Evaluation of postoperative antibiotics after non-perforated appendectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of postoperative antibiotics in reducing surgical site infections after appendectomy for non-perforated appendicitis. METHODS: The randomised controlled trial was conducted at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan, from November 11, 2012, to May 30, 2014, and comprised patients of emergency appendectomy for non-perforated appendicitis who were divided into groups A and B. Group A received a single dose of cefuroxime sodium and metronidazole half-an-hour before induction, while Group B received one more dose of the same antibiotics postoperatively. Both groups were followed for 6 weeks. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the 390 patients in the study, 192(49.2%) were in Group A and 198(50.7%) in Group B. Number of surgical site infections was 15(7.8%) in Group A and 18(9.1%) in Group B (p=0.65). Mean hospital stay of 3.32±0.4 days and 3.59±0.46 days was observed for Group A and B, respectively, (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A single pre-operative dose of cefuroxime and metronidazole had the same efficacy in preventing surgical site infections in cases of non-perforated appendicitis as when the same regimen was repeated post-operatively.

Effectiveness of simple control measures on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection status and characteristics with susceptibility patterns in a teaching hospital in Peshawar.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of simple control measures on the infection status and characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus including susceptibility patterns among health professionals and patients in a teaching hospital. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2013 to January 2014, and comprised samples collected from healthcare personnel and patients in the various units of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. The specimens were collected before and one month after the implementation of simple control measures for outbreak prevention of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. These were tested for culture and antimicrobial susceptibility. Data about methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, wound characteristics and susceptibility patterns was collected and effectiveness of simple control measures was determined. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the total 390 isolates, 180(46.2%) were Staphylococcus aureus; 77(19.7%) from healthcare personnel and 103(26.4%) from patients. Of these, 164(42.1%) were methicillin-sensitive and 16(4.1%) were methicillin-resistant. Among the patients, 38(15.1%) methicillin-sensitive and 8(3.2%) methicillin-resistant isolates were recovered from wounds or skin and soft tissues. Pus with 33(13.1%) and 4(1.6%) cases respectively was the second most common source. Among methicillin-resistant isolates, resistance to Linezolid was 0%, all were resistant to Oxacillin, Cefoxitin, Amoxicillin, Cefotaxime and Cephradine, and resistance to both Co-Amoxiclav and Ciprofloxacin was 87.5%. After one month of implementation of simple control measures, the number of methicillin-resistant cases among healthcare professionals and patients dropped from 4(2.9%) and 7(10.8%) to 1(0.7%) and 5(2.7%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus differed in their anti-microbial susceptibility profiles. Selection of antibiotics based on susceptibility and culture is needed for prevention of resistance and effective treatment. A decrease was observed in methicillin-resistant cases with implementation of control measures.

Doing Pre-operative Investigations in Emergency Department; a Clinical Audit.

INTRODUCTION: Pre-operative investigations for emergency surgical patients differ between centers. Following established guidelines can reduce unnecessary investigation, cost of treatment and hospital stay. The present audit was carried out to evaluate the condition of doing pre-operative investigations for three common surgical emergencies compared to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and local criteria. METHODS: A retrospective clinical audit of acute-appendicitis, abscess and hernia patients admitted to the emergency department was carried out over a one-year period from July 2014 to July 2015. Data of laboratory investigations, their indication, cost and duration of hospital stay was collected and compared with NICE-guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 201 patients were admitted to the emergency department during the audit period. These included 77(38.3%) cases of acute-appendicitis, 112 (55.7%) cases of abscesses, and 12 (6%) cases of hernia. Investigations not indicated by NICE-guidelines included 42 (20.9%) full blood counts, 29 (14.4%) random blood sugars, 26 (12.9%) urea tests, 4 (2%) chest x-rays, 13 (6.5%) electrocardiographs, and 58 (28.9%) urine analyses. These cost 25,675 Rupees (245.46 Dollars) in unnecessary investigation costs and 65.7 days of additional hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS: Unnecessary investigations for emergency surgical patients can be reduced by following NICE-guidelines. This will reduce workload on emergency services, treatment costs and the length of hospital stay.

Scar Pain, Cosmesis and Patient Satisfaction in Laparoscopic and Open Cholecystectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To compare patient-satisfaction, scar-pain and cosmesis between laparoscopic and open-cholecystectomy. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, from August 2012 to May 2014. METHODOLOGY: A total of 400 patients, who had undergone open or laparoscopic cholecystectomy in all units of the Surgical Department, were included. Data was collected on questionnaires given and read to the patients along with counselling and information regarding scar-pain using visual analog score, and satisfaction and cosmesis on a 0 - 10 scale, by a medical professional in the patients' native language. This was done postoperatively on patients' follow-up visits at 1 and 4 weeks. RESULTS: Mean scar pain score at 1 and 4 weeks postoperatively was higher for open-cholecystectomy; 4.96 ±1 and 0.96 ±1, compared to 2.24 ±0.6 and 0, respectively for laparoscopic-cholecystectomy (p < 0.001 and < 0.001). Cosmesis was higher for laparoscopic-group; 8.6 ±1.2 vs. 6.2 ±1.46 for open-cholecystectomy (p < 0.001). Patient-satisfaction was higher for laparoscopic-cholecystectomy; 9.28 ±1.5 vs. 8.32 ±2.3 for open-cholecystectomy (p < 0.001). Mean-cosmesis score was higher for laparoscopic-cholecystectomy for those younger than 40, females and unmarried. Mean patient-satisfaction score was higher for those older than 40 years who had undergone open-cholecystectomy, women who had undergone laparoscopic-cholecystectomy and for unmarried patients who had laparoscopic-cholecystectomy. CONCLUSION: Overall patient-satisfaction and cosmesis scoring was higher for laparoscopic-cholecystectomy especially among females, unmarried and younger than 40 years. Patients of 40 years and older had greater satisfaction scoring for open-cholecystectomy. Therefore, laparoscopic-cholecystectomy should be favoured in females and unmarried patients and those younger than 40 years.

Total leukocyte and neutrophil count as preventive tools in reducing negative appendectomies.

BACKGROUND: Negative appendectomies result in unnecessary admissions, health care burden, and cost. This study was conducted to assess total leukocyte and neutrophil counts as preventive tools in reducing negative appendectomies. METHODS: Data of admitted patients who underwent appendectomies was analyzed. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of total leukocyte and neutrophil counts was calculated for various cut-off points. Optimum sensitivity, specificity, overall accuracy, and area under the curve was determined. RESULTS: Of the four hundred and eightpatients, true and negative appendicitis by operative assessment was 294 (72.1%) and 114 (27.9%) compared to 311 (76.2%) and 97 (23.8%) by histopathology, respectively. Optimal cut-off for total leukocyte count was >11.9x10(9)/Liter with 87.14% sensitivity and 91.75% specificity. Optimal cut-off point for neutrophil count was >7.735x10(9)/Liter with 98.71% sensitivity and 91.75% specificity. Area under the curve for total leukocyte and neutrophil counts was 0.9603 and 0.9872, respectively with overall accuracy of 91.2% and 97.1%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Normal total leukocyte and neutrophil counts are strongly associated with negative appendectomies. Non-operative measures and careful observation of total leukocyte and neutrophil counts are of paramount importance.

Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis of the Lintula score for reduction of negative appendectomies in adults.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the Lintula score in reducing negative appendectomies in the adult population. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive analytical study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Surgical Department, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan, from August 2012 to April 2014. METHODOLOGY: A total of 408 emergency patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis were included in the study. True or negative appendectomy status was determined per-operatively. Lintula score was calculated afterwards and evaluated for various cut-off points. RESULTS: Among the study population, 72 (17.6%) had a normal appendix by operative assessment and 336 (82.4%) had an acutely inflammed appendix. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the optimal cut-off point was ≤ 21 with 100% sensitivity, 88.4% specificity and positive and negative predictive values of 97.3% and 100%, respectively. Area under the curve was 0.963 with 90.4% overall accuracy. CONCLUSION: Utilizing the Lintula cut-off point of ≤ 21, negative appendectomies, unnecessary admissions and healthcare cost can all be reduced.