The Effect of Educational Intervention on the Improvement of Nontechnical Skills in Circulating Nurses.

BACKGROUND: Nontechnical skills are necessary for clinicians' safe performance and prevention of errors in the operating room. Educational intervention is a useful way to improve these skills, which are a vital area for improvement. Circulating nurses are surgical team members whose work depends heavily on using nontechnical skills. This study is aimed at assessing the effect of an educational intervention on the improvement of circulating nurses' nontechnical skills. METHODS: This semiexperimental study was conducted on 300 circulating nurses divided into the intervention and no intervention groups each containing 150 participants. The nontechnical skills were assessed using the circulating practitioners' list of nontechnical skills. Then, the intervention group received training regarding these skills, and the two groups were evaluated again. After all, the data were entered into the SPSS 24 software and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests. Furthermore, Kendall's tau, independent sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used for assessment of relationship between median scores and demographics. RESULTS: The results revealed a significant improvement in the scores of all domains of nontechnical skills in the intervention group (p < 0.05). The highest and lowest improvements were observed in teamwork (42%) and situational awareness (16.7%), respectively. After the intervention, the scores of some of the behaviors were still below the average level or were not improved significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating nurses' nontechnical skills can be improved by educational interventions. However, regarding the low scores or no improvements in the scores of some behaviors, other intervention types such as policymaking and correcting the existing hierarchies in the operating room can be useful to complete the educational interventions.

A Primary Pleural Hydatid Cyst in an Unusual Location.

Hydatid cyst has a predilection to involve the liver and lungs. Most of the reported cases of intra-pleural hydatid cyst are secondary; primary involvement has rarely been reported in the English-language literature. Here, we report on a 33-year-old woman who presented with complaints of dyspnea, cough, low-grade fever, and chills over the previous 3 months. Primary pleural hydatidosis was suspected on abdominopelvic CT; hence, right thoracotomy and cystectomy were performed. Albendazole was administered postoperatively for 6 months. During this period, liver function tests and abdominal sonography results were normal. Despite its rarity, our case emphasizes that general surgeons should suspect primary hydatidosis of the plural cavity when they detect large cystic masses in patients with mediastinal shifting and radiography findings such as white lung, especially in patients with fever and dyspnea.

Which One is Better? Comparison of the Acute Inflammatory Response, Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Appendicitis and Alvarado Scoring Systems.

PURPOSE: Acute appendicitis (AA) is one of the most common causes of an acute abdomen. The accuracies of the Alvarado and the acute inflammatory response (AIR) scores in the diagnosis of appendicitis is very low in Asian populations, so a new scoring system, the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Appendicitis (RIPASA) system, was designed recently. We applied and compared the Alvarado, AIR, and RIPASA scores in the diagnoses of appendicitis in the Iranian population. METHODS: We prospectively compared the RIPASA, Alvarado, and AIR systems by applying them to 100 patients. All the scores were calculated for patients who presented with right quadrant pain. Appendectomies were performed; then, the postoperative pathology reports were correlated with the scores. Scores of 8, 7, and 5 or more are optimal cutoffs for the RIPASA, Alvarado, and AIR scoring systems, respectively. The sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values, negative predictive values (NPVs), positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) for the 3 systems were determined. RESULTS: The sensitivity and the specificity of the RIPASA score were 93.18% and 91.67%, respectively. The sensitivities of the Alvarado and the AIR scores were both 78.41%. The specificities of the Alvarado and the AIR scores were 100% and 91.67%, respectively. The RIPASA score correctly classified 93% of all patients confirmed with histological AA compared with 78.41% for the Alvarado and the AIR scores. CONCLUSION: The RIPASA scoring system had more sensitivity, better NPV, a positive LR, and a less negative LR for the Iranian population whereas the Alvarado scoring system was more specific.

Determinants of Successful Non-Operative Management of Intra- Peritoneal Bleeding Following Blunt Abdominal Trauma.

OBJECTIVES:  To identify the  predictive factors of successful non-operative  management  of patients  with intraperitoneal bleeding following blunt abdominal trauma. METHODS: This was cross-sectional study being performed in our Level I trauma center in southern  Iran between 2010 and 2011. We included adult (>14 years) patients with blunt  abdominal trauma  and intra-peritoneal hemorrhage  detected by CT-Scan who were hemodynamically stable and did not  require any surgical intervention. Patients were managed conservatively in ICU. Those who required laparotomy during the study period were named as non-operative  management failure (NOM-F) while the other were non- operative management success (NOM-S). The baseline, clinical and laboratory characteristics were compared between two study groups in order to detect the predictors of successful NOM of intra-peritoneal bleeding. RESULTS: Overall we included 80 eligible patients among whom there were 55 (68.7%) men and 25 (31.3%) women with mean  age of 30.63.6± years. Finally, 43 (53.8%) were successfully managed conservatively (NOM-S) while 37 (46.2%) required laparotomy (NOM-F). We found that those who underwent emergency laparotomy had significantly higher EHb (p=0.016) and lower base deficit (p=0.005) when compared to those who were successfully managed conservatively. Those who required surgical intervention had significantly lower baseline systolic blood pressure (p<0.001) and higher shock index (p=0.002). The other parameters such as pulse rate and respiratory rate were comparable between two study groups. CONCLUSION: In patients with intra-peritoneal bleeding following blunt abdominal trauma, the most reliable predictive clinical and para-clinical factor of successful non-operative  management  are shock index and systolic blood pressure on arrival, base deficit and hemoglobin drop within first 12 hours of admission.

Perihepatic Packing versus Primary Surgical Repair in Patients with Blunt Liver Trauma; an 8-year Experience.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the pros and cons of early versus delayed intervention when dealing with severe blunt liver injury with significant hemoperitoneum and hemodynamic instability. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study was performed at the Nemazi hospital, Shiraz, Southern Iran, level I trauma Center affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The study population comprised of all patients who were operated with the impression of blunt abdominal trauma and confirmed diagnosis of liver trauma during an 8-year period. All data were extracted from patients' hospital medical records during the study period. The patients' outcome was compared between those who underwent perihepatic packing or primary surgical repair. RESULTS: Medical records of 76 patients with blunt abdominal liver trauma who underwent surgical intervention were evaluated. Perihepatic packing was performed more in patients who have been transferred to operation room  due to unstable hemodynamics (p<0.001) as well as in patients with more than 1000 milliliters of hemoperitoneum based on pre-operative imaging studies (e.g. CT/US) (p=0.002). CONCLUSION: We recommend that trauma surgeons should approach perihepatic packing earlier in patients who have been developed at least two of these three criteria; unstable hemodynamics, more  than  1000 milliliters hemoperitoneum  and  more  than  1600 milliliters of intra-operative  estimated blood  loss. We believe that considering these criteria will help trauma surgeons to diagnose and treat high risk patients in time so significant hemorrhage (e.g. caused by dilatational coagulopathy, hypothermia and acidosis, etc.) can ultimately be prevented and more lives can be saved.

Short-term Outcome of Early Tracheostomy in the Trauma Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Unit: A Comparative Study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the results of early versus late tracheostomy in trauma patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS:  This was case control study being performed at a major trauma centre in Shiraz, Iran including 120 trauma patients admitted to ICU during a 2-year period and underwent tracheostomy during their ICU stay. The patients were categorized into two groups of the early tracheostomy who underwent tracheostomy within the first 7 days of initiation of mechanical ventilation (n=60), and the late tracheostomy group, in which tracheostomy was performed after 7 days (n=60). The duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU stay and hospital stay as well as mortality rates in ICU and hospital were recorded and compared between two study groups. RESULTS: The baseline characteristics such as age (p=0.325), sex (p=0.071), Glasgow coma scale (GCS) (p=0.431) and the mechanism of injury (p=0.822) were comparable between two study groups. Early tracheostomy was associated with a significantly shorter duration  of mechanical ventilation (p=0.008) and shorter ICU stay (p=0.003). Hospital stay (p=0.165), ICU mortality (p=0.243), and hospital mortality (p=0.311) were not different between the two study groups. CONCLUSION:  Early tracheostomy is associated with reduced ICU stay and shorter duration  of mechanical ventilation. Adopting a standardized strategy may improve resource utilization.