Overnight In-House Critical Care Resource Intensivist Improves General Surgery Resident Education.

24/7 critical care staffing has become more commonplace, and their impact on resident training must be carefully considered. At our institution, the Critical Care Resource Intensivist (CCRI) model was implemented to provide in-house dedicated faculty responsible solely for the provision of critical care overnight. An anonymous survey was distributed to all general surgery residents to evaluate CCRI's impact on education and autonomy. Descriptive statistics were completed for quantitative data. Qualitative analysis of free text responses was completed to identify consensus themes. Responses from 26 residents demonstrated they associated CCRI with improved resident education, supervision, and patient care, without limiting autonomy. Qualitative analysis yielded 7 themes, reflecting improvements in patient care and safety, progression of care, operations and procedures, improved education, availability, and independence, but noted potential for conflict. Our findings show 24/7 dedicated intensivist staffing can enhance general surgery resident education without limiting autonomy.

Colorectal Malignancy Complicated by Arterioenteric Fistula.

Arterioenteric fistulas (AEF) are rare and devastating complications of colorectal/pelvic malignancies. These fistulas can be seen following neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy but are exceptionally rare de novo. The reported incidence of AEF is less than 1% and iliac artery-enteric fistulas make up less than .1% of all AEF. Here we present a patient in hemorrhagic shock secondary to an advanced colorectal malignancy without adjuvant therapies with local invasion of the right external iliac artery. Following initial resuscitation and hemorrhage control with coil embolization, definitive control with ligation and excision of the involved artery, end colostomy, and ureteral stent placement was achieved. It is important to consider malignancy as the source of lower gastrointestinal bleeds, especially in elderly patients without current colonoscopy studies. The management of this unfortunate diagnosis often involves a multidisciplinary approach with early and frequent goals of care discussions.

Surgical Options and Approaches for Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding: When do we operate and what do we do?

Lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) is a common entity encountered by the surgeon. Though most LGIB stops on its own, familiarity with the diagnoses and their treatments is critical to optimal patient care. Even in 2016, surgery may be required. Advances in imaging have led to an enhanced ability to localize bleeding. Newer anticoagulants have developed which provide ease of use to the patient, but challenges to caregivers when bleeding arises.

An Informed Consent Program Enhances Surgery Resident Education.

OBJECTIVE: First-year residents often obtain informed consent from patients. However, they typically receive no formal training in this area before residency. We wished to determine whether an educational program would improve residents' comfort with this process. DESIGN: Our institution created an informed consent educational program, which included a didactic component, a role-play about informed consent, and a simulation exercise using standardized patients. Residents completed surveys before and after the intervention, and responses to survey questions were compared using the signed-rank test. SETTING: This study took place at Temple University Hospital, a tertiary care institution in Philadelphia, PA. PARTICIPANTS: First-year surgery and emergency medicine residents at Temple University Hospital in 2014 participated in this study. Thirty-two residents completed the preintervention survey and 27 residents completed the educational program and postintervention survey. RESULTS: Only 37.5% had ever received formal training in informed consent before residency. After participating in the educational program, residents were significantly more confident that they could correctly describe the process of informed consent, properly fill out a procedure consent form, and properly obtain informed consent from a patient. Their comfort level in obtaining informed consent significantly increased. They found the educational program to be very effective in improving their knowledge and comfort level in obtaining informed consent. In all, 100% (N = 27) of residents said they would recommend the use of the program with other first-year residents. CONCLUSIONS: Residents became more confident in their ability to obtain informed consent after participating in an educational program that included didactic, role-play, and patient simulation elements.

Correlating planned radiation dose to the cochlea with primary site and tumor stage in patients with head and neck cancer treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

The aim of the study was to determine tumor characteristics that predict higher planned radiation (RT) dose to the cochlea in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). From 2004 to 2012, 99 patients with HNC underwent definitive IMRT to a median dose of 69.96Gy in 33 fractions, with the right and left cochlea-vestibular apparatus contoured for IMRT optimization as avoidance structures. If disease involvement was adjacent to the cochlea, preference was given to tumor coverage by prescription dose. Descriptive statistics were calculated for dose-volume histogram planning data, and mean planning dose to the cochlea (from left or right cochlea, receiving the greater amount of RT dose) was correlated to primary site and tumor stage. Mean (standard deviation) cochlear volume was 1.0 (0.60)cm(3) with maximum and mean planned doses of 31.9 (17.5)Gy and 22.1 (13.7)Gy, respectively. Mean planned dose (Gy) to cochlea by tumor site was as follows: oral cavity (18.6, 14.4), oropharynx (21.7, 9.1), nasopharynx (36.3, 10.4), hypopharynx (14.9, 7.1), larynx (2.1, 0.62), others including the parotid gland, temporal bone, and paranasal sinus (33.6, 24.0), and unknown primary (25.6, 6.7). Average mean planned dose (Gy) to the cochlea in T0-T2 and T3-T4 disease was 22.0 and 29.2Gy, respectively (p = 0.019). By site, a significant difference was noted for nasopharynx and others (31.6 and 50.7, p = 0.012) but not for oropharynx, oral cavity, and hypopharynx. Advanced T category predicted for higher mean cochlear dose, particularly for nasopharyngeal, parotid gland, temporal bone, and paranasal sinus HNC sites.