Identifying Relevant Topics for Inclusion in an Ethics Curriculum for Anesthesiology Trainees: A Survey of Practitioners in the Field.

Anesthesiology training programs are tasked with equipping trainees with the skills to become medically and ethically competent in the practice of anesthesia and to be prepared to obtain board certification, yet there is currently no standardized ethics curriculum within anesthesia training programs in the United States. To bridge this gap, and to provide a validated ethics curriculum to meet the aforementioned needs, in July 2021, a survey was sent to anesthesia scholars in the field of biomedical ethics to identify key areas that should be included in such an ethics curriculum. The responses were rated on a Likert scale and ranked. This paper identifies the top ten topics identified as high priority for inclusion in an anesthesiology training program and consequently deemed most relevant to meet the educational needs of graduates of an anesthesiology residency: (1) capacity to consent; (2) capacity to refuse elective versus lifesaving treatment; (3) application of surrogate decisionmaking; (4) approach to do not resuscitate (DNR) status in the operating room; (5) patient autonomy and advance directives; (6) navigating patient beliefs that may impair care; (7) "futility" in end-of-life care: when to withdraw life support; (8) disclosure of medical errors; (9) clinical criteria for "brain death" and consequences of this definition; and (10) the impaired anesthesiologist.

Preoperative Pressure Ulcers, Mortality, and Complications in Older Hip Fracture Surgery Patients.

INTRODUCTION: The effect of a preoperative pressure ulcer (PPU) in hip fracture patients on postoperative outcomes has not been well studied. We hypothesized that the presence of a PPU would be associated with increased mortality and serious complications in hip fracture surgery patients. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study of 19,520 hip fracture patients from 2016 to 2019 with data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. The study exposure was the presence of a PPU. This study's primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism, surgical site infection, pneumonia, and unplanned hospital readmission. Propensity score analysis and inverse probability of treatment weighting were used to control for confounding and reduce bias. RESULTS: The presence of a PPU was independently associated with a 21% increase in odds of 30-day mortality (odds ratio (OR) = 1.2, P = 0.004). The presence of a PPU was also independently associated with increased odds of DVT (OR = 1.59, P < 0.001), pneumonia (OR = 1.39, P < 0.001), and unplanned hospital readmission (OR = 1.43, P < 0.001) and a significant increase in the mean length of hospital stay of 0.4 days (P = 0.007). DISCUSSION: We found that PPUs were independently associated with increased 30-day mortality, DVT, pneumonia, hospital length of stay, and unplanned hospital readmission.

Racial-ethnic disparities in potentially preventable complications after cesarean delivery in Maryland: an observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Potentially preventable complications are monitored as part of the Maryland Hospital Acquired Conditions Program and are used to adjust hospital reimbursement. Few studies have evaluated racial-ethnic disparities in potentially preventable complications. Our study objective was to explore whether racial-ethnic disparities in potentially preventable complications after Cesarean delivery exist in Maryland. METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational cohort study using data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission database. All patients having Cesarean delivery, who had race-ethnicity data between fiscal years 2016 and 2020 were included. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was performed to estimate risk-adjusted odds of having a potentially preventable complication in patients of different race-ethnicity. RESULTS: There were 101,608 patients who had Cesarean delivery in 33 hospitals during the study period and met study inclusion criteria. Among them, 1,772 patients (1.7%), experienced at least one potentially preventable complication. Patients who had a potentially preventable complication were older, had higher admission severity of illness, and had more government insurance. They also had more chronic hypertension and pre-eclampsia (both P<0.001). Median length of hospital stay was longer in patients who had a potentially preventable complications (4 days vs. 3 days, P<0.001) and median hospital charges were approximately $4,600 dollars higher, (P<0.001). The odds of having a potential preventable complication differed significantly by race-ethnicity group (P=0.05). Hispanic patients and Non-Hispanic Black patients had higher risk-adjusted odds of having a potentially preventable complication compared to Non-Hispanic White patients, OR=1.26 (95% CI=1.05 to 1.52) and OR=1.17 (95% CI=1.03 to 1.33) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In Maryland a small percentage of patients undergoing Cesarean delivery experienced a potentially preventable complication with Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Black patients disproportionately impacted. Continued efforts are needed to reduce potentially preventable complications and obstetric disparities in Maryland.

Racial Disparities in the Use of Peripheral Nerve Blocks for Postoperative Analgesia After Total Mastectomy: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) are used to provide postoperative analgesia after total mastectomy. PNBs improve patient satisfaction and decrease postoperative opioid use, nausea, and vomiting. Few studies have examined whether there is racial-ethnic disparity in the use of PNBs for patients having total mastectomy. We hypothesized that non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic patients of other races, and Hispanic patients would be less likely to receive a PNB for postoperative analgesia compared to non-Hispanic White patients having total mastectomy. Secondarily, we hypothesized that PNBs would be associated with reduced odds of major complications after total mastectomy. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) data from 2015 to 2019. Patients were included if they underwent total mastectomy under general anesthesia. Unadjusted rates of PNB use were compared between race-ethnicity groups. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine whether race-ethnicity group was independently associated with receipt of a PNB for postoperative analgesia. Secondarily, we calculated crude and risk-adjusted odds ratios for major complications in patients who received a PNB. RESULTS: There were 64,103 patients who underwent total mastectomy and 4704 (7.3%) received a PNB for postoperative analgesia. Patients who received a PNB were younger, more commonly women, were less likely to have diabetes and hypertension, and had less disseminated cancer (all P < .05). In our regression analysis, the odds of receiving a PNB differed significantly by race-ethnicity group (P < .001). Non-Hispanic Asian and non-Hispanic Black patients had reduced odds of receiving a PNB compared to non-Hispanic White patients (odds ratio [OR], 0.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.33-0.49 and OR, 0.37 [0.32-0.44]), respectively. Non-Hispanic patients of other races, including American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Pacific Islander, also had reduced odds of receiving a PNB (OR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.64-0.84]) compared to non-Hispanic White patients, as did Hispanic patients (OR, 0.62 [0.56-0.69]). Patients who received a PNB did not have reduced odds of major complications after mastectomy (crude OR, 0.83 [0.65-1.08]; P = .17 and adjusted OR, 0.85 [0.65-1.10]; P = .21). CONCLUSIONS: Significant disparity exists in the use of PNBs for postoperative analgesia in patients of different race-ethnicity who undergo total mastectomy in the United States. Continued efforts are needed to better understand the causes of disparity and to ensure equitable access to PNBs.

The political economy of universal health coverage: a systematic narrative review.

The uptake and implementation of universal health coverage (UHC) is primarily a political, rather than a technical, exercise, with contested ideas and diverse stakeholders capable of facilitation or resistance-even veto-of the policy uptake. This narrative systematic review, undertaken in 2018, sought to identify all peer-reviewed publications dealing with concepts relating to UHC through a political economy framing. Of the 627 papers originally identified, 55 papers were directly relevant, with an additional eight papers added manually on referral from colleagues. The thematic analysis adapted Fox and Reich's framework of ideas and ideologies, interests and institutions to organize the analysis. The results identified a literature strong in its exploration of the ideologies and ideas that underpin UHC, but with an apparent bias in authorship towards more rights-based, left-leaning perspectives. Despite this, political economy analyses of country case studies suggested a more diverse political framing for UHC, with the interests and institutions engaged in implementation drawing on pragmatic and market-based mechanisms to achieve outcomes. Case studies offered limited detail on the role played by specific interests, though the influence of global development trends was evident, as was the role of donor organizations. Most country case studies, however, framed the development of UHC within a narrative of national ownership, with steps in implementation often critical political milestones. The development of institutions for UHC implementation was predicated largely on available infrastructure, with elements of that infrastructure-federal systems, user fees, pre-existing insurance schemes-needing to be accommodated in the incremental progress towards UHC. The need for technical competence to deliver ideological promises was underlined. The review concludes that, despite the disparate sources for the analyses, there is an emerging shared narrative in the growing literature around the political economy of UHC that offers an increasing awareness of the political dimensions to UHC uptake and implementation.