Paediatric xenotransplantation clinical trials and the right to withdraw.

Clinical trials of xenotransplantation (XTx) may begin early in the next decade, with kidneys from genetically modified pigs transplanted into adult humans. If successful, transplanting pig hearts into children with advanced heart failure may be the next step. Typically, clinical trials have a specified end date, and participants are aware of the amount of time they will be in the study. This is not so with XTx. The current ethical consensus is that XTx recipients must consent to lifelong monitoring. While this presents challenges to the right to withdraw in the adult population, additional and unanswered questions also linger in the paediatric population. In paediatric XTx, parents or guardians consent not only to the initial treatment of the child but also to lifelong monitoring, thus making a decision whose consequences will remain present as the child develops the capacity for assent, and finally the capacity for informed consent or refusal. This article presents and evaluates unanswered paediatric ethical questions in regard to the right to withdraw from XTx follow-up in the paediatric population.

Patient Beliefs and Preferences Regarding Surrogate Decision Makers.

OBJECTIVES: Many patients lose the capacity to make medical decisions because of severe illness or the effects of sedation or anesthesia. Most states in the United States designate the next of kin (NOK) as a default surrogate decision maker (SDM), but this may not always reflect patient preferences. Our objective was to determine how frequently the default SDM matched the patient's preferred SDM, and whether patients knew who would serve as their SDM should they become incapacitated. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional survey to determine whom patients believed would make decisions on their behalf, patients' relationship to their preferred SDM, how frequently their NOK was their preferred SDM, and how frequently patients' beliefs about SDM determination were accurate. RESULTS: In total, 18% of patients believed that someone other than their NOK would be asked to make decisions for them; 20.3% of all participants, and 9.3% of married participants, identified someone other than their NOK as their preferred SDM. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of patients are unaware that someone other than their preferred SDM may be asked to make decisions for them. Providers should explicitly ask patients about their preferences, including whom the patient's preferred SDM would be, and should encourage the patient to designate a healthcare proxy when his or her preferred SDM is not the default SDM designated by local law. Although there are inherent problems with using SDMs, using the person preferred by the patient should result in a greater chance of following the patient's wishes for medical treatment.

The Effect of Implementation of Preoperative and Postoperative Care Elements of a Perioperative Surgical Home Model on Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Hip Arthroplasty or Knee Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: The Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) seeks to remedy the currently highly fragmented and expensive perioperative care in the United States. The 2 specific aims of this health services research study were to assess the association between the preoperative and postoperative elements of an initial PSH model and a set of (1) clinical, quality, and patient safety outcomes and (2) operational and financial outcomes, in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: A 2-group before-and-after study design, with a nonrandomized preintervention PSH (PRE-PSH group, N = 1225) and postintervention PSH (POST-PSH group, N = 1363) data-collection strategy, was applied in this retrospective observational study. The 2 study groups were derived from 2 sequential 24-month time periods. Conventional inferential statistical tests were applied to assess group differences and associations, including regression modeling. RESULTS: Compared with the PRE-PSH group, there was a 7.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.0%-10.4%, P < .001) increase in day of surgery on-time starts (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.54; 95% CI, 1.70-3.80; P < .001); a 5.8% (95% CI, 3.1%-8.5%, P < .001) decrease in day of surgery anesthesia-related delays (aOR 0.66; 95% CI, 0.52-0.84, P < .001); and a 2.2% (95% CI, 0.5%-3.9%, P = .011) decrease in ICU admission rate (aOR 0.45; 95% CI, 0.31-0.66, P < .001) in the POST-PSH group. There was a 0.6 (95% CI, 0.5-0.7) decrease in the number of ICU days in the POST-PSH group compared with the PRE-PSH group (P = .028); however, there was no significant difference (0.1 day; 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.23) in the total hospital length of stay between the 2 study groups (P = .14). There was also no significant difference (1.2%; 95% CI, -0.6 to 3.0) in the all-cause readmission rate between the study groups (P = .18). Compared with the PRE-PSH group, the entire POST-PSH group was associated with a $432 (95% CI, 270-594) decrease in direct nonsurgery costs for the THA (P < .001) and a $601 (95% CI, 430-772) decrease in direct nonsurgery costs for the TKA (P < .001) patients. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of our preliminary findings, it appears that a PSH model with its expanded role of the anesthesiologist as the "perioperativist" can be associated with improvements in the operational outcomes of increased on-time surgery starts and reduced anesthesia-related delays and day-of-surgery case cancellations, and decreased selected costs in patients undergoing THA and TKA.

Preoperative management of antiplatelet drugs for a coronary artery stent: how can we hit a moving target?

BACKGROUND: With the advent of percutaneous coronary intervention, specifically the bare metal stent and subsequently, the drug-eluting stent, the scope of interventional cardiology has greatly increased. Aspirin, in combination with a thienopyridine is the present-day cornerstone of oral antiplatelet therapy after coronary artery stent placement. Continuing this chronic antiplatelet therapy, to mitigate a perioperative major adverse cardiac event, can be challenging and remains controversial in patients with a coronary artery stent undergoing non-cardiac surgery. We describe here the rationale for and successful use of an alternate approach to formulating local institutional management protocols for patients with a coronary artery stent, undergoing an elective surgical procedure. DISCUSSION: A recent systematic review identified 11 clinical practice guidelines for the perioperative management of antiplatelet therapy in patients with a coronary stent who need non-cardiac surgery. However, there is significant variance and inadequacy with these current applicable professional society guidelines. Moreover, persistently variable success has been experienced in translating even well-grounded national clinical guidelines into local practice, including in the perioperative setting. Under the auspices of a broadly multidisciplinary institutional task force and applying the Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making model, we created two evidence-informed and local expert opinion-supported standardized clinical assessment and management plans for the preoperative management of antiplatelet therapy in patients with a coronary artery stent. SUMMARY: Patient care can be optimized via evidence-based, yet locally developed and reiterative standardized clinical assessment and management plans for patients with coronary artery stents undergoing surgical procedures. Such standardized clinical assessment and management plans can result in greater consistency in care, providing a positive feedback loop in which the care plan itself can be continuously reevaluated, improved, and brought up to date with the most recent available data and knowledge.

A large incarcerated Meckel's diverticulum in an inguinal hernia.

INTRODUCTION: Littre's hernia is a rare finding consisting of a Meckel's diverticulum inside of a hernia sac. Clinically, it is indistinguishable from a hernia involving small bowel and therefore may be difficult to diagnose pre-operatively. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of an inguinal hernia involving an unusually large Meckel's diverticulum measuring 15cm in length. The diverticulum was resected using a linear GI stapler and the hernia was repaired without complication. DISCUSSION: Meckel's diverticulum is an embryologic remnant of the vitelline duct occurring in 1-3% of the adult population with an estimated 4% becoming complicated and presenting with intestinal obstruction, infection, bleeding or herniation. Surgical resection is the recommended treatment for any Meckel's diverticulum causing symptoms. In the case of a Littre's hernia, resection of the diverticulum should be followed by repair of the fascial defect in a standard fashion. CONCLUSION: Littre's hernia, although rare, should be a consideration at the time of repair for any abdominal hernia involving small bowel as resection of the Meckel's diverticulum is critical in avoiding recurrent complications.

Periprocedural management of patients on anticoagulants.

Every year, new studies are undertaken to address the complex issue of periprocedural management of patients on anticoagulants and antiplatelet medications. In addition, newer drugs add to the confusion among clinicians about how to best manage patients taking these agents. Using the most recent data, guidelines, and personal experience, this article discusses recommendations and presents simplified algorithms to assist clinicians in the periprocedural management of patients on anticoagulants.