Point prevalence of surgical checklist use in Europe: relationship with hospital mortality.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of use of the World Health Organization surgical checklist is unknown. The clinical effectiveness of this intervention in improving postoperative outcomes is debated. METHODS: We undertook a retrospective analysis of data describing surgical checklist use from a 7 day cohort study of surgical outcomes in 28 European nations (European Surgical Outcomes Study, EuSOS). The analysis included hospitals recruiting >10 patients and excluding outlier hospitals above the 95th centile for mortality. Multivariate logistic regression and three-level hierarchical generalized mixed models were constructed to explore the relationship between surgical checklist use and hospital mortality. Findings are presented as crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: A total of 45 591 patients from 426 hospitals were included in the analysis. A surgical checklist was used in 67.5% patients, with marked variation across countries (0-99.6% of patients). Surgical checklist exposure was associated with lower crude hospital mortality (OR 0.84, CI 0.75-0.94; P=0.002). This effect remained after adjustment for baseline risk factors in a multivariate model (adjusted OR 0.81, CI 0.70-0.94; P<0.005) and strengthened after adjusting for variations within countries and hospitals in a three-level generalized mixed model (adjusted OR 0.71, CI 0.58-0.85; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of surgical checklists varies across European nations. Reported use of a checklist was associated with lower mortality. This observation may represent a protective effect of the surgical checklist itself, or alternatively, may be an indirect indicator of the quality of perioperative care. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The European Surgical Outcomes Study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01203605.

Large tonsillolith associated with the accessory duct of the ipsilateral submandibular gland: support for saliva stasis hypothesis.

Tonsillolith is a calcified mass in the tonsil and/or its surrounding tissue, which is considered to be caused by chronic tonsillitis. However, here we hypothesized that a tonsillolith can also be formed by chronic saliva stasis in the tonsillar tissue, without any signs of chronic inflammation. We present the case of a 32-year-old male patient with a large tonsillolith. We reviewed his medical files, pre-operative imaging and intraoperative findings. During a standard tonsillectomy, we encountered a large tonsillolith measuring 3.1 × 2.6 cm. Additionally, a careful dissection of the lower pole of the remaining tonsillar tissue revealed a large fistulous tract filled with saliva. Post-operative examination of the pre-operative CT scan found a hypodense fistulous tract extending from the lower tonsillar pole towards the left submandibular gland, measuring 36 mm in length, which was diagnosed as an accessory duct of the submandibular gland. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a large tonsillolith associated with the accessory duct of the ipsilateral major salivary gland. Furthermore, from the aetiopathological view, this finding supports the saliva stasis hypothesis for formation of the tonsillolith. However, larger studies, including a detailed radiological analysis as in our case, are needed to further investigate this possible aetiology of tonsilloliths.

Perforation--a rare complication of a small-bowel carcinoid.

Carcinoids are rare compared to other tumours of the gastrointestinal tract, but present a significant portion of tumours of the small intestine. The case of a 50-year-old man who suffered perforation of a small-bowel carcinoid after failed diagnostic trials is reported here. Since intestinal perforation is rarely the first sign of the presence of a carcinoid, it is useful to bear this in mind when dealing with unclear pathological changes of the small intestine.

Perioperative evaluation of glycaemic status in neck dissection: a retrospective analysis at a single hospital centre.

Diabetes mellitus is generally considered a risk factor for impaired wound healing. This study aimed to evaluate the glycaemic status of patients undergoing neck dissection and describe its impact on postoperative outcomes, especially wound healing. A retrospective analysis was performed of the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative glycaemic data obtained from the medical charts of 60 adult patients who had undergone 64 neck dissections. Nine of the 64 procedures were performed in diabetic patients (14.1%). The average glucose values were: preoperative 5.99 ± 1.25 mmol/l, intraoperative 8.90 ± 2.62 mmol/l, and postoperative 10.01 ± 2.49 mmol/l. All registered preoperative hyperglycaemia cases (eight cases) were diabetic. Postoperative insulin therapy was done in 14 procedures (21.9%). Wound healing complications were found in five patients (7.8%); there was no wound infection. There was no association of wound healing complications with preoperative diabetic status (P = 1.000), preoperative glucose control (P = 1.000), preoperative (P=0.469), intraoperative (P = 0.248), and postoperative (P = 0.158) glucose values, or with postoperative glucose control (P = 0.577). These data do not support the association of stress-induced hyperglycaemia or diabetes mellitus with postoperative wound healing problems in neck dissection.

Complications of sevoflurane-fentanyl versus midazolam-fentanyl anesthesia in pediatric cleft lip and palate surgery: a randomized comparison study.

Careful choice of anesthetic agents in pediatric patients reduces the frequency of anesthesia-related complications. The frequency and type of intraoperative and postoperative complications of sevoflurane-fentanyl versus midazolam-fentanyl anesthesia were compared in 140 consecutive children (aged 3 months to 10 years) undergoing cleft lip and palate repair. Midazolam-fentanyl anesthesia was induced with midazolam (0.05 mg/kg), fentanyl (0.005 mg/kg) and vecuronium (0.1mg/kg), and maintained with the same agents according to the defined parametars. Sevoflurane-fentanyl anesthesia was induced and maintained with sevoflurane (5-8 vol% and 0.8-1 vol%, respectively) in an oxygen/air mixture and supplemented with fentanyl (0.005 mg/kg). Both groups were comparable in basic demographic data, hemodynamic and respiratory parameters. Difficult intubation occurred in 6 of 76 children (midazolam-fentanyl group) and 4 of 64 children (sevoflurane-fentanyl group) (P=0.754). Ventricular extrasystole and bronchospasm occurred in one patient each in the sevoflurane-fentanyl group. Postoperatively, emergence agitation was observed in the sevoflurane-fentanyl group (17 cases; P<0.001); postoperative nausea and vomiting occurred in 2 children (midazolam-fentanyl group) and 3 children (sevoflurane-fentanyl group) (P=0.660). Midazolam-based anesthesia in children is safer than sevoflurane-based anesthesia regarding occurrence of emergence agitation.