Overuse of Intravenous Proton Pump Inhibitors in General Medicine and Surgery Wards.

BACKGROUND: Overuse of stress ulcer prophylaxis is prevalent globally despite guidelines leading to the added cost, especially the intravenous proton pump inhibitor (IVPPI). This study aims to analyze the prevalence of such overuse and be aware of rational use which may help develop local guidelines. METHODS: This study analyzed the prospectively collected data on IVPPI use in adult patients in general wards of medicine and surgery at Patan Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal, from April-Jun 2022. Ethical approval was obtained. Variables analyzed were the patient's age, gender, history of peptic ulcer disease, risk for stress ulcer and gastrointestinal bleeding, the status of nil per os (NPO ≥12 hours), appropriate use of IVPPI, and cost. RESULTS: Prevalence of IVPPI use was 36.24% (274/756 admissions), surgery 39.45(189/479), medicine ward 30.68% (85/277). The mean age was 43.1 ±18.6 years, males 113(41.2%), surgery 189 (69%). Inappropriate overuse in 253(92.3%, significantly more in surgery-182 than medicine-7, p=0.001. Appropriate use was in 21 (7.7%, i.e., NPO-15, NPO + gastrointestinal bleed, and NPO + non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs each 3). CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of IVPPI use was 36.24%. Inappropriate overuse of IVPPI was high (92.2%, 253/274), more in surgery. The nil per os status was the main reason for appropriate use of IVPPI.

AIM2 Inhibits BRAF-Mutant Colorectal Cancer Growth in a Caspase-1-Dependent Manner.

Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2), a DNA sensor that plays an important role in natural immunity system, has been reported to participate in colorectal cancer (CRC) development. However, the functional role of AIM2 in BRAF-mutant CRC remains unclear. In this study, we first investigated AIM2 expression level in BRAF-mutant CRC tumor tissues. Overexpression of AIM2 in CRC cells was performed to investigate the effect of AIM2 on CRC cell viability, and cell death detection and caspase activity assay were performed to explore the mechanism that AIM2 impacts the growth of BRAF-mutant CRC cells. Moreover, we confirmed the antitumor effect of AIM2 in BRAF-mutant CRC cell-derived tumor xenograft (CDX) models as well as patient-derived organoids (PDOs). Herein, we reported that AIM2 expression was lower in BRAF-mutant than that in BRAF wild-type CRC tumor tissues. Restoring the expression of AIM2 in BRAF-mutant CRC cells greatly inhibits the tumor cell growth by inducing necrotic cell death. Mechanism studies revealed that AIM2-induced cell death is in a caspase-1-dependent manner. Additionally, overexpression of AIM2 significantly inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in BRAF-mutant CRC in vivo, which was further confirmed in BRAF-mutant CRC PDOs. Taken together, our data suggested that AIM2 inhibits BRAF-mutant colon cancer growth in a caspase-1-dependent manner, which may provide evidence to understand the pathogenesis of CRC with BRAF-mutant, as well as new strategies for manipulation of CRC.

Quality of Clinical Notes: Lesson Learned from Elective Surgery Patients Admitted at University Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Informative relevant documentation regarding course of treatment minimizes errors, provides data for evidence based practice and legality. However, the clinical notes are often inadequate. This study aims to analyse quality of structured clinical notes in surgical patients. METHODS: This cross sectional study from Oct 1, 2015 in department of surgery included 100 clinical notes randomly selected by lottery. The entries in notes were predefined. There were 29 general entries (nine for identification, eleven for admission details, eight for treatment progress, and one for handwriting). Three additional entries were for discharge patients. The decision for entries was based on consensus meeting in surgery department. Microsoft excel was used for data entry and descriptive analysis. RESULTS: There were 100 clinical notes analysed, 62 non-discharge and 38 discharge patients. Four (out of 62) non-discharge had all 29 entries documented. Two (out of 38) in discharge had all 32 entries documented. The "date of entries, clinician name and designation" were mentioned in 12%, 13% and 10%, respectively. The progress on diet was recorded in 53%, investigations in 72% and intervention details in 73%. Handwriting was difficult to read in 21%. In 13 (out of 100) the identification information was incomplete. Discharge lacked details of home advice in 11%. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of clinical note of elective surgery patients needs improvement on documentation in all domains of identification, admission, progress and discharge.