Examining Reduced Opioid Prescriptions after Gynecologic Laparoscopy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine whether prescribing 5 tablets, as opposed to 10 tablets, of 5-mg oxycodone adequately treats pain after gynecologic laparoscopy. DESIGN: Single-blinded randomized trial. SETTING: Academically affiliated ambulatory surgery center. PATIENTS: One hundred twenty women scheduled to undergo minor gynecologic laparoscopy. INTERVENTIONS: Patients scheduled for ambulatory gynecologic laparoscopy were allocated to the standard tablet or low-tablet number prescription groups (10 tablets or 5 tablets of 5-mg oxycodone). The patients also received prescriptions for acetaminophen and ibuprofen. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Telephone surveys were conducted on postoperative days 1 and 7 to assess medication use and pain. The primary outcome was the number of oxycodone tablets used by days 1 and 7. Prespecified secondary outcomes included unscheduled patient contacts and pain scores. With N = 50 in each group and assuming standardized effect sizes, the study was powered to detect a 0.6 difference or greater when comparing the primary outcome between the groups. Forty-five and 47 patients in the 5-tablet and 10-tablet groups, respectively, completed the day-7 survey. The median number of oxycodone tablets taken by day 7 was 2.0 (interquartile range 0.0, 4.0) in the 5-tablet group and 2.5 (interquartile range 0.0, 5.0) in the 10-tablet group (p = .36). Most of the patients in both groups reported taking 3 oxycodone tablets or fewer by day 7. There were no significant differences in unscheduled patient contacts, need for additional prescriptions, or pain scores. There were significantly fewer unused tablets in the 5-tablet group by day 7. CONCLUSION: Prescribing 5 tablets of 5-mg oxycodone, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen is likely sufficient for most patients after minor laparoscopic surgery.

A Qualitative Study of New York Medical Student Views on Implicit Bias Instruction: Implications for Curriculum Development.

BACKGROUND: For at least the past two decades, medical educators have worked to improve patient communication and health care delivery to diverse patient populations; despite efforts, patients continue to report prejudice and bias during their clinical encounters. Targeted instruction in implicit bias recognition and management may promote the delivery of equitable care, but students at times resist this instruction. Little guidance exists to overcome this resistance and to engage students in implicit bias instruction; instruction over time could lead to eventual skill development that is necessary to mitigate the influence of implicit bias on clinical practice behaviors. OBJECTIVE: To explore student perceptions of challenges and opportunities when participating in implicit bias instruction. APPROACH: We conducted a qualitative study that involved 11 focus groups with medical students across each of the four class years to explore their perceptions of challenges and opportunities related to participating in such instruction. We analyzed transcripts for themes. KEY RESULTS: Our analysis suggests a range of attitudes toward implicit bias instruction and identifies contextual factors that may influence these attitudes. The themes were (1) resistance; (2) shame; (3) the negative role of the hidden curriculum; and (4) structural barriers to student engagement. Students expressed resistance to implicit bias instruction; some of these attitudes are fueled from concerns of anticipated shame within the learning environment. Participants also indicated that student engagement in implicit bias instruction was influenced by the hidden curriculum and structural barriers. CONCLUSIONS: These insights can inform future curriculum development efforts. Considerations related to instructional design and programmatic decision-making are highlighted. These considerations for implicit bias instruction may provide useful frameworks for educators looking for opportunities to minimize student resistance and maximize engagement in multi-session instruction in implicit bias recognition and management.

Outcomes of bariatric surgery in the young: a single-institution experience caring for patients under 21 years old.

BACKGROUND: Medical weight loss options are rarely successful long term in young patients. Bariatric surgery has been shown to be safe and effective in this population. METHODS: Patients ≤21 years old who had bariatric surgery at our institution between January 2009 and December 2013 were evaluated to determine the safety and efficacy of bariatric surgery in this population. The primary end point was excess weight loss (EWL). Secondary end points included surgical morbidity, improvement in obesity-related metabolic parameters, and subjective obesity-related symptoms at 1 year. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients were identified who had a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LGBP) or laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Fourteen patients were male (25.9 %), and 40 patients were female (74.1 %). Thirty-seven patients (68.5 %) underwent LGBP, and 17 patients (31.5 %) underwent LSG. Median follow-up was 13.3 months. The baseline BMI was 51.7 kg/m2 for the LGBP group and 51.0 kg/m2 for the LSG group. EWL was 35.2, 47.6, 62.4, 58.1, and 61.8 % for the LGBP group; 29.7, 44.7, 57.4, 60.3, and 59.0 % for the LSG group at 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months, respectively. Our complications included 1 anastomotic bleed, 1 postoperative stricture, and 1 patient who developed vitamin deficiency that manifested as a peripheral neuropathy in the LGBP group. LGBP was more successful than LSG in improving lipid panel parameters and HbA1c at 1 year, and it also seemed to offer better subjective improvement in obesity-related symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: LGBP and LSG seem to confer comparable weight loss benefit in patients ≤21 years old with acceptable surgical morbidity.

Implicit Bias Recognition and Management: Tailored Instruction for Faculty.

BACKGROUND: Implicit bias instruction is becoming more prevalent across the continuum of medical education. Little guidance exists for faculty on recognizing and debriefing about implicit bias during routine clinical encounters. OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact and feasibility of single seminars on implicit bias and the approach to its management in clinical settings. METHODS: Between September 2016 and November 2017, the authors delivered five departmental/divisional grand rounds across three different academic medical centers in New York, USA. Instruction provided background information on implicit bias, highlighted its relevance to clinical care, and discussed proposed interventions. To evaluate the impact of instruction participants completed a twelve-item retrospective pre-intervention/post-intervention survey. Questions related to comfort and confidence in recognizing and managing implicit bias, debriefing with learners, and role-modeling behaviors. Participants identified strategies for recognizing and managing potentially biased events through free text prompts. Authors qualitatively analyzed participants' identified strategies. RESULTS: We received 116 completed surveys from 203 participants (57% response rate). Participants self-reported confidence and comfort increased for all questions. Qualitative analysis resulted in three themes: looking inward, looking outward, and taking action at individual and institutional levels. CONCLUSION: After a single session, respondents reported increased confidence and comfort with the topic. They identified strategies relevant to their professional contexts which can inform future skills-based interventions. For healthcare organizations responding to calls for implicit bias training, this approach has great promise. It is feasible and can reach a wide audience through usual grand rounds programming, serving as an effective early step in such training.

Patient perspectives on racial and ethnic implicit bias in clinical encounters: Implications for curriculum development.

OBJECTIVE: Patients describe feelings of bias and prejudice in clinical encounters; however, their perspectives on restoring the encounter once bias is perceived are not known. Implicit bias has emerged as a target for curricular interventions. In order to inform the design of novel patient-centered curricular interventions, this study explores patients' perceptions of bias, and suggestions for restoring relationships if bias is perceived. METHODS: The authors conducted bilingual focus groups with purposive sampling of self-identified Black and Latino community members in the US. Data were analyzed using grounded theory. RESULTS: Ten focus groups (in English (6) and Spanish (4)) with N = 74 participants occurred. Data analysis revealed multiple influences patients' perception of bias in their physician encounters. The theory emerging from the analysis suggests if bias is perceived, the outcome of the encounter can still be positive. A positive or negative outcome depends on whether the physician acknowledges this perceived bias or not, and his or her subsequent actions. CONCLUSIONS: Participant lived experience and physician behaviors influence perceptions of bias, however clinical relationships can be restored following perceived bias. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Providers might benefit from skill development in the recognition and acknowledgement of perceived bias in order to restore patient-provider relationships.

Excess Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Parameter Reduction Diminished among Hispanics Undergoing Bariatric Surgery: Outcomes in More than 2,000 Consecutive Hispanic Patients at a Single Institution.

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery has been established as the most effective long-term treatment for morbid obesity and obesity-related comorbidities. Despite its success, there is a paucity of data on the outcomes of bariatric surgery on Hispanic patients. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a retrospective review of obese patients treated at our institute between 2008 and 2014. We identified self-reported Hispanic patients who underwent a laparoscopic gastric bypass (LGBP), sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), or gastric band (LGB) procedure. The primary end point was excess weight loss (EWL) at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Secondary end points included improvement of obesity-related metabolic parameters at 1 year. We performed a repeated measures analysis of variance to calculate statistical significance throughout our study time period. RESULTS: We identified 2002 Hispanic patients who underwent bariatric surgery (1,235 LGBP, 600 LSG, 167 LGB) at our institute from 2008 to 2014. Follow-ups at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months were 62.2%, 54.5%, 36.2%, and 19.8%, respectively. Mean preoperative BMIs were 47.0 ± 7.2 kg/m2, 46.1 ± 7.8 kg/m2, and 44.9 ± 6.0 kg/m2 for the LGBP, LSG, and LGB cohorts, respectively. Excess weight loss was significantly more pronounced in the LGBP and the LSG groups than in the LGB group; this difference was accentuated over time (p < 0.0001). Obesity-related metabolic parameters and the need for comorbidity medical therapy decreased in all 3 surgical groups. CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric surgery is highly successful in Hispanic obese patients. In the largest series to date, LGBP and LSG seem to yield more effective EWL and reduction of cardiometabolic parameters than LGB among Hispanics; however, outcomes are still markedly reduced when compared with those in non-Hispanic populations.