Patient Experience With Absolute Voice Rest Following Phonomicrosurgery: A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVE(S): Voice rest is commonly recommended following phonomicrosurgery to minimize vocal fold scarring, but associated quality of life (QoL) is low resulting in poor compliance. This study aimed to explore patients' experiences with voice rest following phonomicrosurgery to identify facilitators and barriers. METHODS: This qualitative study used prospective, typical case technique for purposive sampling of consecutive patients who underwent voice rest following phonomicrosurgery for benign vocal fold lesions. Participants were enrolled at a single tertiary Laryngology center located at Unity Health Toronto - St. Michael's Hospital from 2020 to 2022. Semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted 4 weeks following patients' surgery. All interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim and underwent thematic analysis. Participant recruitment was stopped once thematic saturation was achieved. RESULTS: Twenty participants were recruited and 4 withdrew due to scheduling conflicts. Sixteen participants completed interviews, all of whom reported minimal impact of postoperative voice rest on QoL. The participants attributed their success to facilitators such as notifying close contacts of their situation beforehand and adopting nonverbal forms of communication. No participant endorsed a negative attitude toward voice rest. Understanding the rationale for voice rest and the consequences of noncompliance were reported to be effective in encouraging compliance. CONCLUSION: Overall, the participants tolerated voice rest well owing to facilitators such as early preparation, lifestyle modifications, and understanding the rationale for voice rest. Social disconnect and work demands were barriers of voice rest. Moving forward, facilitators and barriers should be addressed in efforts to optimize the voice rest experience for future patient populations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 Laryngoscope, 134:361-366, 2024.

Cost-effectiveness of postoperative imaging surveillance strategies for nonfunctional pituitary adenomas after resection with curative intent.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine an optimal follow-up imaging surveillance strategy in terms of cost-effectiveness after resection of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas with curative intent. METHODS: An individual-level state-transition microsimulation model was used to simulate costs and outcomes associated with three postoperative imaging strategies over a lifetime time horizon: 1) annual MRI surveillance, 2) tapered MRI surveillance (annual surveillance for 5 years followed by surveillance every 2 years), and 3) personalized surveillance (annual surveillance for 5 years followed by surveillance every 2 years when MRI shows remnant disease/postoperative changes, and surveillance at 7, 10, and 15 years for disease-free MRI). Transition probabilities, utilities, and costs were estimated from recent published data and discounted by 3% annually. Model outcomes included lifetime costs (2022 US dollars), quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). RESULTS: Under base case assumptions, annual surveillance yielded higher costs and lower health effects (QALYs) compared with the tapered and personalized surveillance strategies (dominated). Personalized surveillance demonstrated an additional 0.1 QALY at additional cost ($1298) compared with tapered surveillance (7.7 QALYs at a cost of $12,862). The ICER was $11,793/QALY. The optimal decision was most sensitive to the probability of postoperative changes on MRI after surgery and MRI cost. Accounting for parameter uncertainty, personalized surveillance had a higher probability of being a cost-effective surveillance option compared with the alternative strategies at 79%. CONCLUSIONS: Using standard cost-effectiveness thresholds in the US ($100,000/QALY), personalized surveillance that accounted for remnant disease or postoperative changes on MRI was cost-effective compared with alternative surveillance strategies.

Pediatric refractory immune thrombocytopenia: A systematic review.

Pediatric immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired disorder associated with autoimmune destruction and impairment of platelet production in children. Some children exhibit poor or transient response to ITP-directed treatments and are referred to as having refractory ITP (rITP). There is currently no consensus on the definition of rITP, nor evidence-based treatment guidelines for patients with rITP. After a survey of pediatric ITP experts demonstrated lack of consensus on pediatric rITP, we pursued a systematic review to examine the reported clinical phenotypes and treatment outcomes in pediatric rITP. The search identified 253 relevant manuscripts; following review, 11 studies proposed a definition for pediatric rITP with no consensus amongst them. Most definitions included suboptimal response to medical management, while some outlined specific platelet thresholds to define this suboptimal response. Common attributes identified in this study should be used to propose a comprehensive definition, which will facilitate outcome comparisons of future rITP studies.

Integration of Patient-reported Outcome Measures in Pediatric Hematology: A Qualitative Methods Study.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are self-reported questionnaires that allow patients and families to evaluate health-related experiences without influence or oversight from health care professionals. This study aimed to rate the relevance of existing PROMs for pediatric hematology patients, as identified by a recent systematic review, as well as to evaluate the receptivity of electronic PROM integration into clinical practice. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with children (10) and parents (19) impacted by nonmalignant hematological disorders, as well as with health care professionals (6). We observed strong support for the TranQol in thalassemia (100% for both parents [P] and children [C]); the Canadian Haemophilia Outcomes-Kids' Life Assessment Tool (CHO-KLAT) (100% P, 75% C) and Haemophilia Quality of Life questionnaire (Haemo-QoL) (100% P and C) in hemophilia; the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Sickle Cell Module (75% P, 100% C); and the Kids ITP Tool in immune thrombocytopenia (100% P, 66.7% C). Generic tools such as the PedsQL Generic were met with mixed support. Electronic PROM integration received universal support. We obtained strong support for the integration of a web-based platform into clinical practice and a preference for disease-specific PROMs over generic PROMs. Future projects may explore the development of a child-friendly Canadian web-based platform to standardize quality-of-life evaluation within the clinical encounter.

Cost-effectiveness of direct surgery versus preoperative octreotide therapy for growth-hormone secreting pituitary adenomas.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of preoperative octreotide therapy followed by surgery versus the standard treatment modality for growth-hormone secreting pituitary adenomas, direct surgery (that is, surgery without preoperative treatment) from a public third-party payer perspective. METHODS: We developed an individual-level state-transition microsimulation model to simulate costs and outcomes associated with preoperative octreotide therapy followed by surgery and direct surgery for patients with growth-hormone secreting pituitary adenomas. Transition probabilities, utilities, and costs were estimated from recent published data and discounted by 3% annually over a lifetime time horizon. Model outcomes included lifetime costs [2020 United States (US) Dollars], quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). RESULTS: Under base case assumptions, direct surgery was found to be the dominant strategy as it yielded lower costs and greater health effects (QALYs) compared to preoperative octreotide strategy in the second-order Monte Carlo microsimulation. The ICER was most sensitive to probability of remission following primary therapy and duration of preoperative octreotide therapy. Accounting for joint parameter uncertainty, direct surgery had a higher probability of demonstrating a cost-effective profile compared to preoperative octreotide treatment at 77% compared to 23%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Using standard benchmarks for cost-effectiveness in the US ($100,000/QALY), preoperative octreotide therapy followed by surgery may not be cost-effective compared to direct surgery for patients with growth-hormone secreting pituitary adenomas but the result is highly sensitive to initial treatment failure and duration of preoperative treatment.

Epidemiology of Nasal Bone Fractures.

Importance: Although nasal bones are the most common type of facial fracture given their natural projection and vulnerability to trauma, there is a paucity of data on its trends. Objective: To report on the trends and costs associated with open and closed nasal bone fractures across the United States. Methods: A retrospective analysis from 2006 to 2014 was conducted of the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample by using the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision codes for closed and open nasal bone fractures (802.0 and 802.1) presenting to emergency departments (ED). Trend analysis of total number and rate of visits, discharges, admissions, and associated costs were conducted. Results: Data from 1,253,399.741 records were collected. The total number of ED visits decreased by 2.05% for both open and closed nasal fractures from 2006 to 2014 whereas their associated costs increased (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05 for closed and open nasal fractures). Notably, open fractures were consistently costlier whereas closed fractures had a greater percent-increase in costs (76.65%). Conclusions and Relevance: This study identified a significant rise in nasal fracture costs, which can be reduced via use of cheaper diagnostic modalities and cost-effective endoscopic procedures.