Electronic Health Program to Empower Patients in Returning to Normal Activities After General Surgical and Gynecological Procedures: Intervention Mapping as a Useful Method for Further Development.

BACKGROUND: Support for guiding and monitoring postoperative recovery and resumption of activities is usually not provided to patients after discharge from the hospital. Therefore, a perioperative electronic health (eHealth) intervention ("ikherstel" intervention or "I recover" intervention) was developed to empower gynecological patients during the perioperative period. This eHealth intervention requires a need for further development for patients who will undergo various types of general surgical and gynecological procedures. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to further develop the "ikherstel" eHealth intervention using Intervention Mapping (IM) to fit a broader patient population. METHODS: The IM protocol was used to guide further development of the "ikherstel" intervention. First, patients' needs were identified using (1) the information of a process evaluation of the earlier performed "ikherstel" study, (2) a review of the literature, (3) a survey study, and (4) focus group discussions (FGDs) among stakeholders. Next, program outcomes and change objectives were defined. Third, behavior change theories and practical tools were selected for the intervention program. Finally, an implementation and evaluation plan was developed. RESULTS: The outcome for an eHealth intervention tool for patients recovering from abdominal general surgical and gynecological procedures was redefined as "achieving earlier recovery including return to normal activities and work." The Attitude-Social Influence-Self-Efficacy model was used as a theoretical framework to transform personal and external determinants into change objectives of personal behavior. The knowledge gathered by needs assessment and using the theoretical framework in the preparatory steps of the IM protocol resulted in additional tools. A mobile app, an activity tracker, and an electronic consultation (eConsult) will be incorporated in the further developed eHealth intervention. This intervention will be evaluated in a multicenter, single-blinded randomized controlled trial with 18 departments in 11 participating hospitals in the Netherlands. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention is extended to patients undergoing general surgical procedures and for malignant indications. New intervention tools such as a mobile app, an activity tracker, and an eConsult were developed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Registry NTR5686; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=5686.

Does repeat Hb measurement within 2 hours after a normal initial Hb in stable trauma patients add value to trauma evaluation?

BACKGROUND: In our level I trauma center, it is considered common practice to repeat blood haemoglobin measurements in patients within 2 h after admission. However, the rationale behind this procedure is elusive and can be considered labour-intensive, especially in patients in whom haemorrhaging is not to be expected. The aim of this study was to assess the value of the repeated Hb measurement (r-Hb) within 2 h in adult trauma patients without evidence of haemodynamic instability. METHODS: The local trauma registry was used to identify all trauma patients without evidence of haemodynamic instability from January 2009 to December 2010. Patients in whom no initial blood Hb measurement (i-Hb) was done on admission, referrals, and patients without risk for traumatic injuries or haemorrhage based upon mechanism of injury (e.g. inhalation or drowning injury) were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 1,537 patients were included in the study, 1,246 of which did not present with signs of haemodynamic instability. Median Injury Severity Score (ISS) was 5 (interquartile range (IQR) 1 to 13), 22% of the patients were multitrauma patients (ISS > 15). A normal i-Hb was found in 914 patients (73%). Of the 914 patients with a normal i-Hb, 639 (70%) had a normal r-Hb, while in 127 patients (14%), an abnormal r-Hb was found. In none of these patients, the abnormal r-Hb led to new diagnoses. In 148 patients (16%), no repeated Hb measurement was done without clinical consequences. CONCLUSION: We conclude that repeated blood Hb measurement within 2 h after admission in stable, adult trauma patients with a normal initial Hb concentration does not add value to a trauma patient's evaluation.

Minimal invasive management of traumatic transection of the vertebral artery.

Stab wounds to the neck can be potentially lethal. They are often associated with vascular injury of the carotid artery and jugular vein. Injury of the vertebral artery is rarely seen. The injury can vary from severe bleeding after transection with hemorrhage into the surrounding soft tissues of the neck to dissection and separation of the intimal lining from the subjacent media of an artery and subsequent occlusion of the vessel. We report a case of traumatic vertebral artery transection managed by minimal invasive balloon occlusion.