Changes in Emergency General Surgery During Covid-19 in Scotland: A Prospective Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: Covid-19 has had a significant impact on all aspects of health care. We aimed to characterise the trends in emergency general surgery at a district general hospital in Scotland. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed from 23/03/20 to 07/05/20. All emergency general surgery patients were included. Demographics, diagnosis and management were recorded along with Covid-19 testing and results. Thirty-day mortality and readmission rates were also noted. Similar data were collected on patients admitted during the same period in 2019 to allow for comparison. RESULTS: A total of 294 patients were included. There was a 58.3 per cent reduction in admissions when comparing 2020 with 2019 (85 vs 209); however, there was no difference in age (53.2 vs 57.2 years, p = 0.169) or length of stay (4.8 vs 3.7 days, p = 0.133). During 2020, the diagnosis of appendicitis increased (4.3 vs 18.8 per cent, p = < 0.05) as did severity (0 per cent > grade 1 vs 58.3 per cent > grade 1, p = < 0.05). The proportion of patients undergoing surgery increased (19.1 vs 42.3 per cent, p = < 0.05) as did the mean operating time (102.4 vs 145.7 min, p = < 0.05). Surgery was performed in 1 confirmed and 1 suspected Covid-19 patient. The latter died within 30 days. There were no 30-day readmissions with Covid-19 symptoms. CONCLUSION: Covid-19 has significantly impacted the number of admissions to emergency general surgery. However, emergency operating continues to be needed at pre-Covid-19 levels and as such provisions need to be made to facilitate this.

Prospective Observational Study of Intraoperative Anesthetic Events in District Hospitals in Namibia.

BACKGROUND: Access to safe surgery and anesthesia care is grossly inadequate in low- and middle-income countries, with a shortage of anesthesia providers contributing to this crisis. In Namibia, medical officers typically receive no >3 months of informal training in anesthesia. This study sought to determine the prevalence, currently unknown, of intraoperative adverse anesthetic events in this setting. Further, we assessed surgical volume, complications, and mortality outcomes at the district hospital level. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study over 7 months involving 4 district hospitals from geographically separate and diverse areas of Namibia. A standardized protocol was used to record adverse anesthetic events during surgery, surgical volume, and complications including mortality. RESULTS: A total of 737 surgical procedures were performed during the study period. There was a 10% prevalence of adverse anesthetic events intraoperatively. Of these, 70% were related to hypotension and 17% due to hypoxia and/or difficult/failed intubation. Ninety-eight percent of patients were classed as low risk (American Society of Anesthesiologists I or II). Seventy-two percent of the surgical workload was in obstetrics and gynecology, with over half being for urgent obstetrics. Perioperative mortality rate was 1.4/1000, with an overall surgical complication rate of 1.6% and a surgical infection rate of 0.8%. CONCLUSIONS: We found a 10% prevalence of adverse anesthetic events intraoperatively when anesthesia was administered by medical officers with no >3 months of informal training in this low-resource environment. The patients were considered low risk by the medical officers responsible for the anesthesia, yet these events had the potential to lead to patient harm.

Feasibility of using teleradiology to improve tuberculosis screening and case management in a district hospital in Malawi.

PROBLEM: Malawi has one of the world's highest rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (10.6%), and southern Malawi, where Thyolo district is located, bears the highest burden in the country (14.5%). Tuberculosis, common among HIV-infected people, requires radiologic diagnosis, yet Malawi has no radiologists in public service. This hinders rapid and accurate diagnosis and increases morbidity and mortality. APPROACH: Médecins Sans Frontières, in collaboration with Malawi's Ministry of Health, implemented teleradiology in Thyolo district to assist clinical staff in radiologic image interpretation and diagnosis. LOCAL SETTING: Thyolo district's 600 000 inhabitants are mostly subsistence-level or migrant farmers living in extreme poverty. Health facilities include one public hospital and 38 primary health centres. Understaffing and the absence of a radiologist make the diagnosis of tuberculosis difficult in a population where this disease affects 66% of patients with HIV infection. RELEVANT CHANGES: From September 2010-2011, 159 images (from 158 patients) were reviewed by teleradiology. Teleradiology changed patient management in 36 cases (23.5%). Two (1.3%) of them were cases of pulmonary tuberculosis not previously suspected by clinical staff. In addition, the radiologist's review corrected the misdiagnosis of tuberculosis and averted inappropriate treatment in 16 patients (10.5%). LESSONS LEARNT: Teleradiology can improve tuberculosis diagnosis and case management, especially if criteria to identify the patients most suitable for referral are developed and the radiologist is conversant with local resources and health problems. Designating a clinical focal point for teleradiology ensures sustainability. Staff need time to adapt to a new teleradiology programme.

Hip resurfacing in a district general hospital: 6-year clinical results using the ReCap hip resurfacing system.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study was to prospectively report the clinical results of 280 consecutive hips (240 patients) who received a ReCap Hip Resurfacing System implant (Biomet Inc., Warsaw, USA) in a single district general hospital. Literature reports a large variation in clinical results between different resurfacing designs and published results using this particular design are scarce. METHODS: Mean follow up was 3.3 years (1.0 to 6.3) and four patients were lost to follow-up. All patients were diagnosed with end-stage hip osteoarthritis, their mean age was 54 years and 76.4% of all patients were male. RESULTS: There were 16 revisions and four patients reported a Harris Hip Score <70 points at their latest follow up. There were no pending revisions. Kaplan-Meier implant survival probability, with revision for any reason as endpoint, was 93.5% at six years follow-up (95%-CI: 88.8-95.3). There were no revisions for Adverse Reactions to Metal Debris (ARMD) and no indications of ARMD in symptomatic non-revised patients, although diagnostics were limited to ultrasound scans. CONCLUSIONS: This independent series confirms that hip resurfacing is a demanding procedure, and that implant survival of the ReCap hip resurfacing system is on a critical level in our series. In non-revised patients, reported outcomes are generally excellent. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00603395.

Field survey of dental manpower in Taiwan's hospitals.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: In Taiwan, dental manpower in hospitals plays an important role in dental education other than clinical service. Questionnaires, as well as a field survey, were conducted to understand the situation of dental manpower in 2007 and 2008. METHODS: During the period from 2007 to 2008, questionnaires about dental administration, clinical dental practice, dental education, dental manpower and dental facilities were mailed to the dental departments of 165 hospitals located around Taiwan; 134 completed the questionnaire and mailed it back. The field survey was also carried out by visiting hospitals, to collect and gather information at the local level. There were 102 hospitals within the 134 hospitals which accepted the field survey; the rate was 62.0%. RESULTS: In 2008, the number of dentists working in the hospitals was 1,421, which was approximately 13% of the number of total dentists in Taiwan (9672). Within the 1,421 dentists, 675 were attending staffs and 745 dentists were training residents. Within the 675 attending dentists, 510 (75.6%) had dental specialist certificates and 272 (40.3%) had teaching positions in dental schools. There were 382 dental interns (6(th) year undergraduate students) taking the training programs in hospitals, most of whom were trained in medical centers (342/382, 89.5%). Moreover, there were 888 dental assistants, 338 of whom were nurses and the other 550 were hospital self-trained personnel. CONCLUSION: Comparing the dental manpower of different types of hospitals in Taiwan, the medical center was the best, followed by the regional hospital and the district hospital was last. When comparing 2008 with 2002, the numbers of both dentists and auxiliary personnel in Taiwan's hospitals increased with years. Although there were still only 13% dentists working in the hospital, they were responsible for teaching young dentists and doing research in hospitals. In other words, the quality of clinical service, teaching, and research in hospitals would influence the development of young dentists.

SBIRT outcomes in Houston: final report on InSight, a hospital district-based program for patients at risk for alcohol or drug use problems.

BACKGROUND: Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) services have been implemented as the standard of care for patients in the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD). The present analysis addresses alcohol and drug use for patients admitted over a 39-month period from July 1, 2005 through September 30, 2008. METHODS: Patients were screened for alcohol and drug use at medical admission. Those who were positive received further assessment and were transitioned to receive services as appropriate. A sample of consenting patients who were positive and received services was contacted at 6 months for a follow-up interview. Using an intent-to-treat (ITT) protocol, the analysis included all patients who were assigned for follow-up, including those with completed follow-ups as well as those who could not be contacted at follow-up. Patients not contacted at follow-up were assumed to have maintained their baseline drug and alcohol consumption levels. RESULTS: Of 59,760 patients who were screened by generalists (primarily nurses, physicians, and medical care technicians), 15,241 (26%) were positive and received further assessment and services. The 6-month follow-up interview completion rate was 66%. The ITT sample consisted of all 1,937 patients who were assigned for follow-up. There was an overall reduction in the number of patients reporting any days of heavy drinking from 70% at intake to 37% at 6-month follow-up and a reduction in the mean number of days of heavy drinking from 7.8 days at intake to 4.1 days at follow-up. The number of patients reporting any days of drug use was 82% at intake versus 33% at follow-up, and the mean number of days of drug use declined from 8.3 days at intake to 4.2 days at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The results were consistent with but of greater magnitude than most other studies reporting positive outcomes for SBIRT patients. Drug use and heavy alcohol use were found to decrease substantially from admission to follow-up. This finding holds good for all levels of drug or alcohol misuse severity, with the highest severity patients showing the largest decreases. Future studies are needed to control for potential regression to the mean effects and to develop improved understanding of differences in outcomes by race/ethnicity.

Provision of stroke thrombolysis services in New Zealand: changes between 2011 and 2016.

AIMS: To obtain an overall picture of the organisation of stroke thrombolysis provision in New Zealand hospitals and compare changes between 2011 and 2016. METHODS: Surveys were distributed to all New Zealand district health boards (DHBs) in 2011 and 2016, and included questions about the infrastructure, staffing, training, guidelines and audit provided for stroke thrombolysis. RESULTS: Responses were received from all DHBs, with 86% offering stroke thrombolysis in 2011 and 100% in 2016. In 2016, thrombolysis rosters of large DHBs (those with a population >250,000 people) had a mean (range) of 14 (5-34) clinicians, approximately double that of medium-sized DHBs (population 125-250,000) who had eight (3-15) and small DHBs (population <125,000) with seven, (2-13) clinicians. While a similar distribution of senior medical officer clinical specialty was seen across medium and small DHBs in both years, large DHBs in 2016 had a higher number of neurologists (5, 1-12) and an increasing number of general physicians (8, 0-30) rostered to provide thrombolysis compared to 2011. Thrombolysis services at medium and small DHBs are chiefly managed by general physicians and geriatricians, while telestroke support was only available in three medium-sized DHBs. In 2016, all hospitals had developed thrombolysis guidelines and audited thrombolysed patients in the National Stroke Thrombolysis Register, which is an improvement compared with 2011 when only seven (39%) DHBs reported regular audit. Challenges in staffing and training remain greatest in smaller and geographically isolated DHBs. CONCLUSION: While there have been improvements in the provision of stroke thrombolysis throughout New Zealand, regional variations in service quality remains. The needs for better solutions to geographical barriers and formal training must be addressed as priorities.

The evolution of a vascular surgeon at a district general hospital: is sub-specialisation inevitable?

We report a 15-year retrospective audit to evaluate the change in arterial surgical commitment on general surgical case mix of a single surgeon with a vascular interest at a district general hospital. There was a 409% increase in the number of arterial procedures performed combined with a fall of 52% in the total number of operations over the study period. We conclude that, with such a rapidly growing arterial caseload, sub-specialisation to vascular surgery is inevitable.

Review of 17 cases of ectopic pregnancy at the Vila Central Hospital in Vanuatu.

A review of cases of ectopic pregnancy operated upon at Vila Central Hospital during 1992 with an analysis of clinical presenting features and diagnostic factors is presented. Comparison is made between hospital, regional and national figures and possible explanations for the differences are given. Recommendations are made to ensure that ectopic pregnancy is always at the forefront of differential diagnosis in women presenting with abdominal pain.

Hospitals. Close call.

Health authorities and trusts need to listen hard to positive offers of help from the community to maintain services such as cottage hospitals. The determination of the local action group should be assessed early on, with a view to potential collaboration. The HA can take control by establishing a joint working group and funding an external consultant. The process can help restore community support for local health services.

Hospitals. Models of perfection.

Small general hospitals can adapt to changing demands in a number of ways. These include expanding day-case work and increasing outpatient services. Small hospitals could concentrate on elective surgery, or provide a full surgical service for a limited time each week, such as three days. Small ex-general hospitals could be used to provide rehabilitation services and beds for patients who do not need to be looked after in an acute hospital.