Surgical opioid-avoidance protocol: a postoperative pharmacological multimodal analgesic intervention in diverse patient populations.

INTRODUCTION: This study evaluated the effect of a surgical opioid-avoidance protocol (SOAP) on postoperative pain scores. The primary goal was to demonstrate that the SOAP was as effective as the pre-existing non-SOAP (without opioid restriction) protocol by measuring postoperative pain in a diverse, opioid-naive patient population undergoing inpatient surgery across multiple surgical services. METHODS: This prospective cohort study was divided into SOAP and non-SOAP groups based on surgery date. The non-SOAP group had no opioid restrictions (n=382), while the SOAP group (n=449) used a rigorous, opioid-avoidance order set with patient and staff education regarding multimodal analgesia. A non-inferiority analysis assessed the SOAP impact on postoperative pain scores. RESULTS: Postoperative pain scores in the SOAP group compared with the non-SOAP group were non-inferior (95% CI: -0.58, 0.10; non-inferiority margin=-1). The SOAP group consumed fewer postoperative opioids (median=0.67 (IQR=15) vs 8.17 morphine milliequivalents (MMEs) (IQR=40.33); p<0.01) and had fewer discharge prescription opioids (median=0 (IQR=60) vs 86.4 MMEs (IQR=140.4); p<0.01). DISCUSSION: The SOAP was as effective as the non-SOAP group in postoperative pain scores across a diverse patient population and associated with lower postoperative opioid consumption and discharge prescription opioids.

Social Media among Medical Students and Personnel Here to Stay.

Social media is no longer new, even in the professional medical world. It is an established and relatively public medium, and all users would do well to understand the risks associated with it. Medical personnel-whether medical student or staff physician-must familiarize themselves with it to ensure positive outcomes. As with other technologies, best practices will evolve with time, but existing and ongoing research can establish working use guidelines.

"The Questions Shape the Answers": Assessing the Quality of Published Survey Instruments in Health Professions Education Research.

PURPOSE: Surveys are widely used in health professions education (HPE) research, yet little is known about the quality of the instruments employed. Poorly designed survey tools containing unclear or poorly formatted items can be difficult for respondents to interpret and answer, yielding low-quality data. This study assessed the quality of published survey instruments in HPE. METHOD: In 2017, the authors performed an analysis of HPE research articles published in three high-impact journals in 2013. They included articles that employed at least one self-administered survey. They designed a coding rubric addressing five violations of established best practices for survey item design and used it to collect descriptive data on the validity and reliability evidence reported and to assess the quality of available survey items. RESULTS: Thirty-six articles met inclusion criteria and included the instrument for coding, with one article using 2 surveys, yielding 37 unique surveys. Authors reported validity and reliability evidence for 13 (35.1%) and 8 (21.6%) surveys, respectively. Results of the item-quality assessment revealed that a substantial proportion of published survey instruments violated established best practices in the design and visual layout of Likert-type rating items. Overall, 35 (94.6%) of the 37 survey instruments analyzed contained at least one violation of best practices. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of articles failed to report validity and reliability evidence, and a substantial proportion of the survey instruments violated established best practices in survey design. The authors suggest areas of future inquiry and provide several improvement recommendations for HPE researchers, reviewers, and journal editors.

Surveys of Health Professions Trainees: Prevalence, Response Rates, and Predictive Factors to Guide Researchers.

PURPOSE: To establish a baseline overall response rate for surveys of health professions trainees, determine strategies associated with improved response rates, and evaluate for the presence of nonresponse bias. METHOD: The authors performed a comprehensive analysis of all articles published in Academic Medicine, Medical Education, and Advances in Health Sciences Education in 2013, recording response rates. Additionally, they reviewed nonresponse bias analyses and factors suggested in other fields to affect response rate including survey delivery method, prenotification, and incentives. RESULTS: The search yielded 732 total articles; of these, 356 were research articles, and of these, 185 (52.0%) used at least one survey. Of these, 66 articles (35.6%) met inclusion criteria and yielded 73 unique surveys. Of the 73 surveys used, investigators reported a response rate for 63.0% of them; response rates ranged from 26.6% to 100%, mean (standard deviation) 71.3% (19.5%). Investigators reported using incentives for only 16.4% of the 73 surveys. The only survey methodology factor significantly associated with response rate was single- vs. multi-institutional surveys (respectively, 74.6% [21.2%] vs. 62.0% [12.8%], P = .022). Notably, statistical power for all analyses was limited. No articles evaluated for nonresponse bias. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of the articles evaluated used a survey as part of their methods. Limited data are available to establish a baseline response rate among health professions trainees and inform researchers which strategies are associated with higher response rates. Journals publishing survey-based health professions education research should improve reporting of response rate, nonresponse bias, and other survey factors.

An essential role for Gα(i2) in Smoothened-stimulated epithelial cell proliferation in the mammary gland.

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is critical for organogenesis, tissue homeostasis, and stem cell maintenance. The gene encoding Smoothened (SMO), the primary effector of Hh signaling, is expressed aberrantly in human breast cancer, as well as in other cancers. In mice that express a constitutively active form of SMO that does not require Hh stimulation in mammary glands, the cells near the transgenic cells proliferate and participate in hyperplasia formation. Although SMO is a seven-transmembrane receptor like G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), SMO-mediated activation of the Gli family of transcription factors is not known to involve G proteins. However, data from Drosophila and mammalian cell lines indicate that SMO functions as a GPCR that couples to heterotrimeric G proteins of the pertussis toxin (PTX)-sensitive Gαi class. Using genetically modified mice, we demonstrated that SMO signaling through G proteins occurred in the mammary gland in vivo. SMO-induced stimulation of proliferation was PTX-sensitive and required Gαi2, but not Gαi1, Gαi3, or activation of Gli1 or Gli2. Our findings show that activated SMO functions as a GPCR to stimulate proliferation in vivo, a finding that may have clinical importance because most SMO-targeted agents have been selected based largely on their ability to block Gli-mediated transcription.