The influence of defaecating proctograms on clinical decision-making in pelvic floor disorders.

AIM: Defaecating proctogram (DP) studies have become an integral part of the evaluation of patients with pelvic floor disorders. However, their impact on treatment decision-making remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the concordance of decision-making by colorectal surgeons and the role of the DP in this process. METHOD: Four colorectal surgeons were presented with online surveys containing the complete history, examination and investigations of 106 de-identified pelvic floor patients who had received one of three treatment options: physiotherapy only, anterior Delorme's procedure or anterior mesh rectopexy. The survey assessed the management decisions made by each of the surgeons for the three treatments both before and after the addition of the DP to the diagnostic work-up. RESULTS: After the addition of the DP results; treatment choice changed in 219 (52%) of 424 surgical decisions and interrater agreement improved significantly from κ = 0.26 to κ = 0.39. Three of the four surgeons reported a significant increase in confidence. Agreement with the actual treatments patients received increased from κ = 0.21 to κ = 0.28. Intra-anal rectal prolapse on DP was a significant predictor of a decision to perform anterior mesh rectopexy. CONCLUSION: The DP improves interclinician agreement in the management of pelvic floor disorders and enhances the confidence in treatment decisions. Intra-anal rectal prolapse was the most influential DP parameter in treatment decision-making.

Adherence to neonatal hypoglycaemia guidelines: A retrospective cohort study.

AIM: To determine if the routine use of automatically calculated birthweight centiles prior to discharge from the delivery unit is associated with improved adherence to the neonatal hypoglycaemia guideline. METHODS: We conducted retrospective audits of adherence to the neonatal hypoglycaemia guideline in a tertiary maternity hospital in Auckland, New Zealand in a randomly selected cohort of newborn infants at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia before (2011) and after (2015) the introduction of routine use of calculated birthweight centiles for all infants. The primary outcome was adherence to the guideline, defined as (i) blood glucose concentration screening in the first 48 h after birth; (ii) the initial measurement taken 1-2 h after birth; and (iii) at least three consecutive blood glucose concentrations ≥2.6 mmol/L, over 12 h, prior to cessation of screening. RESULTS: The audits examined the records of 400 infants (200 each in 2011 and 2015) to determine guideline adherence. Adherence improved from 2011 to 2015 (59/200 (30%) vs. 95/200 (48%), P < 0.001), with the largest improvement in large-for-gestational age infants (7/50 (14%) vs. 25/50 (50%), P = <0.001). Screened infants whose care was adherent to the guideline had a higher incidence of hypoglycaemia detection (adherent, 64/154 (42%) vs. non-adherent, 34/246 (14%), P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The routine use of calculated birthweight centiles was associated with improved adherence to the neonatal hypoglycaemia guideline and increased detection of neonatal hypoglycaemia in at-risk infants. Thus, identifying practices that improve guideline adherence may improve the detection of hypoglycaemia in asymptomatic at-risk infants.