Bladder and Kidney Cancer Diagnosis and Survival Increase With Medicare Eligibility at Age 65.

INTRODUCTION: Medicare eligibility at 65 has been associated with increased diagnosis and survival for certain cancers due to greater health care utilization. We aim to assess for a similar "Medicare effect" for bladder and kidney cancers, which has not been previously established. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with bladder or kidney cancer from 2000-2018 at ages 60-69 years were identified with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. We used age-over-age percent change calculations to characterize trends in cancer diagnoses focusing on patients aged 65. Multivariable Cox models were used to compare cancer-specific mortality across ages at diagnosis. RESULTS: We identified 63,960 patients diagnosed with bladder cancer and 52,316 diagnosed with kidney cancer. Age-over-age change in diagnosis was highest for patients aged 65 compared to all other ages for both cancers (P < .01 for both). Stratified by stage, patients aged 65 had a higher age-over-age change than those aged 61-64 or 66-69 for in situ (P = .01, P < .01, respectively), localized (P = .03, P = .01), and regional (P = .02, P = .02) bladder cancer and localized (P = .01, P = .01) kidney cancer. Bladder cancer patients aged 65 had lower cancer-specific mortality than patients aged 66 (HR = 1.17, P = .01) and 69 (HR = 1.18, P = .01), while kidney cancer patients aged 65 had lower mortality than patients aged 64 (HR = 1.18, P < .01) and 66-69. CONCLUSIONS: The age of 65, marking the onset of Medicare eligibility, is associated with more diagnoses of bladder and kidney cancer. Patients diagnosed at age 65 demonstrate decreased bladder and kidney cancer-specific mortality.

Association of tumor size and surgical approach with oncological outcomes and overall survival in patients with adrenocortical carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of surgical approach with outcomes in patients with adrenocortical carcinomas smaller and larger than 6 cm in size. METHODS: We reviewed the national cancer database for patients undergoing minimally invasive adrenalectomy (MIA) and open adrenalectomy (OA) from 2010 to 2017. To adjust for differences between patients undergoing MIA and OA, we performed propensity score matching within each size strata of ≤6 cm, 6.1 to 10 cm, and 10.1 to 20 cm. We fit generalized estmiating equations with a logit link function to assess for the association of surgical approach with positive surgical margins and a Cox proportional hazards model to assess for the association of surgical approach with overall survival. RESULTS: We identified 364 patients that underwent MIA (182) and OA (182) in the matched cohort.  We noted 21% and 18% of patients undergoing MIA and OA had a positive surgical margin, respectively. We did not identify a significant association between surgical approach and positive surgical margins in the cohort as a whole or within each of strata. Furthermore, we did not appreciate a significant association between surgical approach and overall survival in the cohort as a whole or within each size strata. CONCLUSION: In the National Cancer Database, patients undergoing MIA had similar positive surgical margins and overall survival compared with OA for masses ≤6 cm, 6.1 to 10cm, and >10 cm in size. Patients undergoing MIA should be carefully selected with surgical oncologic integrity being the primary determinants of surgical approach.

Pregnancy Outcomes of Wives of Chemical and Non-Chemical Weapons Exposed Veterans in Ahvaz, Iran: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Sulphur mustard (HD) is a lipophilic caustic alkylating vesicant (blister agent) that has mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. Among the studied perturbations are long-term genitourinary (GU) and fertility effects. Approximately 50,000 Iranian soldiers and civilians were exposed to HD during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1989). This study questioned the wives of Iraq-Iran war veterans to determine the effects of male HD-exposure on pregnancy complications, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and secondary infertility. METHODS: A retrospective, survey-based cohort study was conducted of wives of Iranian military veterans that survived HD-associated injuries while serving in Ahvaz, Iran during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1989), as compared to non-exposed veterans serving concomitantly. Patients were identified from a database of injured veterans maintained by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (Iran) via a systematic random sampling method utilizing a random number table. Using a validated questionnaire, collected data included: demographics; type and severity of chemical injury; spouse's obstetric history (pregnancy number, duration, complications, and outcomes before and after spouse's chemical injury); and secondary infertility. RESULTS: An increase in spontaneous abortion (P = .03), congenital anomalies (P < .0001), and secondary infertility (P = .003) were observed. These findings were greatest amongst those with HD injuries affecting >50% body surface area. No difference in stillbirth, premature birth, or low birth weight was observed. CONCLUSION: Exposure to HD in combat may have long-lasting fertility effects on soldiers and their spouses, including spontaneous abortion, congenital anomalies, and secondary infertility. Further investigation is needed into the long-term effects of HD exposure as well as methods to better protect soldiers.

Ethical Issues Confronting Muslim Patients in Perioperative and Critical Care Environments: A Survey of Islamic Jurisprudence.

Ethical dilemmas may arise when medical management conflicts with a patient's values, culture, religion, or legal considerations. Many Muslims encounter ethical dilemmas as patients in perioperative and critical care settings. This article discusses the fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence and how this may affect hospitalized patients in terms of cleanliness and prayer in the setting of stoma and urinary catheters, fasting, transfusion, transplants, xenografts and animal-based medications, do-not-resuscitate orders, and postmortem examinations. Provider familiarity with how such situations may affect Muslim patients is important to navigate potential conflict and to deliver competent care.

Intravenous Amide Anesthetics to Treat Pain Associated with Renal Colic in the Emergency Department: a Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Renal colic affects 12% of the U.S. population, accounting for nearly 1% of emergency department (ED) visits. Current recommendations advocate narcotic-limiting multimodal analgesia regimens. The objective of this review is to determine if in patients with renal colic (Population), intravenous (IV) amide anesthetics (Intervention) result in better pain control, lower requirements for rescue analgesia, or less adverse medication effects (outcome) compared to placebo, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or opiates (Comparisons). METHODS: Scholarly databases and relevant bibliographies were searched using a pre-designed systematic review protocol and registered with PROSPERO. Inclusion criteria were: (1) randomized clinical trial (RCT), (2) age ≥ 18 years, (3) confirmed or presumed renal colic, (4) amide anesthetic administered IV. Eligible comparison groups included: placebo, conventional therapy, acetaminophen, NSAID, or opiate. The primary outcome was pain intensity at baseline, 30, 60, and 120 minutes. Trial quality was graded, and risk-of-bias was assessed. RESULTS: Of the 3930 identified references, 4 RCTs (479 participants) were included. One trial (n=240) reported improved analgesia with IV lidocaine (LidoIV) plus metoclopramide, compared to morphine. All other trials reported unchanged or less analgesia compared to placebo, ketorolac, or fentanyl. Very severe heterogeneity (I2= 88%) precluded pooling data. CONCLUSION: Current evidence precludes drawing a firm conclusion on the efficacy or superiority of LidoIV over traditional therapies for ED patients with renal colic. Evidence suggests LidoIV may be an effective non-opiate analgesic alliterative; however, it's efficacy may not exceed that of NSAIDs or opiates. Further study is needed to validate the potential improved efficacy of LidoIV plus metoclopramide.

Neuroleptanalgesia for acute abdominal pain: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Acute abdominal pain (AAP) comprises up to 10% of all emergency department (ED) visits. Current pain management practice is moving toward multi-modal analgesia regimens that decrease opioid use. OBJECTIVE: This project sought to determine whether, in patients with AAP (population), does administration of butyrophenone antipsychotics (intervention) compared to placebo, usual care, or opiates alone (comparisons) improve analgesia or decrease opiate consumption (outcomes)? METHODS: A structured search was performed in Cochrane CENTRAL, CINAHL, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Directory of Open Access Journals, Embase, IEEE-Xplorer, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, Magiran, PubMed, Scientific Information Database, Scopus, TÜBITAK ULAKBIM, and Web of Science. Clinical trial registries (ClinicalTrials.gov, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry), relevant bibliographies, and conference proceedings were also searched. Searches were not limited by date, language, or publication status. Studies eligible for inclusion were prospective randomized clinical trials enrolling patients (age ≥18 years) with AAP treated in acute care environments (ED, intensive care unit, postoperative). The butyrophenone must have been administered either intravenously or intra-muscularly. Comparison groups included placebo, opiate only, corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or acetaminophen. RESULTS: We identified 7,217 references. Six studies met inclusion criteria. One study assessed ED patients with AAP associated with gastroparesis, whereas five studies assessed patients with postoperative AAP: abdominal hysterectomy (n=4), sleeve gastrectomy (n=1). Three of four studies found improvements in pain intensity with butyrophenone use. Three of five studies reported no change in postoperative opiate consumption, while two reported a decrease. One ED study reported no change in patient satisfaction, while one postoperative study reported improved satisfaction scores. Both extrapyramidal side effects (n=3) and sedation (n=3) were reported as unchanged. CONCLUSION: Based on available evidence, we cannot draw a conclusion on the efficacy or benefit of neuroleptanalgesia in the management of patients with AAP. However, preliminary data suggest that it may improve analgesia and decrease opiate consumption.