Risk Factors and Consequences of Late-Onset Hyperlactatemia After Cardiac Surgery With Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: Mechanisms and consequences of late-onset hyperlactatemia after cardiac surgery remain unclear. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors and outcomes of late hyperlactatemia, defined as a lactate value ≥3 mmol/L developing in the intensive care unit (ICU) after not being elevated on admission after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. SETTING: A single-center University Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass in 2019 and who had normal lactatemia at ICU admission. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients were divided in 2 groups according to their lactatemia on postoperative day 1 (14.0 ± 3.0 hours after ICU admission): normal lactatemia (control group) and late hyperlactatemia (HL group). Risk factors for late hyperlactatemia were identified using a multivariate analysis, and postoperative outcomes were compared using a composite criterion of severe outcomes. Of the 432 included patients, 37 (8.5%) presented with late hyperlactatemia. Risk factors independently associated with hyperlactatemia were afternoon surgery (odds ratio [OR] 4.24, 95% CI 2.00-9.35), a bleeding >300 mL within the 6 hours after surgery (H6) (OR 3.77, 95% CI 1.71-8.30), and H6 fluid loading >250 mL (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.22-5.55). Patients with hyperlactatemia presented more frequently with major postoperative complications, including acute kidney injury, and received more frequent red-cell transfusion. CONCLUSION: The strongest risk factors associated with late-onset hyperlactatemia in the authors' population were afternoon surgery and H6 bleeding >300 mL. Poor postoperative outcomes were more frequent in patients with late hyperlactatemia, even in the absence of early hyperlactatemia or severe obvious condition.

Cognitive Aid for Anesthetic Preparation in An Emergency Situation: A Simulation-Based Study.

When anesthesia checklists and preparations are performed urgently, omissions may occur and be deleterious to the patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate in simulation the interest of a cognitive aid to effectively prepare an anesthetic room for an emergency. In a prospective single-center simulation-based study, 32 anesthesia residents had to prepare an anesthetic room in an emergency scenario, without cognitive aid in the first phase. Three months later (phase 2), they were randomly assigned to receive a cognitive aid (aid group) or no additional aid (control) and were involved in the same scenario. The primary outcome was the validation rate of each essential item in the first 5 min in phase 2. Eight items were significantly more frequently completed in the first 5 min in the aid group in phase 2 (vs. phase 1), compared with two only in the control group. However, there were no significant differences in the overall number of completed items between the two groups, as both groups completed significantly more items in phase 2, either in the first 5 min (19 (14-23) vs. 13 (9-15) in phase 1 for all residents, p < 0.001) or without time limit. Preparation times were reduced in phase 2 in both groups. In conclusion, the use of a cognitive aid allowed anesthesia residents to complete some safety items of a simulated urgent anesthesia preparation more frequently. In addition, despite daily clinical experience, a single simulation session improved anesthesia preparation and reduced the preparation time with or without cognitive aid.

Real-World Implementation of Video Outpatient Consultations at Macro, Meso, and Micro Levels: Mixed-Method Study.

BACKGROUND: There is much interest in virtual consultations using video technology. Randomized controlled trials have shown video consultations to be acceptable, safe, and effective in selected conditions and circumstances. However, this model has rarely been mainstreamed and sustained in real-world settings. OBJECTIVE: The study sought to (1) define good practice and inform implementation of video outpatient consultations and (2) generate transferable knowledge about challenges to scaling up and routinizing this service model. METHODS: A multilevel, mixed-method study of Skype video consultations (micro level) was embedded in an organizational case study (meso level), taking account of national context and wider influences (macro level). The study followed the introduction of video outpatient consultations in three clinical services (diabetes, diabetes antenatal, and cancer surgery) in a National Health Service trust (covering three hospitals) in London, United Kingdom. Data sources included 36 national-level stakeholders (exploratory and semistructured interviews), longitudinal organizational ethnography (300 hours of observations; 24 staff interviews), 30 videotaped remote consultations, 17 audiotaped face-to-face consultations, and national and local documents. Qualitative data, analyzed using sociotechnical change theories, addressed staff and patient experience and organizational and system drivers. Quantitative data, analyzed via descriptive statistics, included uptake of video consultations by staff and patients and microcategorization of different kinds of talk (using the Roter interaction analysis system). RESULTS: When clinical, technical, and practical preconditions were met, video consultations appeared safe and were popular with some patients and staff. Compared with face-to-face consultations for similar conditions, video consultations were very slightly shorter, patients did slightly more talking, and both parties sometimes needed to make explicit things that typically remained implicit in a traditional encounter. Video consultations appeared to work better when the clinician and patient already knew and trusted each other. Some clinicians used Skype adaptively to respond to patient requests for ad hoc encounters in a way that appeared to strengthen supported self-management. The reality of establishing video outpatient services in a busy and financially stretched acute hospital setting proved more complex and time-consuming than originally anticipated. By the end of this study, between 2% and 22% of consultations were being undertaken remotely by participating clinicians. In the remainder, clinicians chose not to participate, or video consultations were considered impractical, technically unachievable, or clinically inadvisable. Technical challenges were typically minor but potentially prohibitive. CONCLUSIONS: Video outpatient consultations appear safe, effective, and convenient for patients in situations where participating clinicians judge them clinically appropriate, but such situations are a fraction of the overall clinic workload. As with other technological innovations, some clinicians will adopt readily, whereas others will need incentives and support. There are complex challenges to embedding video consultation services within routine practice in organizations that are hesitant to change, especially in times of austerity.

Virtual online consultations: advantages and limitations (VOCAL) study.

INTRODUCTION: Remote video consultations between clinician and patient are technically possible and increasingly acceptable. They are being introduced in some settings alongside (and occasionally replacing) face-to-face or telephone consultations. METHODS: To explore the advantages and limitations of video consultations, we will conduct in-depth qualitative studies of real consultations (microlevel) embedded in an organisational case study (mesolevel), taking account of national context (macrolevel). The study is based in 2 contrasting clinical settings (diabetes and cancer) in a National Health Service (NHS) acute trust in London, UK. Main data sources are: microlevel--audio, video and screen capture to produce rich multimodal data on 45 remote consultations; mesolevel--interviews, ethnographic observations and analysis of documents within the trust; macrolevel--key informant interviews of national-level stakeholders and document analysis. Data will be analysed and synthesised using a sociotechnical framework developed from structuration theory. ETHICS APPROVAL: City Road and Hampstead NHS Research Ethics Committee, 9 December 2014, reference 14/LO/1883. PLANNED OUTPUTS: We plan outputs for 5 main audiences: (1) academics: research publications and conference presentations; (2) service providers: standard operating procedures, provisional operational guidance and key safety issues; (3) professional bodies and defence societies: summary of relevant findings to inform guidance to members; (4) policymakers: summary of key findings; (5) patients and carers: 'what to expect in your virtual consultation'. DISCUSSION: The research literature on video consultations is sparse. Such consultations offer potential advantages to patients (who are spared the cost and inconvenience of travel) and the healthcare system (eg, they may be more cost-effective), but fears have been expressed that they may be clinically risky and/or less acceptable to patients or staff, and they bring significant technical, logistical and regulatory challenges. We anticipate that this study will contribute to a balanced assessment of when, how and in what circumstances this model might be introduced.

New models of self-management education for minority ethnic groups: pilot randomized trial of a story-sharing intervention.

OBJECTIVE: no model of self-management education or peer support has yet achieved widespread reach and acceptability with minority ethnic groups. We sought to refine and test a new complex intervention in diabetes education: informal story-sharing groups facilitated by bilingual health advocates. METHODS: pilot randomized trial with in-depth process evaluation in a socioeconomically deprived area. 157 people referred for diabetes education were randomized by concealed allocation to an intervention (story-sharing group in their own language) or control ('usual care' self-management education, through an interpreter if necessary) arm. Story-sharing groups were held in five ethnic languages and English (for African Caribbeans), and ran fortnightly for six months. Primary outcome was UKPDS (UK Prospective Diabetes Study) risk score. Secondary outcomes included attendance, HbA1c, well-being and enablement. Process measures included ethnographic observation, and qualitative interviews with staff and patients. RESULTS: some follow-up data were obtained on 87% of participants. There was no significant difference between intervention and control arms in biomedical outcomes. Attendance was 79% in the story-sharing arm and 35% in the control arm (p < 0.0001), and patient enablement scores were significantly higher (8.3 compared to 5.9, p < 0.005). The model was very popular with clinicians, managers and patients, which helped overcome numerous challenges to its successful embedding in a busy public sector diabetes service. CONCLUSION: people from minority ethnic groups in a socioeconomically deprived area were keen to attend informal story-sharing groups and felt empowered by them, but clinical outcomes were no better than with conventional education. Further research is needed to maximize the potential and evaluate the place of this appealing service model before it is introduced as a part of mainstream diabetes services.

Storylines of self-management: narratives of people with diabetes from a multiethnic inner city population.

OBJECTIVES: to analyse the narratives of people with diabetes to inform the design of culturally congruent self-management education programmes. METHODS: the study was based on quasi-naturalistic story-gathering; i.e. making real-time field notes of stories shared spontaneously in diabetes self-management education groups in a socioeconomically deprived London borough. Eighty-two adults aged 25-86, from six minority ethnic groups who were in the intervention arm of a randomized controlled trial of story-sharing, participated. Stories were translated in real time by the facilitator or group members. Ethnographic field notes were transcribed, and analysed thematically (to identify self-management domains raised by participants) and interpretively for over-arching storylines (i.e. considering how self-management domains were contextualized and made meaningful in personal narratives). Analysis was informed by both biomedical and sociological theories of self-management. RESULTS: people with diabetes identified seven self-management domains: knowledge; diet; exercise; medication; foot care; self-monitoring; and attending check-ups. Interpretive analysis revealed eight illness storylines within which these practical issues acquired social meaning and moral worth: becoming sick; rebuilding spoiled identity; becoming a practitioner of self-management; living a disciplined and balanced life; mobilizing a care network; navigating and negotiating in the health care system; managing the micro-morality of self-management 'choices'; and taking collective action. CONCLUSION: living with diabetes involves both medically recommended behaviours and complex biographical work to make sense of and cope with illness. Self-management education programmes should take closer account of over-arching storylines that pattern experience of chronic illness and recognize that some elements of self-management knowledge cannot be pre-specified in a structured curriculum.

Sharing stories: complex intervention for diabetes education in minority ethnic groups who do not speak English.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and refine a complex intervention for diabetes support and education in minority ethnic groups, delivered through bilingual health advocates. DESIGN: Action research framework-a variety of methods used in an emergent and developmental manner, in partnership with clinicians, managers, and service users, drawing especially but not exclusively on narrative methods. SETTING: Deprived inner London district. INTERVENTIONS: Development and evaluation of three components of the complex intervention: a group based learning set for bilingual health advocates, in which stories about clients with diabetes formed the basis for action learning; advocate led support and education groups for people with diabetes, which used personal stories as the raw material for learning and action; organisational support to help to develop these new models and embed them within existing services. RESULTS: Both advocate groups and user groups were popular and well evaluated. Through storytelling, advocates identified and met their own educational needs in relation to diabetes and the unmet needs of service users. In the advocate led user groups, story fragments were exchanged in a seemingly chaotic way that the research team initially found difficult to facilitate or follow. Stories were not so much told as enacted and were often centred on discussion of "what to do." Whereas some organisations welcomed, successfully implemented, and sustained the advocate led groups, others failed to do so. A key component of the complex intervention was organisational support. CONCLUSIONS: An action research approach allowed engagement with an underserved group of health service staff and with hard to reach service users. The study produced subjective benefits to these groups locally as well as a worked-up complex intervention that will now be formally tested in a randomised controlled trial.