Breast cancer screening patterns in Jamaican women: review of the largest national mammography clinic.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer and cancer related deaths in Jamaican women. In Jamaica, women often present with advanced stages of breast cancer, despite the availability of screening mammography for early detection. The utilization of screening mammography for early breast cancer diagnosis seems to be limited, and this study investigated the national patterns of mammographic screening and the impact of mammography on the diagnosis of breast cancer in Jamaica. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the records of the largest mammography clinic in Jamaica was done for the period January 2011 to December 2016. Descriptive statistics was performed on relevant patient characteristics with calculation of rates and proportions; cross-tabulations were utilized to assess relationship of covariates being studied on the outcomes of interest. Results are reported in aggregate form with no identifiable patient data. RESULTS: 48,203 mammograms were performed during the study period. 574 women (1.2%) had mammograms suspicious for breast cancer with median age of 57 years (range 30-95 years); 35% were under the age of 50. 4 women with suspicious findings had undergone 'screening mammography', with the remaining having 'diagnostic mammography'. 38% reported previous mammograms, with a mean interval of 8 years between previous normal mammogram and mammogram suspicious for breast cancer. Median age at first screening mammogram was 51 years (range 41-77). CONCLUSION: Breast cancer screening mammography is underutilized in Jamaica. An organized national breast cancer screening programme is recommended to improve adherence to international breast cancer screening guidelines.

The management of intra-abdominal infections from a global perspective: 2017 WSES guidelines for management of intra-abdominal infections.

Intra-abdominal infections (IAIs) are common surgical emergencies and have been reported as major contributors to non-trauma deaths in the emergency departments worldwide. The cornerstones of effective treatment of IAIs are early recognition, adequate source control, and appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Prompt resuscitation of patients with ongoing sepsis is of utmost important. In hospitals worldwide, non-acceptance of, or lack of access to, accessible evidence-based practices and guidelines result in overall poorer outcome of patients suffering IAIs. The aim of this paper is to promote global standards of care in IAIs and update the 2013 WSES guidelines for management of intra-abdominal infections.

Local Anesthesia Versus Local Anesthesia and Conscious Sedation for Inguinal Hernioplasty: Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Conscious sedation is regularly used in ambulatory surgery to improve patient outcomes, in particular patient satisfaction. Reports suggest that the addition of conscious sedation to local anesthesia for inguinal hernioplasty is safe and effective in improving patient satisfaction. No previous randomized controlled trial has assessed the benefit of conscious sedation in this regard. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the addition of conscious sedation to local anesthesia improves patient satisfaction with inguinal hernioplasty. METHODS: This trial is designed as a single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded trial of 148 patients. Adult patients diagnosed with a reducible, unilateral inguinal hernia eligible for hernioplasty using local anesthesia will be recruited. The intervention will be the use of intravenous midazolam for conscious sedation. Normal saline will be used as placebo in the control group. The primary outcome will be patient satisfaction, measured using the validated Iowa Satisfaction with Anesthesia Scale. Secondary outcomes will include intra- and postoperative pain, operative time, volumes of sedative agent and local anesthetic used, time to discharge, early and late complications, and postoperative functional status. RESULTS: To date, 171 patients have been recruited. Surgery has been performed on 149 patients, meeting the sample size requirements. Follow-up assessments are still ongoing. Trial completion is expected in August 2017. CONCLUSIONS: This randomized controlled trial is the first to assess the effectiveness of conscious sedation in improving patient satisfaction with inguinal hernioplasty using local anesthesia. If the results demonstrate improved patient satisfaction with conscious sedation, this would support routine incorporation of conscious sedation in local inguinal hernioplasty and potentially influence national and international hernia surgery guidelines. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02444260; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02444260 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6no8Dprp4).

Surgical quality in colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the quality of surgical management offered to patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) as measured by adequacy of nodal resections and compare variations across the major hospitals in Jamaica. METHOD: Data was obtained from the CRC Registry of patients diagnosed and treated surgically for CRC during the 3-year period commencing January 1, 2011. Variables analyzed included tumor site, stage and number of lymph nodes resected across hospitals. RESULTS: During the period under review 60% (349) of 586 patients had resections and formed the basis of this study. Of these 49% were treated at the UHWI, 27% from the KPH and STH, 15% from CRH and MRH and 8% from a private laboratory (DPS). Patient distribution was similar at UHWI compared to the others with mean age (61 vs 62) and with slightly more women having surgery (53% Vs 54%) (UHWI vs Others). For tumor grade, margin status, lymphovascular and depth of invasion (majority T3) there was no difference between UHWI and the other sites, although a smaller percentage of tumors treated at UHWI had Crohn's like reaction (p = 0.01). There was a larger proportion of sigmoid cancer at UHWI while the reverse trend was seen in cancers of the rectum (p = 0.027). The tumors treated at UHWI have a larger median number of regional nodes when compared to the other facilities (14 vs 10; p < 0.001) and also more likely to have positive nodes, as were women and younger patients. Comparison across facilities revealed that the proportion of tumors classed as well differentiated, circumferential margin involvement, and having lymphovascular invasion were higher for specimens processed at the private facility (p = 0.021, 0.035, 0.01 respectively). Histopathology reports of tumors treated at UHWI and DPS had median 14 and 18 nodes respectively while at NPH laboratory and CRH they were 9 and 10 respectively (p < 0.001), whilst those of the ascending, descending, sigmoid colon and rectum had median 15, 11, 13, 11 nodes respectively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This review demonstrates measurable differences in the surgery and histopathological reports for CRC patients treated across the island. Given adjuvant treatment and prognostic implications there is room for improvement.

Colorectal cancer survival in Jamaica.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the intermediate and long-term survival of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) and to determine factors that affect survival. METHOD: Patients were identified from a prospectively maintained colonoscopy database. All patients who underwent colonoscopy during the period January 2008 to December 2012 and had histologically confirmed invasive carcinoma were included. These patients were contacted at the end of 2013 to determine their survival status. In addition to demographics, variables analyzed included presenting complaint and tumor site and stage at presentation. RESULTS: Of 1757 patients being subjected to colonoscopy, 118 had endoscopic and histologic documentation of invasive CRC. Of these the survival status of 102 was determined as of December 2013 and they formed the basis of our study. The mean age of the group was 62 years with approximately 20% of the group being age 50 years or younger. Females (54%) slightly outnumbered males. Anemia or overt rectal bleeding was a dominant indication (44%) and 65% of the tumours were left sided. There were 58 (57%) deaths and the median overall survival time was two years post diagnosis. Log rank tests for equality of survivorship looking at age, gender, tumor site and presentation revealed that only presenting complaint was a predictor of survivorship (p < 0.001). Patients presenting with bleeding or anemia have the best survival. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival from colorectal cancer remains poor with only about 33% of patients being alive five years after their diagnosis.

Metastasis to the breast: a rare site for secondary malignancy.

Metastases to the breast from extramammary neoplasms are rare. Few cases of melanoma metastatic to the breast have been described in the literature. Correct identification of metastatic breast malignancy is of great significance since this presentation may be confused with primary benign or malignant breast disease.

Analgesia-sedation for day-case inguinal hernia repair

The objective of this study was to determine whether analgesia-sedation improved patient acceptance of day-case herniorrhaphy and to evaluate the extent of patient morbidity. A total of 98 patients (mean age 34 years, range 17-75 years) were studied before and after herniorrhaphy to determine their response to the procedure. All patients were unpremedicated and underwent herniorrhaphy using a Bassini repair technique with a standard local anaesthetic block. Sedation was obtained with titrated intravenous midazolam (Hypnovel, Roche Products Ltd.) without narcotic analgesia. Patients were evaluated with a simple questionnaire after surgery. The maximum dose of midazolam used was 5 mg (median dose 3.5 mg). Monitoring of vital signs with pulse oximetry during the operative period was routine though oxygen therapy was not required. All patients were able to walk without assistance and were discharged under responsible supervision. Operative morbidity was low (5 percent). Adverse reactions to the procedure such as nausea, vomitting and headache were not seen. In conclusion, conscious sedation allows amnesia to be achieved with low morbidity in the majority of patients undergoing local anaesthetic procedures. This should result in increased patient acceptance.