Racial Disparities in Surgery for Malignant Bowel Obstruction.

BACKGROUND: Operative management of patients with malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) may provide effective palliation, but is associated with substantial risks. This study aimed to analyze racial and ethnic differences in surgical outcomes for patients with MBO. METHODS: This retrospective study, using National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) registry data from 2010 to 2019, compared differences in outcomes by race and ethnicity for 2762 patients undergoing surgery for MBO. Multivariable logistic regression controlled for relevant covariates. RESULTS: Black patients (n = 407) had higher rates of preoperative comorbidity and were more likely than White patients (n = 2081) to have major complications (28.5% vs 21.8%; p = 0.0031), overall complications (47.4% vs 40.4%; p = 0.0087), a longer median hospital stay (12 days; interquartile range [IQR, 8-19 days] vs 10 days [IQR, 7-17 days]; p = 0.0007), and unplanned readmission (17.1% vs 12.9%; p = 0.0266). Black patients had a similar mortality rate to that of White patients and were less frequently discharged to home (67.6% vs 73.0%; p = 0.0315). Differences in morbidity between Black patients and White patients persisted after controlling for potentially confounding variables. Hispanic patients had lower mortality than White patients (6.3% vs 13.1%; p = 0.0130) and a longer hospital stay (12 days [IQR, 8-18 days] vs 10 days [IQR, 7-17 days]; p = 0.0313). Outcomes did not differ between Asian patients and White patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated significant disparities for Black patients undergoing surgery for MBO. Understanding and addressing what drives these differences, including systemic inequalities such as access to care and racial biases, is essential to the achievement of more equitable, higher-quality patient care.

Clinical and direct immunofluorescence characteristics of cutaneous toxicity associated with enfortumab vedotin.

Enfortumab vedotin (EV), a novel antibody-drug conjugate approved for metastatic urothelial carcinoma, causes a variety of cutaneous adverse reactions. We present two cases of bullous eruptions following treatment with EV, both demonstrating IgG deposition on direct immunofluorescence (DIF) correlating to the location of nectin-4 in the epidermis. This suggests that the IgG component of EV binding to nectin-4 in keratinocytes is likely a primary contributor to the high rates of cutaneous toxicity.

Bariatric Surgery Prior to Total Hip Arthroplasty Is Cost-Effective in Morbidly Obese Patients.

BACKGROUND: The cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery to achieve weight loss prior to total hip arthroplasty (THA), and decrease the complications and costs associated with THA in the morbidly obese, is unknown. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery prior to THA for morbidly obese patients with end-stage hip osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: A state-transition Markov model was constructed to compare the cost-utility of 2 treatment protocols for patients with morbid obesity and end-stage hip OA: (1) immediate THA and (2) bariatric surgery 2 years prior to THA (combined protocol). The analysis was performed from both a payer and a societal perspective using direct and indirect costs over a 40-year time horizon. Utilities, associated costs, and probabilities for health state transitions were derived from the literature. One-way, 2-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to validate the robustness of the base case results, using the standard willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/quality-adjusted life years. RESULTS: From the societal perspective, the combined protocol was more effective (13.16 vs 12.26) with less cost ($91,717 vs $92,684) and thus was the dominant strategy over immediate THA. These results were stable across broad ranges for independent model variables. Monte Carlo simulation with 100,000 samples demonstrated that bariatric surgery prior to THA was the preferred cost-effective strategy over 95% of the time from both a societal and payer perspective. CONCLUSION: In the morbidly obese patient with end-stage hip OA, bariatric surgery prior to THA is a cost-effective strategy for improving quality of life and decreasing societal and payer costs. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip: an update on diagnosis and management from birth to 6 months.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Our understanding of the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is evolving. This review focuses on the most up-to-date literature on DDH in patients from birth to six months of age. RECENT FINDINGS: Well known risk factors for DDH include family history, female sex, and breech positioning. Recent evidence suggests higher birth weight is a risk, whereas prematurity may be protective. Screening includes physical examination of all infant hips and imaging when abnormal findings or risk factors are present. Treatment in the first six months consists of a harness, with 70-95% success. Failure risk factors include femoral nerve palsy, static bracing, irreducible hips, initiation after seven weeks of age, right hip dislocation, Graf-IV hips, and male sex. Rigid bracing may be trialed if reduction with a harness fails and closed reduction is indicated after failed bracing. If the hip is still irreducible, nonconcentric, or unstable, open reduction may be required following closed reduction. Evidence does not support delaying hip reduction until the ossific nucleus is present. SUMMARY: DDH affects 1-7% of infants. All infants should be examined and selective screening with imaging should be performed for abnormal physical exams or risk factors. Early treatment is associated with optimal outcomes.

A new look at an old well-being construct: evaluating the psychometric properties of 9, 5, and 1-item versions of emotional exhaustion metrics.

Objective: To compare the relative strengths (psychometric and convergent validity) of four emotional exhaustion (EE) measures: 9- and 5-item scales and two 1-item metrics. Patients and methods: This was a national cross-sectional survey study of 1409 US physicians in 2013. Psychometric properties were compared using Cronbach's alpha, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Spearman's Correlations. Convergent validity with subjective happiness (SHS), depression (CES-D10), work-life integration (WLI), and intention to leave current position (ITL) was assessed using Spearman's Correlations and Fisher's R-to-Z. Results: The 5-item EE scale correlated highly with the 9-item scale (Spearman's rho = 0.828), demonstrated excellent internal reliability (alpha = 0.87), and relative to the 9-item, exhibited superior CFA model fit (RMSEA = 0.082, CFI = 0.986, TLI = 0.972). The 5-item EE scale correlated as highly as the 9-item scale with SHS, CES-D10, and WLI, and significantly stronger than the 9-item scale to ITL. Both 1-item EE metrics had significantly weaker correlation with SHS, CES-D10, WLI, and ITL (Fisher's R-to-Z; p < 0.05) than the 5- and 9-item EE scales. Conclusion: The 5-item EE scale was repeatedly found equivalent or superior to the 9-item version across analyses, particularly with respect to the CFA results. As there is no cost to using the briefer 5-item EE scale, the burden on respondents is smaller, and widespread access to administering and interpreting an excellent wellbeing metric is enhanced at a critical time in global wellbeing research. The single item EE metrics exhibited lower convergent validity than the 5- and 9-item scales, but are acceptable for detecting a signal of EE when using a validated EE scale is not feasible. Replication of psychometrics and open-access benchmarking results for use of the 5-tem EE scale further enhance access and utility of this metric.