Assessment of quality of life after laparoscopic GERD surgery in children: a prospective study.

The purpose of this study is to assess quality of life (QoL) after laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS) in children with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and to evaluate GERD symptoms and their impact on daily life and school. From June 2016 to June 2019, all children with GERD from 2 to 16 years of age, without neurologic impairment or malformation-related reflux, were prospectively included in a monocentric study. Patients (or their parents according to the age of the child) answered the Pediatric Questionnaire on Gastroesophageal Symptoms and QoL (PGSQ) before surgery and 3 and 12 months after surgery. Variables were compared by paired, bilateral Student t-test. Twenty-eight children (16 boys) were included. The median age at surgery was 77 months (IQR: 59.2-137) with median weight of 22 kg (IQR: 19.8-42.3). All had a laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication. Median duration of follow-up was 14.7 months (IQR: 12.3-22.5). One patient (4%) had a recurrence of GERD symptoms without abnormalities on follow-up examinations. Preoperative total PGSQ score was 1.42 (± 0.7) and decreased significantly 3 months (0.56 ± 0.6; p < 0.001) and 12 months after surgery (0.34 ± 0.4; p < 0.001). PGSQ subscale analysis revealed a significant decrease at 3 and 12 months for GERD symptoms (p < 0.001), impact on daily life (p < 0.001), and impact on school (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: There was a significant improvement in symptoms and their frequency after LARS in children, as well as an improvement of QoL, in the short and medium term. The impact of GERD should be taken into consideration in the treatment decision, given that surgery clearly improves the QoL. WHAT IS KNOWN: • Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS) is an established and effective treatment option in pediatric patients with severe GERD refractory to medical treatment. • Effect of LARS on the quality of life (QoL) has been mainly investigated in the adult population but there is very little data on the effect of LARS on the QoL in pediatric patients. WHAT IS NEW: • Our prospective study was the first to analyze the effect of LARS on QoL in pediatric patients without neurologic impairment using validated questionnaires at two postoperative time points with a significant improvement in postoperative QoL at 3 and 12 months. • Our study emphasizes the importance of evaluating QoL and impact of GERD on all the aspects of daily life and of taking these into consideration in the treatment decision.

Preparedness and Reorganization of Care for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients in a Swiss ICU: Characteristics and Outcomes of 129 Patients.

OBJECTIVES: In many countries, large numbers of critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 are admitted to the ICUs within a short period of time, overwhelming usual care capacities. Preparedness and reorganization ahead of the wave to increase ICU surge capacity may be associated with favorable outcome. The purpose of this study was to report our experience in terms of ICU organization and anticipation, as well as reporting patient characteristics, treatment, and outcomes. DESIGN: A prospective observational study. SETTING: The division of intensive care at the Geneva University Hospitals (Geneva, Switzerland). PATIENTS: All consecutive adult patients with acute respiratory failure due to coronavirus disease 2019 admitted in the ICU between March 9, 2020, and May 19, 2020, were enrolled. Patients' demographic data, comorbidities, laboratory values, treatments, and clinical outcomes were collected. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The ICU was reorganized into cells of six to eight patients under the care of three physicians and five nurses. Its capacity increased from 30 to 110 beds, fully equipped and staffed, transforming the surgical intermediate care unit, the postoperative care facility, and operating theaters into ICUs. Surge capacity has always exceeded the number of patients hospitalized. Among 129 critically ill patients with severe acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, 96% required invasive mechanical ventilation. A total of 105 patients (81%) were discharged alive and 24 died, corresponding to a mortality of 19%. Patients who died were significantly older, with higher severity scores at admission, had higher levels of d-dimers, plasma creatinine, high-sensitive troponin T, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin, and required more frequent prone sessions. CONCLUSIONS: A rapid increase in ICU bed capacity, including adequate equipment and staffing, allowed for a large number of critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 patients to be taken care of within a short period of time. Anticipation and preparedness ahead of the wave may account for the low mortality observed in our center. These results highlight the importance of resources management strategy in the context of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Digestive and genitourinary sequelae in rectal cancer survivors and their impact on health-related quality of life: Outcome of a high-resolution population-based study.

BACKGROUND: With the rising number of rectal cancer survivors, more patients with sphincter-preserving surgery are having to live with a potentially impaired quality of life. The survey aimed to assess bowel and genitourinary sequelae and their impact on quality of life in an unselected registry-based population of rectal cancer survivors. METHODS: This cross-sectional cohort survey (registered at ClinicalTrials.gov; ID: NCT03459235) included patients with rectal cancer who underwent curative surgery with sphincter-preserving surgery from January 1, 2007 to January 31, 2015. Patients with recurrent disease, intestinal stoma, or cognitive disorders were excluded. Validated scoring system included the Urinary Symptom Profile in women and the International Prostate Symptom Score in men for urinary function, International Index for Erectile Function 5 in men and Female Sexual Function Index in women for sexual function, and Core 30/ Colo Rectal 29 questionnaires for quality of life and Low Anterior Resection Syndrome score for bowel function. The impact of functional sequelae on global quality of life was evaluated by multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Responders (45.3%, 92/203 patients) and nonresponders were comparable according to sex, age, tumor stage, and neoadjuvant chemoradiation. With a mean follow-up of 6.5 years, 65.2% of the rectal cancer survivors had bowel dysfunction, of whom 41.3% experienced major Low Anterior Resection Syndrome and 80% of rectal cancer survivors experienced genitourinary dysfunction. In multiple linear regression, poor bowel function was a significant predictor of global quality of life in men (P = .04) and women (P = .0003). CONCLUSION: This survey highlights the importance of sexual and bowel dysfunction in rectal cancer survivors and the strong correlation between high Low Anterior Resection Syndrome score and inferior quality of life. Further studies are needed to improve knowledge on how to predict bowel dysfunction and how to best support patients with bowel dysfunction.

Socioeconomic status impacts survival and access to resection in pancreatic adenocarcinoma: A high-resolution population-based cancer registry study.

BACKGROUND: Survival of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) is very poor. Resection status is highly associated with prognosis but only 15%-20% are resectable. The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of socioeconomic deprivation on PA survival and to define which management steps are affected. METHODS: Between 01/01/2000 and 31/12/2014, 1451 incident cases of PA recorded in the digestive cancer registry of the French department of Calvados were included. The population was divided between less deprived areas (quintile 1) and more deprived areas (quintile 2,3,4,5 aggregated). RESULTS: Patients from less deprived areas were younger at diagnosis than those from more deprived areas (69.9 vs 72.3 years, p = 0.01). There was no difference in stage or comorbidities. Three- and 5-year survival rates were significantly higher for less deprived areas than more deprived areas: 10.5% vs 5.15% and 4.7% vs 1.7% respectively (p = 0.01). In univariate analysis, those living in less deprived areas had a better survival than those in more deprived areas (HR = 0.81 [0.69-0.95], p = 0.009) but not in multivariable analysis (HRa = 0.93 [0.79-1.11], p = 0.383) or analysis stratified on resection. In multivariable regression, less deprived areas had more access to surgery than more deprived areas (ORa = 1.73 [1.08-2.47], p = 0.013). No difference was observed on access to adjuvant chemotherapy (ORa = 0.95 [0.38-2.34], p = 0.681). CONCLUSION: The key to reducing survival inequalities in PA is access to resection, so future studies should investigate the factors impacting this issue.