Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Surgical Research / 24.03.2014

Elizabeth C. Wick, MD Assistant Professor,Department of Surgery The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MarylandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elizabeth C. Wick, MD Assistant Professor,Department of Surgery The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland   MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Wick: The main finding is the high variability in physician practice for prescribing steroids and the lack of clear guidance as to best practice in the literature. (more…)
Author Interviews, Hospital Acquired, Infections, NIH, Surgical Research, University of Pennsylvania, Wake Forest / 09.03.2014

William G Ward, Sr. MD Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chief of Musculoskeletal Service Line - Guthrie Clinic One Guthrie Square Sayre, Pennsylvania 18840 (Professor Emeritus - Wake Forest University Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery)MedicalResearch.com Interview with: William G Ward, Sr. MD Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chief of Musculoskeletal Service Line - Guthrie Clinic Sayre, Pennsylvania 18840 (Professor Emeritus - Wake Forest University Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery) MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Ward: The main findings of the study include:
  1. The use of disposable spun-lace “paper” gowns was associated with a dramatic decrease in the likelihood of culture-detected bacterial contamination on the surgeon’s gloved hand and gown sleeve.
  2. For a double-gloved surgeon, changing the outer glove just prior to implant handling should decrease bacterial contamination from the surgeon by about 50%.
  3. Bacteria suspended in saline solution transgressed the material of standard reusable scrub attire in 96% (26/27) of tested gowns and in 0% (0/27) of spun-lace disposable “paper” gowns. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research / 06.03.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mr. Aneel Bhangu West Midlands Research Collaborative, Academic Department of Surgery Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham UK MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?  Mr. Bhangu:  Out study was based on a novel collaborative approach, spanning 95 centres in the UK. It was led by surgical trainees, who form a natural network and work in a rotational pattern. These networks will mature to allow a future of clinical research to be embedded into routine NHS care. Our study found no increase in complications based on weekend operating. It’s possible that patients present differently at weekends, or that surgeons select less complex patients to operate upon. A key secondary finding is that patients operated on at weekends were less likely to undergo laparoscopy. This means that they are exposed to different processes of care, which may introduce risk. This may be a surrogate marker for other differences in weekend care that require exploration. (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Lancet, Nursing, University of Pennsylvania / 04.03.2014

Professor Linda H Aiken PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, Professor of Sociology Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research University of Pennsylvania School of NursingMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Linda H Aiken PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, Professor of Sociology Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing MedicalResearch.com: Austerity measures and health-system redesign to minimise hospital expenditures risk adversely affecting patient outcomes. Against that backdrop, can you start by letting us know the background of the study?  Prof. Aiken: European Surgical Outcomes Study in 28 countries showed higher than necessary deaths after surgery. A comparable study in the US showed that despite the nation spending hundreds of millions of dollars on improving patient safety, there were no improvements in adverse outcomes after surgery in US hospitals between 2000 and 2009.  Clearly it is time to consider new solutions to improving hospital care for surgical patients, who make up a large proportion of all hospital admissions.  Our study was designed to determine whether there are risks for patients of reducing hospital nurse staffing, and what, if any, are the benefits to patients of moving to a more educated nurse workforce. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research / 20.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mike K.Liang, MD, Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital,Houston, TX 7702 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Liang: Compared to suture repair, mesh repair of primary ventral hernias (umbilical, epigastric, spigelian, lumbar), the most common type of ventral hernias, is associated with fewer hernia recurrence but slightly more seromas and surgical site infections. (more…)
Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research / 17.01.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel A. Anaya, MD, FACS Associate Professor of Surgery - Surgical Oncology Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery Baylor College of Medicine Chief, General Surgery & Surgical Oncology SectionDirector, Liver Tumor Program Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center Houston, TX 77030 and Dr. Courtney J. Balentine, MD First author and surgical resident at Baylor College of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Anaya:  That a good proportion of patients having colorectal operations will need additional assistance to recover during the postoperative period, resulting in being discharged to other facilities (nursing facilities, skilled care, etc) after surgery, and that hospitals where a higher-volume of colorectal operations are performed are more likely to discharge patients back to home after surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, NEJM, Orthopedics, Surgical Research / 26.12.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Raine Sihvonen, M.D. From the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology Hatanpää City Hospital, Tampere Finland MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Järvinen: The main finding of the study is that arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is not superior over sham-surgery (placebo) when treated patients with knee pain attributable to degenerative  meniscus tear, even in the `best-case-scenario, that is patients with no knee OA. (more…)
Author Interviews, Duke, Heart Disease, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research / 05.09.2013

Marco D. Huesch, MBBS, Ph.D., Assistant professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy Adjunct professor with Duke’s School of Medicine and Fuqua School of Business.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marco D. Huesch, MBBS, Ph.D. Assistant professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy Adjunct professor with Duke’s School of Medicine and Fuqua School of Business. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: This study asked whether ‘learning by doing’ works backwards too, as ‘forgetting by not doing’. In an nutshell, the answer is ‘no’ among the Californian cardiac surgeons I examined with short breaks of around a month. (more…)
Author Interviews, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, Cost of Health Care, Pain Research, Surgical Research / 30.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Conor P. Delaney, MD MCh PhD FRCSI FACS FASCRS The Jeffrey L. Ponsky Professor of Surgical Education | Chief, Division of Colorectal Surgery | Vice-Chair, Department of Surgery | Director, CWRU Center for Skills and Simulation | Surgical Director, Digestive Health Institute | University Hospitals Case Medical Center | Case Western Reserve University | 11100 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106-5047 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Our goal was to see whether the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block reduced complications and shortened the hospital stay of patients undergoing colorectal operations.  The TAP block is a nerve block injection given at the conclusion of the operation which reduces pain in the operative area.  Results showed that the mean hospital stay dropped to less than 2.5 days after the surgical procedure, significantly lower than the 3.7 days which the University Hospitals Case Medical Center Care pathway had already described for more than 1,000 consecutive patients. In our new study, we employed the TAP block and the Enhanced Recovery Pathway (ERP) on 100 patients.  We found that 27 patients went home the next day and another 35 went home 48 hours after their operations. That is considerably better than the five or six days patients usually stay in the hospital after laparoscopic colorectal procedures, and certainly better than nine days often seen after an open operation.  With a third of patients leaving the day after colorectal resection, we feel these results are significant. (more…)
Diabetes, Surgical Research / 30.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ta-Liang Chen, MD, PhD Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Reply: Diabetes increases postoperative 30-day mortality, complications, and medical expenditures in patients undergoing in-hospital noncardiac surgeries. (more…)
Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, Surgical Research / 16.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Takahisa Fujikawa, MD, PhD, FACS. Director, Dept of Surgery, Kokura Memorial Hospital, 3-2-1 Asano, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 802-8555, JAPAN. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: A total of consecutive 1,075 patients undergoing abdominal laparoscopic surgery between 2005 and 2011, including 715 basic and 360 advanced laparoscopic surgeries, were reviewed. The perioperative management protocol consists of interruption of antiplatelet therapy (APT) one week before surgery and early postoperative re-institution in low thromboembolic risk patients (n=160, iAPT group), whereas preoperative APT was maintained in patients with high thromboembolic risk or emergent situation (n=52, cAPT group). Perioperative and outcome variables of cAPT and iAPT groups, including bleeding and thromboembolic complications, were compared to those of patients without APT (non-APT group, n=863).
  • No case suffering excessive intraoperative bleeding due to continuation of APT was observed. There were 10 postoperative bleeding complications (0.9%) and 3 thromboembolic events (0.3%), but surgery was free of both complications in cAPT group. No significant differences were found between the groups in operative blood loss, blood transfusion rate, and the occurrence of bleeding and thromboembolic complications.
  • Multivariable analyses showed that multiple antiplatelet agents (p=0.015) and intraoperative blood transfusion (p=0.046) were significant prognostic factors for postoperative bleeding complications.  Increased thromboembolic complications were independently associated with high New York Heart Association class (p=0.019) and history of cerebral infarction (p=0.048), but not associated with APT use. (more…)
Author Interviews, Frailty, Surgical Research / 09.07.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Kenneth Ogan MD Department of Urology Emory University School of Medicine 1365 Clifton Rd. NE, Building B, Suite 1400 Atlanta, Georgia 30322 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ogan: Surgical risk assessment is traditionally a very subjective process, and an evaluation that more accurately measures a patient’s physiologic reserve would greatly aid in surgical decision making. In this study we sought to further characterize frailty as an objective risk assessment tool in surgical patients. We prospectively measured the five component frailty criteria described by Fried et al.1 (weight loss, exhaustion, low activity, grip strength, and gait speed).  Patients deemed “intermediately frail” and “frail” had twice the likelihood of experiencing any complication in the 30-day post-operative period. (more…)