). Average LOS was 9 days among high-volume surgeons, compared with 11 days among low-volume surgeons (P less than .001).
In contrast, the researchers found no significant difference in overall cost between high-volume ($14,016) and low-volume ($15,856) surgeons performing DP, though there was a lower average LOS among high-volume surgeons (6 days vs. 7 days; P = .001). High-volume surgeons also had a lower associated frequency of blood transfusions (10.2% vs. 22.6%; P = .007).
In PD surgeries, low-volume surgeons were more likely to produce a cost in the top quartile than were high-volume surgeons (odds ratio, 6.89; P less than .001). The same was true with DP surgeries (odds ratio, 5.78; P less than .001).
The researchers compared surgical costs from before and after the hepatobiliary clinical performance group was established and found a median decrease of $1,397, from $19,411 in 2014-2015 to $18,014 for 2016 (P = .013).
Readmission rates and 30-day mortality were not significantly different between high-volume and low-volume surgeons in either procedure.
The study received no outside support. Dr. Vuong reported having no financial disclosures..
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Surgeons who perform five or more pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or Whipple operations per year had significant cost reductions, compared with lower-volume surgeons, but there was no such relationship among surgeons performing distal pancreatectomy procedures.
The finding suggests that “high volume” may need to be defined differently for the two procedures to maximize cost effectiveness.
In the age of increased pressure to reduce health care costs, and with the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) set to be introduced, referring pancreatic procedures to high-volume centers has the potential to increase efficiency and reduce costs, but researchers are still working to determine how high a volume is required to realize such savings. High volume has been defined by as few as two operations per year and as many as 200, according to Brooke Vuong, MD, who presented the study at at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
There have been few studies of the impact of surgeon volume on costs and outcomes, and many of those rely on databases and emphasize academic medical centers.
“There was a significant cost reduction for a low-volume threshold of five, so it raises the idea that minimum volume requirements have value,” said Dr. Vuong, who is a surgical oncology fellow at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif.
The study, which is the first to look at detailed costs and value drivers for individual surgeons performing pancreatic surgery, suggests more work needs to be done to determine a high-volume cutoff for distal pancreatectomy (DP). The study, however, also revealed another cost-saving mechanism: After participating surgeons began sharing financial data with each other, overall costs dropped by about 7%.
“The sharing of detailed financial data with [other surgeons] on a regular basis provides the opportunity to evaluate practice patterns and thereby reduce cost, and this is especially important as health care systems and individual physicians are held accountable for value-based care,” Dr. Vuong said.
That point struck a chord with one audience member. “There’s nothing like seeing your data among your peers to drive down your length-of-stay costs and make you pay real attention to complications,” one surgeon said during the Q & A period.
The researchers examined data from procedures performed at 14 hospitals in five different states. The analysis included 54 surgeons and all patients who underwent DP (n = 270) or PD (n = 526) between January 2014 and July 2017. Average length of stay (LOS), 30-day mortality, and readmission rates were collected and compared by surgeon volume. Beginning in 2016, the team conducted bimonthly video conferences to share data in a hepatobiliary clinical performance group.
High-volume surgeons had PD costs of $21,026, compared with $24,706 among low-volume surgeons (difference, $3,680; P = .005). Specific areas of savings included operating room and anesthesia (P = .005); room and board (P = .03), and ICU (P = .042). Average LOS was 9 days among high-volume surgeons, compared with 11 days among low-volume surgeons (P less than .001).
In contrast, the researchers found no significant difference in overall cost between high-volume ($14,016) and low-volume ($15,856) surgeons performing DP, though there was a lower average LOS among high-volume surgeons (6 days vs. 7 days; P = .001). High-volume surgeons also had a lower associated frequency of blood transfusions (10.2% vs. 22.6%; P = .007).
In PD surgeries, low-volume surgeons were more likely to produce a cost in the top quartile than were high-volume surgeons (odds ratio, 6.89; P less than .001). The same was true with DP surgeries (odds ratio, 5.78; P less than .001).
The researchers compared surgical costs from before and after the hepatobiliary clinical performance group was established and found a median decrease of $1,397, from $19,411 in 2014-2015 to $18,014 for 2016 (P = .013).
Readmission rates and 30-day mortality were not significantly different between high-volume and low-volume surgeons in either procedure.
The study received no outside support. Dr. Vuong reported having no financial disclosures..
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: Surgeons performing five or more pancreaticoduodenectomies annually had lower overall costs.
Major finding: Costs dropped by $3,680, but there was no significant cost difference in distal pancreatectomies.
Data source: Retrospective analysis of 796 surgeries at 14 hospitals.
Disclosures: The study received no outside support. Dr. Vuong reported having no financial disclosures.
TAP an alternative to epidural for colorectal surgery
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In colorectal surgery, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block was associated with shorter hospital stays than epidural, according to a study that was conducted in patients undergoing both open and laparoscopic surgeries. TAP fared well in both groups.
There were higher rates of nausea/vomiting in the TAP group, suggesting the need for preoperative management in patients preparing to undergo TAP block. Urine retention was higher in the epidural group.
Physicians used liposomal bupivacaine, which is more costly than alternatives, and that fact met some resistance in the audience when the study was presented at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association. But patients receiving TAP had a 0.5-day shorter length of stay, which should reduce costs overall, and the drug component cost of TAP was less than $100 more than for the epidural.
“The biggest conclusion we drew from this study was that in patients where you would always consider an epidural historically, like an open procedure or a laparoscopic procedure where the conversion risk to open was higher, [favoring epidural] is now being called into question. We really believe that TAP block affords the length of stay benefit with no change in the pain control regimen after surgery,” Shawn Obi, DO, chief of surgery at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, Jackson, Mich., said in an interview.
The findings dovetail with an overall trend of improved protocols in colon surgery. “I think we’re working toward colorectal surgery as an outpatient operation, similar to what has happened in the joint arena,” said Dr. Obi.
His colleague, Matt Torgeson, DO, who is a surgical resident at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, noted that the hospital stay following colorectal surgery was once 6-8 days, and it has been shortened to 3-3.5 days. Enhanced recovery protocols made the biggest impact, shaving about 3 days. “Now we’re going to be seeing small, incremental changes,” said Dr. Torgeson.
The researchers randomized patients undergoing open or laparoscopic colorectal surgery to receive either an epidural (n = 37) or TAP block (n = 41). All patients entered an enhanced recovery pathway following surgery, with standardized discharge criteria. The two groups had similar times to return to normal bowel function (TAP, 1.7 days; epidural, 1.9 days) but the length of hospital stay was lower in the TAP group (2.8 days vs. 3.3 days; P = .023; 74.9 hours vs. 86.3 hours; P = .045). Subjects in the epidural group had a higher frequency of urinary retention (29.7% vs. 14.6%), though this did not reach statistical significance (P = .11). Postoperative nausea occurred at a higher rate in the TAP group (31.7% vs. 13.5%; odds ratio, 2.97), though this result just missed significance (P = .06).
In patients who had open surgery or laparoscopic surgery that converted to open, the length of stay was 2.9 days in the TAP group (n = 9) and 4.4 days in the epidural group (n = 5). Those numbers are small, but they suggest that TAP is effective even in open surgery. The cost of TAP was about $80 more than epidural medication ($406.16 vs. $322.73).
The study received no outside funding. Dr. Torgeson and Dr. Obi reported having no financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In colorectal surgery, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block was associated with shorter hospital stays than epidural, according to a study that was conducted in patients undergoing both open and laparoscopic surgeries. TAP fared well in both groups.
There were higher rates of nausea/vomiting in the TAP group, suggesting the need for preoperative management in patients preparing to undergo TAP block. Urine retention was higher in the epidural group.
Physicians used liposomal bupivacaine, which is more costly than alternatives, and that fact met some resistance in the audience when the study was presented at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association. But patients receiving TAP had a 0.5-day shorter length of stay, which should reduce costs overall, and the drug component cost of TAP was less than $100 more than for the epidural.
“The biggest conclusion we drew from this study was that in patients where you would always consider an epidural historically, like an open procedure or a laparoscopic procedure where the conversion risk to open was higher, [favoring epidural] is now being called into question. We really believe that TAP block affords the length of stay benefit with no change in the pain control regimen after surgery,” Shawn Obi, DO, chief of surgery at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, Jackson, Mich., said in an interview.
The findings dovetail with an overall trend of improved protocols in colon surgery. “I think we’re working toward colorectal surgery as an outpatient operation, similar to what has happened in the joint arena,” said Dr. Obi.
His colleague, Matt Torgeson, DO, who is a surgical resident at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, noted that the hospital stay following colorectal surgery was once 6-8 days, and it has been shortened to 3-3.5 days. Enhanced recovery protocols made the biggest impact, shaving about 3 days. “Now we’re going to be seeing small, incremental changes,” said Dr. Torgeson.
The researchers randomized patients undergoing open or laparoscopic colorectal surgery to receive either an epidural (n = 37) or TAP block (n = 41). All patients entered an enhanced recovery pathway following surgery, with standardized discharge criteria. The two groups had similar times to return to normal bowel function (TAP, 1.7 days; epidural, 1.9 days) but the length of hospital stay was lower in the TAP group (2.8 days vs. 3.3 days; P = .023; 74.9 hours vs. 86.3 hours; P = .045). Subjects in the epidural group had a higher frequency of urinary retention (29.7% vs. 14.6%), though this did not reach statistical significance (P = .11). Postoperative nausea occurred at a higher rate in the TAP group (31.7% vs. 13.5%; odds ratio, 2.97), though this result just missed significance (P = .06).
In patients who had open surgery or laparoscopic surgery that converted to open, the length of stay was 2.9 days in the TAP group (n = 9) and 4.4 days in the epidural group (n = 5). Those numbers are small, but they suggest that TAP is effective even in open surgery. The cost of TAP was about $80 more than epidural medication ($406.16 vs. $322.73).
The study received no outside funding. Dr. Torgeson and Dr. Obi reported having no financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In colorectal surgery, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block was associated with shorter hospital stays than epidural, according to a study that was conducted in patients undergoing both open and laparoscopic surgeries. TAP fared well in both groups.
There were higher rates of nausea/vomiting in the TAP group, suggesting the need for preoperative management in patients preparing to undergo TAP block. Urine retention was higher in the epidural group.
Physicians used liposomal bupivacaine, which is more costly than alternatives, and that fact met some resistance in the audience when the study was presented at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association. But patients receiving TAP had a 0.5-day shorter length of stay, which should reduce costs overall, and the drug component cost of TAP was less than $100 more than for the epidural.
“The biggest conclusion we drew from this study was that in patients where you would always consider an epidural historically, like an open procedure or a laparoscopic procedure where the conversion risk to open was higher, [favoring epidural] is now being called into question. We really believe that TAP block affords the length of stay benefit with no change in the pain control regimen after surgery,” Shawn Obi, DO, chief of surgery at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, Jackson, Mich., said in an interview.
The findings dovetail with an overall trend of improved protocols in colon surgery. “I think we’re working toward colorectal surgery as an outpatient operation, similar to what has happened in the joint arena,” said Dr. Obi.
His colleague, Matt Torgeson, DO, who is a surgical resident at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, noted that the hospital stay following colorectal surgery was once 6-8 days, and it has been shortened to 3-3.5 days. Enhanced recovery protocols made the biggest impact, shaving about 3 days. “Now we’re going to be seeing small, incremental changes,” said Dr. Torgeson.
The researchers randomized patients undergoing open or laparoscopic colorectal surgery to receive either an epidural (n = 37) or TAP block (n = 41). All patients entered an enhanced recovery pathway following surgery, with standardized discharge criteria. The two groups had similar times to return to normal bowel function (TAP, 1.7 days; epidural, 1.9 days) but the length of hospital stay was lower in the TAP group (2.8 days vs. 3.3 days; P = .023; 74.9 hours vs. 86.3 hours; P = .045). Subjects in the epidural group had a higher frequency of urinary retention (29.7% vs. 14.6%), though this did not reach statistical significance (P = .11). Postoperative nausea occurred at a higher rate in the TAP group (31.7% vs. 13.5%; odds ratio, 2.97), though this result just missed significance (P = .06).
In patients who had open surgery or laparoscopic surgery that converted to open, the length of stay was 2.9 days in the TAP group (n = 9) and 4.4 days in the epidural group (n = 5). Those numbers are small, but they suggest that TAP is effective even in open surgery. The cost of TAP was about $80 more than epidural medication ($406.16 vs. $322.73).
The study received no outside funding. Dr. Torgeson and Dr. Obi reported having no financial disclosures.
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: In appropriately selected patients, TAP may be a good alternative to epidural.
Major finding: TAP block was associated with a 0.5-day shorter hospital stay than epidurals.
Data source: Randomized, controlled trial (n = 78).
Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. Dr. Torgeson and Dr. Obi reported having no financial disclosures.
Acute cholecystitis guidelines need work
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In patients with right upper quadrant pain, the Tokyo Guidelines (TG13) failed to detect acute cholecystitis with adequate sensitivity, according to a single institution retrospective review.
Researchers at the University of Arizona, Tucson, also found that the Tokyo Guidelines’ advice to manage grade II and grade III cholecystitis patients conservatively may be unwarranted, because there were no differences in safety outcomes between grade I and grade II patients who underwent early cholecystectomy.
The Tokyo Guidelines were based on expert opinion rather than evidence, and may be limited by differences in practices in Japan and other countries. “There was no formal evaluation of the sensitivity and specificity in any other country,” Faisal Jehan, MD, a research fellow at the University of Arizona, said in an interview. Dr. Jehan presented the study at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The study suggests there is additional work to be done before the guidelines are more generally applicable. They are being updated and the new version is slated to appear in 2018.
Cholecystectomy is one of the most common procedures in the United States, and hence represents a major source of health care expenditure. Useful guidelines will therefore be welcome to help standardize treatment, according to Dr. Riall. “I think while we’ve moved as a population toward earlier cholecystectomy, it isn’t uniformly practiced in the United States. So I think there is value in having guidelines that are relevant to our population and relevant to our practice,” she said.
But compared with the pathology report, the TG13 guidelines fared poorly in prediction of acute cholecystitis, with a sensitivity of just 53% (definitive 27%, suspected 26%, undiagnosed 53%). The underperformance of the guidelines may be due in part to recent changes in health-seeking behavior, as patients are likely to get to the hospital more quickly than in the past, and thus exhibit fewer clinical signs when first examined. “That could be decreasing the sensitivity,” said Dr. Jehan.
Suspicious that the guidelines were inadequate, the researchers analyzed their institution’s Emergency General Surgery registry, examining records from 952 patients who presented with right upper quadrant pain between 2013 and 2015. They compared diagnoses and severity assessed using the TG13 guidelines to the ensuing pathology reports, which were obtained from patient charts.
A total of 857 patients of the 952 had biliary disease. Of these, 779 patients went on to cholecystectomy, 15 had cholecystostomy-tube placement, and 63 were managed conservatively with no surgery. Among patients with biliary disease, the frequency of fever at presentation was just 4%, while 51.8% had leukocytosis. Right upper quadrant tenderness was the most sensitive predictor of acute cholecystitis (92%). Murphy’s sign occurred in 28.8% of patients and had a 72% sensitivity.
Following the TG13 guidelines resulted in classification of 414 patients as grade I, 400 as grade II, and 43 as grade III. A total of 92.5% of grade I patients underwent early cholecystectomy, as the TG-13 guidelines suggest. Nearly as many (89.3%) grade II patients also underwent early surgery, as did 50% of grade III patients. The complication rate was similar between grade I and grade II patients who underwent surgery (3.7% vs. 4.7%; P = .81). The rate of return to the operating room was also similar (0.6% vs. 0.7%; P = .95), as was mortality (0.3% vs. 0%; P = .96).
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In patients with right upper quadrant pain, the Tokyo Guidelines (TG13) failed to detect acute cholecystitis with adequate sensitivity, according to a single institution retrospective review.
Researchers at the University of Arizona, Tucson, also found that the Tokyo Guidelines’ advice to manage grade II and grade III cholecystitis patients conservatively may be unwarranted, because there were no differences in safety outcomes between grade I and grade II patients who underwent early cholecystectomy.
The Tokyo Guidelines were based on expert opinion rather than evidence, and may be limited by differences in practices in Japan and other countries. “There was no formal evaluation of the sensitivity and specificity in any other country,” Faisal Jehan, MD, a research fellow at the University of Arizona, said in an interview. Dr. Jehan presented the study at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The study suggests there is additional work to be done before the guidelines are more generally applicable. They are being updated and the new version is slated to appear in 2018.
Cholecystectomy is one of the most common procedures in the United States, and hence represents a major source of health care expenditure. Useful guidelines will therefore be welcome to help standardize treatment, according to Dr. Riall. “I think while we’ve moved as a population toward earlier cholecystectomy, it isn’t uniformly practiced in the United States. So I think there is value in having guidelines that are relevant to our population and relevant to our practice,” she said.
But compared with the pathology report, the TG13 guidelines fared poorly in prediction of acute cholecystitis, with a sensitivity of just 53% (definitive 27%, suspected 26%, undiagnosed 53%). The underperformance of the guidelines may be due in part to recent changes in health-seeking behavior, as patients are likely to get to the hospital more quickly than in the past, and thus exhibit fewer clinical signs when first examined. “That could be decreasing the sensitivity,” said Dr. Jehan.
Suspicious that the guidelines were inadequate, the researchers analyzed their institution’s Emergency General Surgery registry, examining records from 952 patients who presented with right upper quadrant pain between 2013 and 2015. They compared diagnoses and severity assessed using the TG13 guidelines to the ensuing pathology reports, which were obtained from patient charts.
A total of 857 patients of the 952 had biliary disease. Of these, 779 patients went on to cholecystectomy, 15 had cholecystostomy-tube placement, and 63 were managed conservatively with no surgery. Among patients with biliary disease, the frequency of fever at presentation was just 4%, while 51.8% had leukocytosis. Right upper quadrant tenderness was the most sensitive predictor of acute cholecystitis (92%). Murphy’s sign occurred in 28.8% of patients and had a 72% sensitivity.
Following the TG13 guidelines resulted in classification of 414 patients as grade I, 400 as grade II, and 43 as grade III. A total of 92.5% of grade I patients underwent early cholecystectomy, as the TG-13 guidelines suggest. Nearly as many (89.3%) grade II patients also underwent early surgery, as did 50% of grade III patients. The complication rate was similar between grade I and grade II patients who underwent surgery (3.7% vs. 4.7%; P = .81). The rate of return to the operating room was also similar (0.6% vs. 0.7%; P = .95), as was mortality (0.3% vs. 0%; P = .96).
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In patients with right upper quadrant pain, the Tokyo Guidelines (TG13) failed to detect acute cholecystitis with adequate sensitivity, according to a single institution retrospective review.
Researchers at the University of Arizona, Tucson, also found that the Tokyo Guidelines’ advice to manage grade II and grade III cholecystitis patients conservatively may be unwarranted, because there were no differences in safety outcomes between grade I and grade II patients who underwent early cholecystectomy.
The Tokyo Guidelines were based on expert opinion rather than evidence, and may be limited by differences in practices in Japan and other countries. “There was no formal evaluation of the sensitivity and specificity in any other country,” Faisal Jehan, MD, a research fellow at the University of Arizona, said in an interview. Dr. Jehan presented the study at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
The study suggests there is additional work to be done before the guidelines are more generally applicable. They are being updated and the new version is slated to appear in 2018.
Cholecystectomy is one of the most common procedures in the United States, and hence represents a major source of health care expenditure. Useful guidelines will therefore be welcome to help standardize treatment, according to Dr. Riall. “I think while we’ve moved as a population toward earlier cholecystectomy, it isn’t uniformly practiced in the United States. So I think there is value in having guidelines that are relevant to our population and relevant to our practice,” she said.
But compared with the pathology report, the TG13 guidelines fared poorly in prediction of acute cholecystitis, with a sensitivity of just 53% (definitive 27%, suspected 26%, undiagnosed 53%). The underperformance of the guidelines may be due in part to recent changes in health-seeking behavior, as patients are likely to get to the hospital more quickly than in the past, and thus exhibit fewer clinical signs when first examined. “That could be decreasing the sensitivity,” said Dr. Jehan.
Suspicious that the guidelines were inadequate, the researchers analyzed their institution’s Emergency General Surgery registry, examining records from 952 patients who presented with right upper quadrant pain between 2013 and 2015. They compared diagnoses and severity assessed using the TG13 guidelines to the ensuing pathology reports, which were obtained from patient charts.
A total of 857 patients of the 952 had biliary disease. Of these, 779 patients went on to cholecystectomy, 15 had cholecystostomy-tube placement, and 63 were managed conservatively with no surgery. Among patients with biliary disease, the frequency of fever at presentation was just 4%, while 51.8% had leukocytosis. Right upper quadrant tenderness was the most sensitive predictor of acute cholecystitis (92%). Murphy’s sign occurred in 28.8% of patients and had a 72% sensitivity.
Following the TG13 guidelines resulted in classification of 414 patients as grade I, 400 as grade II, and 43 as grade III. A total of 92.5% of grade I patients underwent early cholecystectomy, as the TG-13 guidelines suggest. Nearly as many (89.3%) grade II patients also underwent early surgery, as did 50% of grade III patients. The complication rate was similar between grade I and grade II patients who underwent surgery (3.7% vs. 4.7%; P = .81). The rate of return to the operating room was also similar (0.6% vs. 0.7%; P = .95), as was mortality (0.3% vs. 0%; P = .96).
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: Early surgery for acute cholecystitis appears safe in well selected patients.
Major finding: TG13 guidelines predicted acute cholecystitis with a sensitivity of 53%.
Data source: Analysis of a prospectively collected data on 952 patients at a single institution.
Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. Dr. Jehan and Dr. Riall reported having no financial disclosures.
Breast cancer margin guidelines reduced re-excisions, cost
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In breast conservation surgery with whole-breast radiation, costs and the number of re-excisions performed at a single institution dropped after the implementation of 2014 consensus guidelines on excision margins.
The guidelines, created by a multidisciplinary margins panel convened by the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology recommend “no ink on tumor” as an adequate margin in cases of invasive carcinoma.
The guidelines sought to reduce costs and re-excision rates and improve cosmetic outcomes. The results of the study carried out at the University of Louisville suggest that the guidelines may be successful in achieving these goals. The reduced need for re-excision is a key point. “That’s very traumatic for the patient. With this consensus, we were able to decrease that, improve patient satisfaction, and decrease the cost,” lead author Nicolás Ajkay, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, said in an interview.
Dr. Ajkay presented the results of the study at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
“Surgeons need to be aware of the guidelines, and if the margin is close, they need to be in multidisciplinary discussions with other breast cancer experts to determine which patients would benefit from going back to the operating room,” he said.
The researchers examined the experiences of 237 patients with stage I or stage II invasive carcinoma who had a partial mastectomy. Of these patients, 126 underwent the procedure before the university incorporated the guidelines in March 2014 (PRE), while 111 were seen after that date (POST). The study excluded those who were diagnosed by excisional biopsy and those who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Per-patient operative costs went down on average after the guidelines were implemented ($4,247 vs. $5,465; difference, $1,218; P less than .001). The estimated savings for the entire POST cohort of 111 patients was approximately $135,000.
Patient satisfaction improved as measured by the breast satisfaction domain of the BREAST-Q survey tool (77/100 vs. 61/100; P = .03).
A multivariate analysis showed that the implementation of the consensus statement predicted lower re-excision rates (odds ratio, 0.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.08-0.38; P less than .001) as well as lower operative cost per patient (cost greater than $5,465 OR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.07-0.30; P less than .001). Guideline implementation did not, however, predict decreased total resection volume, or probability of conversion to mastectomy.
Perhaps because diagnostic methods have improved over time, there were some significant differences between the two populations. The PRE group had a larger median tumor size (1.5 cm vs. 1.1 cm; P less than .001), and a lower proportion of the PRE group was diagnosed as stage I (62% vs. 77%; P = .005). The PRE group also had significantly larger initial resection volume (69.3 cm3 versus 47.1 cm3; P = .02), higher selective margin volume (50.0 cm3 vs. 11.3 cm3; P less than .001), and a larger final resection volume (81.0 cm3 vs. 51.5 cm3; P = .05). Additional selective margin resection was less frequent in the PRE group (76% vs. 41%; P less than .001).
Those differences may confound the findings, since outcomes might have been expected to improve anyway due to improvements in care.
One member of the audience asked whether the guidelines might boost rates of cancer recurrence. It’s too soon to tell, according to Dr. Ajkay, who said that researchers will need at least 4 or 5 years of clinical experience to make that determination. But he is optimistic. “Even though we’re excising less, I would predict we will not see an increase in recurrence, because adjuvant therapy is getting significantly better, and adjuvant therapy reduces the risk of recurrence just as margin re-excisions do,” he said.
The study received no external funding. Dr. Ajkay reported having no financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In breast conservation surgery with whole-breast radiation, costs and the number of re-excisions performed at a single institution dropped after the implementation of 2014 consensus guidelines on excision margins.
The guidelines, created by a multidisciplinary margins panel convened by the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology recommend “no ink on tumor” as an adequate margin in cases of invasive carcinoma.
The guidelines sought to reduce costs and re-excision rates and improve cosmetic outcomes. The results of the study carried out at the University of Louisville suggest that the guidelines may be successful in achieving these goals. The reduced need for re-excision is a key point. “That’s very traumatic for the patient. With this consensus, we were able to decrease that, improve patient satisfaction, and decrease the cost,” lead author Nicolás Ajkay, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, said in an interview.
Dr. Ajkay presented the results of the study at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
“Surgeons need to be aware of the guidelines, and if the margin is close, they need to be in multidisciplinary discussions with other breast cancer experts to determine which patients would benefit from going back to the operating room,” he said.
The researchers examined the experiences of 237 patients with stage I or stage II invasive carcinoma who had a partial mastectomy. Of these patients, 126 underwent the procedure before the university incorporated the guidelines in March 2014 (PRE), while 111 were seen after that date (POST). The study excluded those who were diagnosed by excisional biopsy and those who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Per-patient operative costs went down on average after the guidelines were implemented ($4,247 vs. $5,465; difference, $1,218; P less than .001). The estimated savings for the entire POST cohort of 111 patients was approximately $135,000.
Patient satisfaction improved as measured by the breast satisfaction domain of the BREAST-Q survey tool (77/100 vs. 61/100; P = .03).
A multivariate analysis showed that the implementation of the consensus statement predicted lower re-excision rates (odds ratio, 0.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.08-0.38; P less than .001) as well as lower operative cost per patient (cost greater than $5,465 OR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.07-0.30; P less than .001). Guideline implementation did not, however, predict decreased total resection volume, or probability of conversion to mastectomy.
Perhaps because diagnostic methods have improved over time, there were some significant differences between the two populations. The PRE group had a larger median tumor size (1.5 cm vs. 1.1 cm; P less than .001), and a lower proportion of the PRE group was diagnosed as stage I (62% vs. 77%; P = .005). The PRE group also had significantly larger initial resection volume (69.3 cm3 versus 47.1 cm3; P = .02), higher selective margin volume (50.0 cm3 vs. 11.3 cm3; P less than .001), and a larger final resection volume (81.0 cm3 vs. 51.5 cm3; P = .05). Additional selective margin resection was less frequent in the PRE group (76% vs. 41%; P less than .001).
Those differences may confound the findings, since outcomes might have been expected to improve anyway due to improvements in care.
One member of the audience asked whether the guidelines might boost rates of cancer recurrence. It’s too soon to tell, according to Dr. Ajkay, who said that researchers will need at least 4 or 5 years of clinical experience to make that determination. But he is optimistic. “Even though we’re excising less, I would predict we will not see an increase in recurrence, because adjuvant therapy is getting significantly better, and adjuvant therapy reduces the risk of recurrence just as margin re-excisions do,” he said.
The study received no external funding. Dr. Ajkay reported having no financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – In breast conservation surgery with whole-breast radiation, costs and the number of re-excisions performed at a single institution dropped after the implementation of 2014 consensus guidelines on excision margins.
The guidelines, created by a multidisciplinary margins panel convened by the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology recommend “no ink on tumor” as an adequate margin in cases of invasive carcinoma.
The guidelines sought to reduce costs and re-excision rates and improve cosmetic outcomes. The results of the study carried out at the University of Louisville suggest that the guidelines may be successful in achieving these goals. The reduced need for re-excision is a key point. “That’s very traumatic for the patient. With this consensus, we were able to decrease that, improve patient satisfaction, and decrease the cost,” lead author Nicolás Ajkay, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, said in an interview.
Dr. Ajkay presented the results of the study at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
“Surgeons need to be aware of the guidelines, and if the margin is close, they need to be in multidisciplinary discussions with other breast cancer experts to determine which patients would benefit from going back to the operating room,” he said.
The researchers examined the experiences of 237 patients with stage I or stage II invasive carcinoma who had a partial mastectomy. Of these patients, 126 underwent the procedure before the university incorporated the guidelines in March 2014 (PRE), while 111 were seen after that date (POST). The study excluded those who were diagnosed by excisional biopsy and those who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Per-patient operative costs went down on average after the guidelines were implemented ($4,247 vs. $5,465; difference, $1,218; P less than .001). The estimated savings for the entire POST cohort of 111 patients was approximately $135,000.
Patient satisfaction improved as measured by the breast satisfaction domain of the BREAST-Q survey tool (77/100 vs. 61/100; P = .03).
A multivariate analysis showed that the implementation of the consensus statement predicted lower re-excision rates (odds ratio, 0.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.08-0.38; P less than .001) as well as lower operative cost per patient (cost greater than $5,465 OR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.07-0.30; P less than .001). Guideline implementation did not, however, predict decreased total resection volume, or probability of conversion to mastectomy.
Perhaps because diagnostic methods have improved over time, there were some significant differences between the two populations. The PRE group had a larger median tumor size (1.5 cm vs. 1.1 cm; P less than .001), and a lower proportion of the PRE group was diagnosed as stage I (62% vs. 77%; P = .005). The PRE group also had significantly larger initial resection volume (69.3 cm3 versus 47.1 cm3; P = .02), higher selective margin volume (50.0 cm3 vs. 11.3 cm3; P less than .001), and a larger final resection volume (81.0 cm3 vs. 51.5 cm3; P = .05). Additional selective margin resection was less frequent in the PRE group (76% vs. 41%; P less than .001).
Those differences may confound the findings, since outcomes might have been expected to improve anyway due to improvements in care.
One member of the audience asked whether the guidelines might boost rates of cancer recurrence. It’s too soon to tell, according to Dr. Ajkay, who said that researchers will need at least 4 or 5 years of clinical experience to make that determination. But he is optimistic. “Even though we’re excising less, I would predict we will not see an increase in recurrence, because adjuvant therapy is getting significantly better, and adjuvant therapy reduces the risk of recurrence just as margin re-excisions do,” he said.
The study received no external funding. Dr. Ajkay reported having no financial disclosures.
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: Breast cancer margin guidelines may help reduce re-excisions and lower costs.
Major finding: Operative costs per patient fell by $1,218 after the adoption of the “no ink on tumor” guidelines.
Data source: Retrospective analysis of 237 patients undergoing breast conservation surgery.
Disclosures: The study received no external funding. Dr. Ajkay reported having no financial disclosures.
Most hyperparathyroidism cases can be considered cured after surgery
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Patients with hyperparathyroidism and single-gland disease can be considered cured if their intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) level drops by 50% or more, or to normal or near-normal levels (15-65 pg/mL), and don’t require immediate follow-up for lab work, according to a retrospective review of patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
These findings applied only to patients in the study whose preoperative sestamibi scans were concordant with intraoperative findings. Single-gland disease represented about 85% of cases, Melanie L. Lyden, MD, reported at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
Her team conducted a retrospective analysis of 214 patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, between January 2012 and March 2014. The investigators excluded patients with a history of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome, as well as patients with secondary or tertiary hyperparathyroidism. All patients received instructions at discharge for completing calcium testing, as well as a follow-up letter and phone call.
The overall cure rate at 6 months was 94% (202 cured, 12 not cured). In 205 of 214 cases (96%), the patients had an intraoperative drop in PTH level by 50% to normal or near-normal levels, and were therefore considered cured immediately.
The cured and not cured rate groups had no significant differences in age, gland weight, or preoperative PTH levels. Final intraoperative PTH levels were lower in patients who were cured (37 pg/mL vs. 55 pg/mL, P = .008), and the percentage decrease in PTH was greater (69% vs. 43%, P less than .0001).
A subgroup analysis found that concordant sestamibi imaging, single adenoma pathology, and an intraoperative cure combined to correlate with a 6-month cure rate of 97%.
In addition to identifying cures early, the findings suggest that patients whose PTH levels don’t drop adequately during surgery, and those with multiglandular disease should be aggressively targeted for follow-up – an important concern because many patients fail to complete calcium testing. “We were very aggressive in terms of follow-up recommendations, a follow-up letter, and a follow-up phone call, and still close to 30% of them we were not able to get to come in and get their blood checked,” said Dr. Lyden.
The study received no external funding. Dr. Lyden reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Patients with hyperparathyroidism and single-gland disease can be considered cured if their intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) level drops by 50% or more, or to normal or near-normal levels (15-65 pg/mL), and don’t require immediate follow-up for lab work, according to a retrospective review of patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
These findings applied only to patients in the study whose preoperative sestamibi scans were concordant with intraoperative findings. Single-gland disease represented about 85% of cases, Melanie L. Lyden, MD, reported at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
Her team conducted a retrospective analysis of 214 patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, between January 2012 and March 2014. The investigators excluded patients with a history of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome, as well as patients with secondary or tertiary hyperparathyroidism. All patients received instructions at discharge for completing calcium testing, as well as a follow-up letter and phone call.
The overall cure rate at 6 months was 94% (202 cured, 12 not cured). In 205 of 214 cases (96%), the patients had an intraoperative drop in PTH level by 50% to normal or near-normal levels, and were therefore considered cured immediately.
The cured and not cured rate groups had no significant differences in age, gland weight, or preoperative PTH levels. Final intraoperative PTH levels were lower in patients who were cured (37 pg/mL vs. 55 pg/mL, P = .008), and the percentage decrease in PTH was greater (69% vs. 43%, P less than .0001).
A subgroup analysis found that concordant sestamibi imaging, single adenoma pathology, and an intraoperative cure combined to correlate with a 6-month cure rate of 97%.
In addition to identifying cures early, the findings suggest that patients whose PTH levels don’t drop adequately during surgery, and those with multiglandular disease should be aggressively targeted for follow-up – an important concern because many patients fail to complete calcium testing. “We were very aggressive in terms of follow-up recommendations, a follow-up letter, and a follow-up phone call, and still close to 30% of them we were not able to get to come in and get their blood checked,” said Dr. Lyden.
The study received no external funding. Dr. Lyden reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Patients with hyperparathyroidism and single-gland disease can be considered cured if their intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) level drops by 50% or more, or to normal or near-normal levels (15-65 pg/mL), and don’t require immediate follow-up for lab work, according to a retrospective review of patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
These findings applied only to patients in the study whose preoperative sestamibi scans were concordant with intraoperative findings. Single-gland disease represented about 85% of cases, Melanie L. Lyden, MD, reported at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association.
Her team conducted a retrospective analysis of 214 patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, between January 2012 and March 2014. The investigators excluded patients with a history of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome, as well as patients with secondary or tertiary hyperparathyroidism. All patients received instructions at discharge for completing calcium testing, as well as a follow-up letter and phone call.
The overall cure rate at 6 months was 94% (202 cured, 12 not cured). In 205 of 214 cases (96%), the patients had an intraoperative drop in PTH level by 50% to normal or near-normal levels, and were therefore considered cured immediately.
The cured and not cured rate groups had no significant differences in age, gland weight, or preoperative PTH levels. Final intraoperative PTH levels were lower in patients who were cured (37 pg/mL vs. 55 pg/mL, P = .008), and the percentage decrease in PTH was greater (69% vs. 43%, P less than .0001).
A subgroup analysis found that concordant sestamibi imaging, single adenoma pathology, and an intraoperative cure combined to correlate with a 6-month cure rate of 97%.
In addition to identifying cures early, the findings suggest that patients whose PTH levels don’t drop adequately during surgery, and those with multiglandular disease should be aggressively targeted for follow-up – an important concern because many patients fail to complete calcium testing. “We were very aggressive in terms of follow-up recommendations, a follow-up letter, and a follow-up phone call, and still close to 30% of them we were not able to get to come in and get their blood checked,” said Dr. Lyden.
The study received no external funding. Dr. Lyden reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
AT WSA 2017
Key clinical point: The vast majority of cures could be identified during surgery, reducing the need for costly follow-up to monitor calcium levels.
Major finding: Concordant sestamibi imaging, single adenoma pathology, and an intraoperative cure combined to correlate with a 6-month cure rate of 97%.
Data source: A retrospective analysis of 214 patients at a single center.
Disclosures: The study received no external funding. Dr. Lyden reported having no relevant financial disclosures.