Prevalence and prognostic impact of retropharyngeal lymph nodes metastases in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Meta‐analysis of published literature

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Prevalence and prognostic impact of retropharyngeal lymph nodes metastases in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Meta‐analysis of published literature via Head & Neck Abstract Background This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to estimate the prevalence and prognostic impact of retropharyngeal lymph node metastases (RLNMs) in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). Methods This meta-analysis was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria: studies with more than 20 patients reporting the prevalence or prognostic impact of RLNMs in OPSCC. Whenever available, data on HPV status and subsites were extracted. Results Twenty-two articles were included. The overall prevalence of RLNMs in OPSCC was 13%, with no significant differences depending on HPV status. The highest prevalence was observed for posterior pharyngeal wall SCC (24%), followed by soft palate (17%), palatine tonsil (15%), and base of tongue (8%). RLNMs were associated with a significantly higher risk of death (HR:2.54;IC95%1.89–3.41) and progression (HR:2.44;IC95%1.80–3.30). Conclusions The prevalence of RLNMs in OPSCC was 13%, being higher in tumors of the posterior pharyngeal wall. RLNMs were associated with unfavorable outcomes. View on Web

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The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index as a predictor of complications in geriatric trauma patients

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index as a predictor of complications in geriatric trauma patients via Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery - Current Issue BACKGROUND Malnutrition is associated with increased morbidity and mortality after trauma. The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is a validated scoring system used to predict the risk of complications related to malnutrition in nontrauma patients. We hypothesized that GNRI is predictive of worse outcomes in geriatric trauma patients. METHODS This was a single-center retrospective study of trauma patients 65 years or older admitted in 2019. Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index was calculated based on admission albumin level and ratio of actual body weight to ideal body weight. Groups were defined as major risk (GNRI 98). The primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes included ventilator days, intensive care unit length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, discharge home, sepsis, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between GNRI risk category and outcomes. RESULTS A total of 513 patients were identified for analysis. Median age was 78 years (71–86 years); 24 patients (4.7%) were identified as major risk, 66 (12.9%) as moderate risk, 72 (14%) as low risk, and 351 (68.4%) as no risk. Injury Severity Scores and Charlson Comorbidity Indexes were similar between all groups. Patients in the no risk group had decreased rates of death, and after adjusting for Injury Severity Score, age, and Charlson Comorbidity Index, the no risk group had decreased odds of death (odds ratio, 0.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.04–0.41) compared with the major risk group. The no risk group also had fewer infectious complications including sepsis and pneumonia, and shorter hospital LOS and were more likely to be discharged home. CONCLUSIONS Major GNRI risk is associated with increased mortality and infectious complications in geriatric trauma patients. Further studies should target interventional strategies for those at highest risk based on GNRI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and Epidemiologic; Level III. View on Web

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Failure to rescue in trauma: Early and late mortality in low- and high-performing trauma centers

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Failure to rescue in trauma: Early and late mortality in low- and high-performing trauma centers via Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery - Current Issue BACKGROUND Failure to rescue (FTR) is defined as mortality following a complication. Failure to rescue has come under scrutiny as a quality metric to compare trauma centers. In contrast to elective surgery, trauma has an early period of high expected mortality because of injury sequelae rather than a complication. Here, we report FTR in early and late mortality using an externally validated trauma patient database, hypothesizing that centers with higher risk-adjusted mortality rates have higher risk-adjusted FTR rates. METHODS The study included 114,220 patients at 34 Levels I and II trauma centers in a statewide quality collaborative (2016–2020) with Injury Severity Score of ≥5. Emergency department deaths were excluded. Multivariate regression models were used to produce center-level adjusted rates for mortality and major complications. Centers were ranked on adjusted mortality rate and divided into quintiles. Early deaths (within 48 hours of presentation) and late deaths (after 48 hours) were analyzed. RESULTS Overall, 6.7% of patients had a major complication and 3.1% died. There was no difference in the mean risk-adjusted complication rate among the centers. Failure to rescue was significantly different across the quintiles (13.8% at the very low-mortality centers vs. 23.4% at the very-high-mortality centers, p View on Web

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Development and implementation of an automated electronic health record–linked registry for emergency general surgery

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Development and implementation of an automated electronic health record–linked registry for emergency general surgery via Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery - Current Issue INTRODUCTION Despite adoption of the emergency general surgery (EGS) service by hospitals nationally, quality improvement (QI) and research for this patient population are challenging because of the lack of population-specific registries. Past efforts have been limited by difficulties in identifying EGS patients within institutions and labor-intensive approaches to data capture. Thus, we created an automated electronic health record (EHR)–linked registry for EGS. METHODS We built a registry within the Epic EHR at University of California San Diego for the EGS service. Existing EHR labels that identified patients seen by the EGS team were used to create our automated inclusion rules. Registry validation was performed using a retrospective cohort of EGS patients in a 30-month period and a 1-month prospective cohort. We created quality metrics that are updated and reported back to clinical teams in real time and obtained aggregate data to identify QI and research opportunities. A key metric tracked is clinic schedule rate, as we care that discontinuity postdischarge for the EGS population remains a challenge. RESULTS Our registry captured 1,992 patient encounters with 1,717 unique patients in the 30-month period. It had a false-positive EGS detection rate of 1.8%. In our 1-month prospective cohort, it had a false-positive EGS detection rate of 0% and sensitivity of 85%. For quality metrics analysis, we found that EGS patients who were seen as consults had significantly lower clinic schedule rates on discharge compared with those who were admitted to the EGS service (85% vs. 60.7%, p View on Web

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