Trends in the Rates of Pediatric Pyeloplasty for Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction over 19 Years: A PHIS Database Study.

Background. Over the past 20 years, the management of ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJ) has shifted. While many urologists note a decrease in the number of pyeloplasties performed over time, the nature of the change in practice has yet to be defined. In the current study, we utilize a national, multi-institutional database of children's hospitals to evaluate trends in patients undergoing pyeloplasty as well as the rate of surgical reconstruction over the past 20 years. Material/Methods. We queried the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database for all children undergoing primary pyeloplasty between 1992 and 2011. Clinical variables, including age at time of surgery, gender, length of stay (LOS), and geographic region, were determined. Age-adjusted rate of repair was also calculated per 100,000 PHIS inpatients. Results. 6,013 patients were included in the study, of which 71.6% were male and 64.2% were under the age of 24 months at time of surgery. Over the study period, the median age at time of surgery increased from 2-4 months to 12-14 months (P < 0.01). LOS decreased from a median of 5 days to 2 days (P < 0.001). The rate of surgery increased by 10.6 pyeloplasties per 100,000 PHIS inpatients from 1992 to 2011 (P < 0.01). The highest rate of pyeloplasty was in the northeast. The increase in pyeloplasties performed from 1992 to 1999 was specific to children aged greater than 24 months, while rates stayed the same in infants younger than 2 years during the same time period. In contrast, from 1999 to 2011, the rate of pyeloplasty decreased in patients less than 2 years of age, while the rate remained constant in patients over age 2. Conclusion. The rate of pyeloplasty increased in PHIS hospitals from 1992 to 2011. Trends are due to an increase in surgery in infants younger than 2 years from 1992 to 1999, followed by a progressive surgical rate decline, characterized by a shift towards patients older than 2 years of age.

Antireflux procedures for gastroesophageal reflux disease in children: influence of patient age on surgical management.

IMPORTANCE: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common diagnosis in infants and children, but no objective criteria exist to guide the diagnosis and treatment of this disease in this population. The extent to which age influences decisions about surgical treatment in childhood GERD is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with progression to antireflux procedures (ARPs) in children hospitalized with GERD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cohort study using inpatient data from 41 US children's hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database. We included patients younger than 18 years discharged from January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2010, with primary diagnostic codes for GERD (n = 141 190). We evaluated demographics, comorbidities, and diagnostic procedures descriptively and with a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model. EXPOSURE: Patient age. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Proportional hazard of progression to ARP during admission. RESULTS: Of the 141,190 patients meeting study criteria, 11,621 (8.2%) underwent ARPs during the study period. More than half of patients undergoing ARPs (52.7%) were 6 months or younger. Although most patients in the ARP group had preoperative upper gastrointestinal tract fluoroscopy (65.0%), these patients did not undergo a uniform workup. The hazard of progression to an ARP was significantly decreased in children aged 7 months to 4 years (hazard ratio, 0.63 [P < .001]) and 5 to 17 years (0.43 [P < .001]) relative to children younger than 2 months. Hazard ratios were independently increased for comorbid diagnoses of failure to thrive, neurodevelopmental delay, cardiopulmonary anomalies, cerebral palsy, and aspiration pneumonia and among patients with tracheoesophageal fistula and diaphragmatic hernia. Each additional GERD-related hospitalization was associated with a 10% increased risk of an ARP. CONCLUSIONS AND REVELANCE: Antireflux procedures are most commonly performed in children during a period of life when regurgitation is normal and physiologic and objective measures of GERD are difficult to interpret. To identify meaningful outcomes after ARP, indications must be clear and standardized. We must clarify the appropriate workup for infants and young children with GERD and better define "failure of medical management" in this population.

Total colectomy for ulcerative colitis in children: when are we operating?

PURPOSE: Ulcerative colitis (UC) in children is frequently severe and treatment-refractory. While medical therapy is well standardized, little is known regarding factors that contribute to surgical indications. Our aim was to identify factors associated with progression to colectomy in a large cohort of pediatric UC patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Pediatric Health Information System database. We identified all patients under age 18 discharged between January 1, 2004 and September 30, 2011 with a primary diagnosis of UC. Primary outcome was odds of total colectomy. RESULTS: Of 8,688 patients, 240 (2.8 %) underwent colectomy. Compared with non-operative patients, a greater proportion of colectomy patients received advanced therapies during admission, including corticosteroids (84.2 vs. 71.3 %) and biological therapy (25.4 vs. 13.6 %). Odds of colectomy were increased with malnutrition (OR 1.86), anemia (OR 2.17), electrolyte imbalance (OR 2.31), and Clostridium difficile infection (OR 1.69). TPN requirement also independently predicted colectomy (OR 3.86). Each successive UC admission significantly increased the odds of colectomy (OR 1.08). CONCLUSION: These data identify factors associated with progression to colectomy in children hospitalized with UC. Our findings help to identify factors that should be incorporated into future studies aiming to reduce the variability in surgical treatment of childhood UC.

Outcomes associated with type of intervention and timing in complex pediatric empyema.

BACKGROUND: The presence of effusion/empyema in pediatric pneumonia can increase treatment complexity by possibly requiring pleural drainage. Currently, no data support the superiority of any drainage modalities in children. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using the Pediatric Health Information System database from 2003 to 2008. RESULTS: A total of 14,936 children were hospitalized with effusion/empyema. Fifty-two percent of children were treated with antibiotics alone. Compared with patients receiving a chest tube, patients receiving antibiotics alone, thoracotomy, and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery had a shorter length of stay, lower mortality rates, and fewer re-interventions. Delaying drainage by 1 to 3 days was associated with a lower mortality rate, and a delay of more than 7 days was associated with a higher mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: Half of all children with effusion/empyema are treated with antibiotics alone with low morbidity and mortality. Initial video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery or thoracotomy had improved outcomes compared with other interventions. Intervention should not be delayed beyond 7 days.

Steroid use after the Kasai procedure for biliary atresia.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe patients undergoing the Kasai procedure at children's hospitals, evaluate outcomes, and analyze the association of these outcomes with systemic steroid use. METHODS: Biliary atresia patients (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, code 751.61) who underwent Kasai procedures at freestanding children's hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database from 2003 to 2008 were identified. Descriptive characteristics were examined, and regression analyses were used to determine whether postoperative steroid use was associated with length of stay, mortality, or cholangitis. RESULTS: Of the 516 children identified (40% male, 50% aged < 2 months), 239 (46%) received perioperative steroids. The mean total and postoperative lengths of stay were 14.5 +/- 19.7 and 11.3 +/- 16.3 days, respectively. Postoperative steroid use was significantly associated with a 3.5-day decrease in postoperative length of stay (95% confidence interval, .03-6.97). CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative steroids after the Kasai procedure are associated with shorter postoperative length of stay. Work is needed to ascertain whether this relationship is causal.