Evaluation of an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocol (ERAS) for Same-Day Discharge and Reduction of Opioid Use Following Bimaxillary Orthognathic Surgery.

PURPOSE: This study sought to evaluate the impact of implementation of a comprehensive enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol upon patients undergoing maxillary and mandibular osteotomy (MMO). METHODS: This study was a retrospective, observational study of patients undergoing MMO. The study intervention group consisted of patients who underwent MMO with utilization of ERAS protocol compared to control group without ERAS. The primary outcome measure was same-day discharge. Secondary outcome measures included hospital length-of-stay (LOS), overall dose of opioids administered, total operating room time, estimated blood loss, need for hospital admission, and complications. Descriptive statistics and multivariable analysis were computed and the P value was set at .05. RESULTS: We compared 189 patients who underwent MMO with and without genioplasty and received a comprehensive surgical and multimodal analgesic regimen to 170 control patients who underwent MMO with or without genioplasty without receiving the above protocol. There was a statistically significant decrease in hospital admission post-surgery (83.5% - control vs 22.2% - intervention) and in overall hospital length-of-stay in the intervention group. There was no change in the overall operating room time, but there was a decrease in blood loss in the intervention group. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that use of a comprehensive ERAS protocol for patients undergoing MMO will decrease hospital length-of-stay without an increase in readmissions or complications. Future studies are needed to evaluate if pain scores, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and other complications differed when using a ERAS protocol.

Breastfeeding Persistence at 6 Months: Trends and Disparities from 2008 to 2015.

OBJECTIVE: To assess trends and disparities in breastfeeding by maternal characteristics (race and ethnicity, age at delivery, obesity, parity, and level of education) and the relative importance among these for breastfeeding at 6 months. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective birth cohort study included 195 861 live singleton children born at 32-42 weeks of gestation from 2008 to 2015 within a single integrated healthcare system. All children had healthcare coverage during the first year of life. Maternal characteristics and breastfeeding status at 6 months of age were extracted from electronic medical records. Trends over time of any breastfeeding ≥6 months were evaluated for the 5 maternal characteristics. Robust Poisson regression models were used to estimate breastfeeding rate differences associated with each of the 5 characteristics. The relative importance among them associated with breastfeeding ≥6 months was assessed by comparing model quasi-likelihood information criteria. RESULTS: Rates of breastfeeding ≥6 months significantly increased overall and among groups defined by the maternal characteristics. However, there was little improvement over time in closing disparities associated with maternal race and ethnicity, age at delivery, prepregnancy obesity status, and level of education. Education level contributed to the greatest disparity in breastfeeding ≥6 months. Maternal age was the second factor, followed by prepregnancy obesity and maternal race and ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding outreach programs focusing on women with less than a college education, women <25 years old, and women from non-Hispanic black or Hispanic race and ethnicity may help to reduce disparities and improve breastfeeding persistence rates within integrated healthcare systems.

Perioperative Acetaminophen and Dexmedetomidine Eliminate Post-Operative Opioid Requirement following Pediatric Tonsillectomy.

Administration of post-operative opioids following pediatric tonsillectomy can elicit respiratory events in this patient population that often arise as central and obstructive sleep apnea. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether a perioperative combination of dexmedetomidine and acetaminophen could eliminate post-operative (in recovery and at home) opioid requirements. Following IRB approval and a waiver for informed consent, the medical records of 681 patients who underwent tonsillectomy between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2018 were evaluated. Between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2015, all patients received a fentanyl-sevoflurane-based anesthetic, without acetaminophen or dexmedetomidine, and received opioids in recovery and for discharge home. On 1 January 2016, an institution-wide practice change replaced this protocol with a multimodal perioperative regimen of acetaminophen (intravenous or enteral) and dexmedetomidine and eliminated post-operative opioids. This is the first time that the effect of an acetaminophen and dexmedetomidine combination on the perioperative and home opioid requirement has been reported. Primarily, we compared the need for rescue opioids in the post-anesthesia care period and after discharge. The multi-modal protocol eliminated the need for post-tonsillectomy opioid administration. Dexmedetomidine in combination with acetaminophen eliminated the need for post-operative opioids in the recovery period.