Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Emergency Department Visits After Outpatient Gynecologic Surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of and risk factors for emergency department (ED) visits within 30 days of outpatient gynecologic surgery. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Tertiary academic medical institution. PATIENTS: Adult patients who underwent outpatient surgery (≤1 midnight in the hospital) between January 2018 and September 2019 (N = 2373). INTERVENTIONS: Scheduled outpatient gynecologic surgery for a benign indication. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 109 patients (5%) visited the ED within 30 days of surgery. Patients who visited the ED were significantly younger (median age 37 years vs 42 years, p = .02) and had a higher prevalence of abdominal surgical history (67% vs 56%, p = .02) and cardiopulmonary comorbidities (53% vs 40%, p = .007). They were more likely to have undergone a hysterectomy (26% vs 20%) and less likely to have undergone prolapse surgery (4% vs 12%, p = .05). Pain related to the surgical site (42% of ED visits), nausea and/or vomiting (14%), and fever (12%) were the most common surgery-related reasons for ED visits. Medical issues not directly related to surgery accounted for 31% of ED visits. A total of 36% of ED visits resulted in admission. When adjusted for age, insurance status, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, chronic pain and cardiopulmonary comorbidities, abdominal surgical history, primary procedure performed, and surgical route, the following factors were associated with significantly increased risk of visiting the ED: decreasing age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-1.3, p <.001), history of abdominal surgery (aOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.6, p = .017), cardiopulmonary comorbidities (aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2-3.0, p = .003), undergoing hysterectomy (aOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.8, p = .032), and a vulvovaginal surgical route as opposed to abdominal surgical route (aOR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2-5.1, p = .015). CONCLUSION: ED visits after outpatient gynecologic surgery were uncommon, although approximately one-third of visits resulted in admission. Strategies that target our identified risk factors of younger patient age and cardiopulmonary comorbidities may help reduce the ED burden generated by patients undergoing gynecologic surgery.

Skin Incision Selection in Superobese Women Undergoing Cesarean Birth.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine whether vertical versus transverse skin incision is associated with increased wound complications in superobese women undergoing cesarean. STUDY DESIGN: This is a secondary analysis of a retrospective cohort study that included women with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 50 kg/m2 and a cesarean birth with documented skin incision type from 1/1/2008 to 12/31/2015 at a single academic medical center. The primary outcome was a composite of wound complications: infection requiring antibiotics including superficial cellulitis, deep and organ space infections requiring packing, vacuum placement or exploration and debridement in the operating room. Secondary outcomes included estimated blood loss (EBL), time from skin incision to delivery, need for classical or T-hysterotomy, prolonged hospital admission (>4 days), and a composite of adverse neonatal outcomes. The primary exposure was skin incision type, transverse or vertical. Modified Poisson regression variance was used to adjust for differences in baseline characteristics. RESULTS: During the study period, 298 women underwent a cesarean with a known skin incision type. Vertical skin incision occurred in 25.8%. Women with a vertical skin incision were younger, had a higher BMI at delivery, had less weight gain in pregnancy, and were less likely to have labored prior to cesarean. Wound complications were not significantly more common in women with a vertical skin incision after adjusting for covariates (vertical 48.1 vs. transverse 29.4%, adjusted relative risk (aRR): 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.92-1.86). Compared with a transverse skin incision, vertical skin incision was associated with an increased risk for classical hysterotomy (67 vs. 17%, aRR: 2.96, 95% CI: 2.12-4.14), higher EBL, prolonged hospital stay, and composite neonatal morbidity. There were no statistically significant differences in the time from skin incision to delivery. CONCLUSION: In superobese women, vertical skin incision was not associated with increased wound complications, but was associated with increased risk for classical hysterotomy. KEY POINTS: · Vertical skin incision was not associated with a higher risk for composite wound morbidity after adjusting for covariates.. · Vertical skin incision was significantly associated with classical hysterotomy without associated decrease in incision to delivery time or neonatal morbidity.. · When selecting a skin incision approach in superobese women, clinicians should consider whether potential benefits outweigh known risks..

Pregnancy in a Patient with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Severe Restrictive Lung Disease.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare autosomal recessive neuromuscular disease that is often associated with chronic respiratory failure. Few cases have described the antepartum and postpartum course in patients with severely compromised respiratory status. We present a case of a 24-year-old nullipara with a history of SMA type II complicated by surgically corrected kyphoscoliosis and severe restrictive lung disease. Her pregnancy was complicated by progressively worsening dyspnea resulting in increased use of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation, ultimately leading to indicated premature delivery at 28 weeks' gestation via cesarean section under general anesthesia. Women with SMA and severe restrictive lung disease are at high risk of premature delivery secondary to worsening respiratory status. A multidisciplinary approach is vital in treating these patients.

Conventional Laparoscopy Is the Better Option for Tubal Sterilization Reversal: A Closer Look at Tubal Reanastomosis.

Background: Permanent sterilization is one of the most common methods of birth control in the United States and around the world. A small subset of women will regret their decision and desire future fertility. For these women, the options include in vitro fertilization (IVF) or surgical reversal. Surgical reversal, specifically via tubal reanastamosis, is an important choice to consider. Surgical reversal can be accomplished via three different general approaches including laparotomy, conventional laparoscopy, and robot-assisted approaches. Unfortunately, surgical reversal is becoming a lost art. Objective: To compare and contrast pregnancy success rates, ectopic pregnancy rates, and cost between the surgical methods and IVF. Methods: We conducted a literature review via Pubmed with keywords as listed below. Conclusion: Laparoscopic tubal reanastomosis is the best approach for women <40 years of age due to pregnancy outcomes that are comparable to other methods, cost effectiveness, and favorable safety profile of minimally invasive surgery.

Neuropeptide Y/Y5 Receptor Pathway Stimulates Neuroblastoma Cell Motility Through RhoA Activation.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) has been implicated in the regulation of cellular motility under various physiological and pathological conditions, including cancer dissemination. Yet, the exact signaling pathways leading to these effects remain unknown. In a pediatric malignancy, neuroblastoma (NB), high NPY release from tumor tissue associates with metastatic disease. Here, we have shown that NPY stimulates NB cell motility and invasiveness and acts as a chemotactic factor for NB cells. We have also identified the Y5 receptor (Y5R) as the main NPY receptor mediating these actions. In NB tissues and cell cultures, Y5R is highly expressed in migratory cells and accumulates in regions of high RhoA activity and dynamic cytoskeleton remodeling. Y5R stimulation activates RhoA and results in Y5R/RhoA-GTP interactions, as shown by pull-down and proximity ligation assays, respectively. This is the first demonstration of the role for the NPY/Y5R axis in RhoA activation and the subsequent cytoskeleton remodeling facilitating cell movement. These findings implicate Y5R as a target in anti-metastatic therapies for NB and other cancers expressing this receptor.

Nasopharyngeal Microbiome Diversity Changes over Time in Children with Asthma.

BACKGROUND: The nasopharynx is a reservoir for pathogens associated with respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been used to characterize the nasopharyngeal microbiome of infants and adults during health and disease; less is known, however, about the composition and temporal dynamics (i.e., longitudinal variation) of microbiotas from children and adolescents. Here we use NGS technology to characterize the nasopharyngeal microbiomes of asthmatic children and adolescents (6 to 18 years) and determine their stability over time. METHODS: Two nasopharyngeal washes collected 5.5 to 6.5 months apart were taken from 40 children and adolescents with asthma living in the Washington D.C. area. Sequence data from the 16S-V4 rRNA gene region (~250 bp) were collected from the samples using the MiSeq platform. Raw data were processed in mothur (SILVA123 reference database) and Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU)-based alpha- and beta-diversity metrics were estimated. Relatedness among samples was assessed using PCoA ordination and Procrustes analyses. Differences in microbial diversity and taxon mean relative proportions were assessed using linear mixed effects models. Core microbiome analyses were also performed to identify stable and consistent microbes of the nasopharynx. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 2,096,584 clean 16S sequences corresponding to an average of 167 OTUs per sample were generated. Representatives of Moraxella*, Staphylococcus*, Dolosigranulum, Corynebacterium, Prevotella, Streptococcus*, Haemophilus*, Fusobacterium* and a Neisseriaceae genus accounted for 86% of the total reads. These nine genera have been previously found in the nasopharynxes of both infants and adults, but in different proportions. OTUs from the five genera highlighted (*) above defined the nasopharyngeal core microbiome at the 95% level. No significant differences in alpha- and beta-diversity were observed between seasons, but bacterial mean relative proportions of Haemophilus, Moraxella, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium varied significantly between summer-fall and age groups (inter-patient variation). Additionally, OTUs varied significantly within patients between time points in 35 of the 40 patients analyzed. Future cross-sectional studies should be mindful of the temporal dynamics of the nasopharyngeal microbiota.