Investigating the burden of cardiovascular comorbidities in inpatient non-melanoma skin cancer outcomes.

While cardiovascular comorbidities can affect the outcomes of a variety of conditions, to our knowledge, few studies have evaluated their impact on non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC). We studied the National Inpatient Sample to evaluate the impact of cardiovascular comorbidities on NMSC hospitalizations. Our findings displayed higher cost of care (Beta 5053; SE 1150; P < 0.001), length of stay (Beta 1.8; SE 0.394; P < 0.001), and mortality (aOR 2.51; CI 1.49-4.21; P < 0.001) in patients with NMSC who had an associated cardiovascular comorbidity. Specifically, patients with cerebrovascular disease (aOR 3.52; CI 1.18-10.5; P = 0.024), heart failure (aOR 4.02; CI 2.29-7.05; P < 0.001), complicated hypertension (OR 2.05; CI 1.16-3.61; P = 0.013), and pulmonary circulation disease (aOR 3.33; CI 1.13-9.78; P = 0.029) demonstrated greater odds of mortality.

Treating Melanoma in Situ During a Pandemic with Telemedicine and a Combination of Imiquimod, 5-Fluorouracil, and Tretinoin.

The recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created a quandary for the physician in terms of evaluating and treating cutaneous skin cancers, particularly melanomas. At the onset of the pandemic, many planned medical and surgical visits for skin cancers were postponed. Physicians and patients have had to balance the risk of exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with that of worsening morbidity and mortality due to delays in skin cancer treatments. We present a male patient who had two melanoma-in-situs (MISs) that were treated during the COVID-19 pandemic with a combination of topical imiquimod 5% cream, 5-fluorouracil 2% solution, and tretinoin 0.1% cream. The successful treatments occurred without in-person visits and with the aid of telemedicine. Although surgery is the standard for the treatment of melanoma in situ, this case demonstrates an effective viable treatment modality for MIS during a pandemic situation.

Residents' response to bleeding during a simulated robotic surgery task.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess performance measurement validity of our newly developed robotic surgery task trainer. We hypothesized that residents would exhibit wide variations in their intercohort performance as well as a measurable difference compared to surgeons in fellowship training. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our laboratory synthesized a model of a pelvic tumor that simulates unexpected bleeding. Surgical residents and fellows of varying specialties completed a demographic survey and were allowed 20 minutes to resect the tumor using the da Vinci robot and achieve hemostasis. At a standardized event in the simulation, venous bleeding began, and participants attempted hemostasis using suture ligation. A motion tracking system, using electromagnetic sensors, recorded participants' hand movements. A postparticipation Likert scale survey evaluated participants' assessment of the model's realism and usefulness. RESULTS: Three of the seven residents (postgraduate year 2-5), and the fellow successfully resected the tumor in the allotted time. Residents showed high variability in performance and blood loss (125-700 mL) both within their cohort and compared to the fellow (150 mL blood). All participants rated the model as having high realism and utility for trainees. CONCLUSIONS: The results support that our bleeding pelvic tumor simulator has the ability to discriminate resident performance in robotic surgery. The combination of motion, decision-making, and blood loss metrics offers a multilevel performance assessment, analyzing both technical and decision-making abilities.

Error tolerance: an evaluation of residents' repeated motor coordination errors.

BACKGROUND: The study investigates the relationship between motor coordination errors and total errors using a human factors framework. We hypothesize motor coordination errors will correlate with total errors and provide validity evidence for error tolerance as a performance metric. METHODS: Residents' laparoscopic skills were evaluated during a simulated laparoscopic ventral hernia repair for motor coordination errors when grasping for intra-abdominal mesh or suture. Tolerance was defined as repeated, failed attempts to correct an error and the time required to recover. RESULTS: Residents (N = 20) committed an average of 15.45 (standard deviation [SD] = 4.61) errors and 1.70 (SD = 2.25) motor coordination errors during mesh placement. Total errors correlated with motor coordination errors (r[18] = .572, P = .008). On average, residents required 5.09 recovery attempts for 1 motor coordination error (SD = 3.15). Recovery approaches correlated to total error load (r[13] = .592, P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Residents' motor coordination errors and recovery approaches predict total error load. Error tolerance proved to be a valid assessment metric relating to overall performance.