Urgent endovascular aorta repair for a rupture of a traumatic infrarenal aortic dissection: Case report and review of literature.

Traumatic aortic injury is a life-threatening condition usually followed by blunt trauma with damage at the thoracic aorta. Abdominal aortic injuries are rare and usually seen with seatbelt trauma. Timing and approach of treatment are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This case concerns a 66-year-old man with a high impact trauma after a fall from height. Upon presentation in our level two trauma center, he was conscious but hemodynamically unstable. Computer Tomography scan revealed multiple rib, spine and pelvic fractures with bilateral lung contusions warranting a transfer to a level one trauma center. However, an infrarenal aortic dissection with a retroperitoneal rupture and active bleeding necessitated acute surgical intervention. He was treated endovascularly with an off-the-shelf aortic stent graft which is meant for aortic aneurysm repair. Surgery was performed percutaneously under local anesthetic. Other fractures were treated conservatively. Postoperatively, the patient made a swift recovery without any complications in follow-up. As this case demonstrates, urgent endovascular repair of a traumatic infrarenal aortic injury can be done quickly with a minimally invasive approach with conventional stent graft systems thereby reducing the high morbidity and mortality rates associated with this life-threatening condition.

What you should know about the low anterior resection syndrome - Clinical recommendations from a patient perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Functional bowel complaints, referred to as Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS), are common after sphincter-saving surgical procedures and have a severe impact on quality of life (QoL). Care for LARS patients is complex and surgeons underestimate or misinterpret its associated symptoms. This study aimed to explore the impact of LARS from a patient perspective facilitating the construction of a set of recommendations improving current care stratagems. METHODS: In a non-academic Dutch teaching hospital, three focus group sessions were conducted with 16 patients (males = 50%) who had undergone colorectal surgery between 2012 and 2017. A trained moderator orchestrated patient-discussion regarding illness perception and health-care needs. Transcripts were analysed using inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Three themes were identified: illness perception, preoperative care and postoperative supportive care. Specific attention and screening for LARS is deemed necessary for breaking the taboo surrounding it. Extension of preoperative counselling on the normal postoperative course, including ways to optimize social support, were identified as crucial. After discharge, patients experienced a lack of supportive care regarding functional complaints and did not know who to counsel. In addition, they felt intrinsically motivated to actively prepare for surgery, i.e. by participating in prehabilitation programs. CONCLUSION: Exploring perspectives in LARS patients resulted in the identification of potential improvements in current care pathways. Recommendations on ways to improve information provision, screening of LARS and methods to intervene in the gap of supportive care after discharge are presented. We recommend to implement these measures as QoL of patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery may be improved.

[Better care and lower costs through registries; a first step to reimbursement based on outcome]. / Gedifferentieerd belonen mogelijk door registratie.

We have recently shown that costs of surgical treatment for colorectal carcinoma differ greatly between various patient groups in the Netherlands. Those cost-differences could mostly be explained by the fact that high-risk patients have a greater risk of complications, which generate higher hospital costs. Hospitals with a high-risk population, for instant tertiary referral centres, spend more than hospitals that treat low-risk patients. Currently reimbursement however is not geared to risk differences. In this article we investigate this shortcoming of the current reimbursement system and discuss how a differential rewarding - in which reimbursement is aligned with the patient's risk profile - could serve as a tool to further quality improvement in healthcare. Current clinical registries may provide the necessary details of patient characteristics for risk profiling and may also contribute to the following goal: reimbursement based on the quality of delivered care.

[Chronic neuralgia after knee surgery]. / Chronische zenuwpijn na een operatie aan de knie.

BACKGROUND: Chronic knee symptoms after surgery around the knee may be neuropathic. These symptoms are often described after intramedullary osteosynthesis of the lower leg, placement of total knee prosthesis and arthroscopy. This neuropathic pain may be caused by partial damage to the infrapatellar nerve. CASE DESCRIPTION: An 18-year-old patient had chronic neuropathic symptoms after intramedullary osteosynthesis of the lower leg. The diagnosis was made through physical examination and injection of lidocaine 1%. After surgical removal of the infrapatellar nerve, the patient became symptom-free for a long time. CONCLUSION: In case of chronic pain around the knee, neuropathic pain resulting from infrapatellar nerve damage should be part of the differential diagnosis. Neurectomy of the patellar nerve is a good treatment if conservative therapy did not lead to improvement of the symptoms.

Hospital costs of complications after esophagectomy for cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic burden of postoperative complications after esophagectomy for cancer, in order to optimally allocate resources for quality improvement initiatives in the future. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected clinical and financial outcomes after esophageal cancer surgery in a tertiary referral center in the Netherlands was performed. Data was extracted from consecutive patients registered in the Dutch Upper GI Cancer Audit between 2011 and 2014 (n = 201). Costs were measured up to 90-days after hospital discharge and based on Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing. The additional costs were estimated using multiple linear regression models. RESULTS: The average total cost for one patient after esophagectomy was €37,581 (±31,372). The estimated costs of an esophagectomy without complications were €23,476 (±6496). Mean costs after minor (47%) and severe complications (29%) were €31,529 (±23,359) and €59,167 (±42,615) (p < 0.001), respectively. The 5% most expensive patients were responsible for 20.3% of the total hospital costs assessed in this study. Patient characteristics associated with additional costs in multivariable analysis included, age >70 (+€2,922, p = 0.036), female gender (+€4,357, p = 0.005), COPD (+€5,415, p = 0.002), and a history of thromboembolic events (+€6,213, p = 0.028). Complications associated with a significant increase in costs in multivariable analysis included anastomotic leakage (+€4,123, p = 0.008), cardiac complications (+€5,711, p = 0.003), chyle leakage (+€6,188, p < 0.001) and postoperative bleeding (+€31,567, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Complications and severity of complications after esophageal surgery are associated with a substantial increase in costs. Although not all postoperative complications can be prevented, implementation of preventive measures to reduce complications could result in a considerable cost reduction and quality improvement.

Costs of complications after colorectal cancer surgery in the Netherlands: Building the business case for hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare providers worldwide are struggling with rising costs while hospitals budgets are under stress. Colorectal cancer surgery is commonly performed, however it is associated with a disproportionate share of adverse events in general surgery. Since adverse events are associated with extra hospital costs it seems important to explicitly discuss the costs of complications and the risk factors for high-costs after colorectal surgery. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of clinical and financial outcomes after colorectal cancer surgery in 29 Dutch hospitals (6768 patients). Detailed clinical data was derived from the 2011-2012 population-based Dutch Surgical Colorectal Audit database. Costs were measured uniform in all participating hospitals and based on Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing. FINDINGS: Of total hospital costs in this study, 31% was spent on complications and the top 5% most expensive patients were accountable for 23% of hospitals budgets. Minor and severe complications were respectively associated with a 26% and 196% increase in costs as compared to patients without complications. Independent from other risk factors, ASA IV, double tumor, ASA III, short course preoperative radiotherapy and TNM-4 stadium disease were the top-5 attributors to high costs. CONCLUSIONS: This article shows that complications after colorectal cancer surgery are associated with a substantial increase in costs. Although not all surgical complications can be prevented, reducing complications will result in considerable cost savings. By providing a business case we show that investments made to develop targeted quality improvement programs will pay off eventually. Results based on this study should encourage healthcare providers to endorse quality improvement efforts.

Ten-year mortality among hospitalised patients with fractures of the pubic rami.

In a case-control study, 99 patients aged over 60 years and admitted to hospital with an isolated single fracture of the pubic ramus were compared with age- and gender-matched patients without fractures, in terms of morbidity and mortality. Ten years of follow-up showed that the survival of patients with an isolated pubic ramus fracture was significantly lower than that of controls. The mortality rates of patients with isolated pubic ramus fractures at 1, 5 and 10 years were 24.7%, 64.4% and 93.8%, respectively. One-third of the mortality was due to cardiovascular events. A 20.2% complication rate was found during hospital admission, mainly caused by infectious diseases, including urinary tract infection and pneumonia. Thirty-three percent of the patients were temporarily or permanently admitted to a nursing home, because they were unable to mobilise independently. In conclusion, our study found significant morbidity and mortality among patients admitted to hospital for an isolated pubic ramus fracture, both during hospital admission and during 10 years of follow-up.

A man with chyloperitoneum: a case report.

Diagnostic image. A 60-year-old man with an adenocarcinoma of the stomach and kidney-cell carcinoma, developed chyloperitoneum after surgery.