Compliance with sentinel lymph node biopsy guidelines for invasive melanomas treated with Mohs micrographic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has not been studied for invasive melanomas treated with Mohs micrographic surgery using frozen-section MART-1 immunohistochemical stains (MMS-IHC). The primary objective of this study was to assess the accuracy and compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for SLNB in a cohort of patients who had invasive melanoma treated with MMS-IHC. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included all patients who had primary, invasive, cutaneous melanomas treated with MMS-IHC at a single academic center between March 2006 and April 2018. The primary outcomes were the rates of documenting discussion and performing SLNB in patients who were eligible based on NCCN guidelines. Secondary outcomes were the rate of identifying the sentinel lymph node and the percentage of positive lymph nodes. RESULTS: In total, 667 primary, invasive, cutaneous melanomas (American Joint Committee on Cancer T1a-T4b) were treated with MMS-IHC. The median patient age was 69 years (range, 25-101 years). Ninety-two percent of tumors were located on specialty sites (head and/or neck, hands and/or feet, pretibial leg). Discussion of SLNB was documented for 162 of 176 (92%) SLNB-eligible patients, including 127 of 127 (100%) who had melanomas with a Breslow depth >1 mm. SLNB was performed in 109 of 176 (62%) SLNB-eligible patients, including 102 of 158 melanomas (65%) that met NCCN criteria to discuss and offer SLNB and 7 of 18 melanomas (39%) that met criteria to discuss and consider SLNB. The sentinel lymph node was successfully identified in 98 of 109 patients (90%) and was positive in 6 of those 98 patients (6%). CONCLUSIONS: Combining SLNB and MMS-IHC allows full pathologic staging and confirmation of clear microscopic margins before reconstruction of specialty site invasive melanomas. SLNB can be performed accurately and in compliance with consensus guidelines in patients with melanoma using MMS-IHC.

Postoperative Infections in Dermatologic Surgery: The Role of Wound Cultures.

BACKGROUND: Dermatologic surgery is associated with low postoperative infection rates, averaging from approximately 1% to 4.25%. Often, postoperative infections are treated empirically based on clinical diagnosis of infection, given it can take 48 to 72 hours for a wound culture to identify a pathogen. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of empiric antibiotics in dermatologic surgery postoperative infections and if wound cultures change postoperative antibiotic therapy. METHODS: A 7-center, retrospective analysis of postoperative infections, with culture data, in dermatologic surgery patients was performed. RESULTS: Of 91 cases of clinically diagnosed postoperative infection, 82.4% (n = 75) were successfully treated with empiric oral antibiotics (95% confidence interval [0.73-0.89], p < .0001). In 16 (17.6%) cases, initial empiric antibiotics were unsuccessful, and wound culture results altered antibiotic therapy in 9 cases (9.9%) with 6 (6.6%) of these cases requiring additional coverage for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). CONCLUSION: Empiric antibiotic treatment is usually appropriate for patients with postoperative surgical-site infections with wound cultures altering antibiotic management in a minority of cases. When empiric antibiotics fail, lack of MRSA coverage is usually the cause; therefore, providers should be aware of local MRSA prevalence and susceptibilities.

Evolution of Excisional Surgery Practices for Melanoma in the United States.

IMPORTANCE: National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for melanoma have consistently recommended wide local excision as the standard of care since their inception. Although surgery with more comprehensive margin assessment (eg, Mohs surgery) has been advocated for certain subsets of melanoma, how often these techniques are used in clinical practice is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in the use of comprehensive margin assessment surgery for melanoma by tracking claims data for Mohs surgery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This national cross-sectional analysis examined claims data from the Optum Clinformatics Data Mart, a nationally representative database. The study cohort consisted of 79 108 patients undergoing surgical excision for melanoma from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2016. Data were analyzed from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2016. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was the likelihood of a melanoma being treated with Mohs surgery over time, evaluated by multivariable logistic regression and expressed as the odds of treatment per additional calendar year. RESULTS: Among 79 108 patients with melanoma (median age, 63 years [interquartile range {IQR}, 51-73]; 47 407 men [59.9%]), 75 047 were treated with conventional excision (median age, 62 years [IQR, 50-73 years]; 44 786 men [59.7%]) and 4061 with Mohs surgery (median age, 67 years [IQR, 56-76 years]; 2621 men [64.5%]). Mohs surgery was used in 5.1% of all surgical cases, with the rate of Mohs surgery increasing 304% from 2.6% in 2001 to 7.9% in 2016. Odds of receiving Mohs surgery for melanoma increased significantly in more recent calendar years (odds ratio [OR], 1.02 per calendar year; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03; P < .001). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) use was only coded with Mohs surgery in 1087 cases (26.8%), and the odds of receiving Mohs surgery with IHC increased in more recent calendar years (OR, 1.13 per calendar year; 95% CI, 1.10-1.15; P < .001). Use of Mohs surgery and Mohs surgery with IHC for melanoma differed widely across geographic census divisions with greater than 3-fold variation between the regions with highest and lowest use in every period (eg, for 2013 through 2016, the East South Central region used Mohs surgery in 8.8% of melanoma excisions compared with 2.6 in the New England region). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Despite stable guidelines for melanoma surgery, the results of this study suggest that surgical practices for melanoma are evolving. Wide variations in surgical practice patterns for melanoma are present in the United States. This study's findings suggest that the effect of variations in surgical techniques on outcomes requires scrutiny and further study.