Delay in seeking care for breast symptoms and its associated factors

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Malaysian and in women worldwide. The incidence of breast cancer is increasing yearly. Early presentation and thus, early detection of breast cancer will lead to better prognosis and survival. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the delay of presentation time in women with breast symptom and its associated factors. Methods: The study was conducted between January to October 2020, recruiting women with new breast symptoms at their first visit to the clinic. Face-to-face interviews using the standardised Malay language questionnaires, and the date of symptom first develop and first visit the clinic was recorded. Presentation time was calculated based on the number of days between the two date. Those with presentation time more than 90 days was considered as a delayed group. Associated factors were recorded, cross-tabulation and multiple logistic regression with the delay presentation for were used for analysis. Result: In total, 106 respondents were included. The mean age of the respondents was 33.99 (SD 11.207), and most of them (73.6%), were age 39 and younger. The respondents mainly were Malay ethnicity (98.1%) and Chinese (1.9%). Most of the respondents first visited the local government health clinic (35.8%) for breast symptoms. They presented symptoms were breast lump (75.5%), followed by pain (15.1%), nipple discharge (5.7%), skin changes of breast (0.9%) and others (2.8%). Only 10.4% of the respondents went for alternative treatment before for the breast symptoms. The mean of presentation time was 98.91 days (SD 323.71) with median of 14.5 days. Approximately 61.3% of the respondents came within 1-month time. Only 19.8% of the respondents had delay presentation of more than 3 months. The factor that significantly associated with the delay in the presentation was the interpretation of the symptom as not dangerous with adjusted OR 3.05 (95% CI 1.11,8.38) with adjustment of the symptom of breast lump Conclusion: The percentage of delay presentation was lower compared to the previous local study in Malaysia. The significant factor associated with the delay for breast care was the interpretation of the symptom as harmless. The future education program must be targeted and tailored to the local community

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Biliary ascariasis – A vicious cycle

Biliary ascariasis is a rare disease in a non-endemic area. However, it is one of the possible etiological factors for retarded growth as well as malnutrition in children. It may cause intestinal obstruction, appendicitis, biliary obstruction, liver abscess, hepatolithiasis, and pancreatitis in adults. Herein, we report a patient with ascending cholangitis secondary to biliary ascariasis who was successfully managed with Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio Pancreaticography.</jats:p

SMA Syndrome – Wait &amp; Nurture

Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is rare with the common presentation of megaduodenum from entrapment of the third part of the duodenum (D3) by the SMA. We present a case report of a thin, fit 16-year-old boy, active smoker complaining of generalized colicky abdominal pain associated with persistent postprandial vomiting. Small bowel study demonstrated partial duodenal obstruction from compression of the third part of the duodenum by the SMA. Computed tomography of the abdomen shows an aorto-mesenteric angle of 13 degrees with aorto-mesenteric distance of 0.32 cm, indicating SMA syndrome. His symptoms resolved spontaneously with watchful waiting and nutritional care plan. The success was contributed to restoring the fat cushion around the SMA, hence, widening the aorto-mesenteric angle. In conclusion, watchful waiting with a nutritional care plan is a feasible initial strategy in the approach to SMA syndrome. However, should this strategy be unsuccessful, the choice of surgical treatment is duodenojejunostomy.</jats:p

Factors Associated with Delay in Seeking Care for Breast Symptoms

Abstract Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Early detection and intervention are associated with better prognosis and survival. The study aim was to investigate the factors associated with delayed treatment among women with breast symptoms.Methods: After ethics approval, a cross-sectional study was conducted from January to October 2020 in women with new breast cancer symptoms at their first visit to our clinic. The “Delayed Presentation” questionnaires in the Malay language were used and distributed among the participants. Demographic data and presentation time were recorded. Presentation time was defined as the duration of symptoms prior to visiting the clinic. Respondents with presentation times &gt; 90 days comprised the delayed group. The potential factors associated with delayed presentation were analyzed using cross-tabulation and multiple logistic regression.Results: There were 106 respondents to the questionnaire, with a mean age of 34.0 (SD: 11.2) years, and 73.6% (n = 78) were &lt;39 years old. A total of 35.8% (n = 38) were first-time presenters to the health clinic. The reasons for presentation were a palpable breast lump on breast self-examination (75.5%, n = 80), mastalgia (15.1%, n = 16), nipple discharge (5.7%, n = 6), skin changes (0.9%, n = 1), and others (2.8%, n = 3). Among the respondents, 10.4% (n = 11) had alternative treatments prior to presentation to a hospital. The mean presentation time was 98.9 (SD: 323.7) days. Most of the participants (61.3%, n = 65) presented to us within 1 month. The delayed presentation group accounted for 19.8% (n = 21) of the respondents. The factor that was significantly associated with delayed presentation was the participants’ perception of symptoms as not dangerous (adjusted OR: 3.05, 95% CI: 1.11, 8.38).Conclusions: The percentage of delayed presentations among our patients was lower than the percentage reported in a previous study. Interpretation of a symptom as harmless by the respondent was the only factor significantly associated with delayed presentation.</jats:p

Additional file 1 of Factors associated with delay in seeking care for breast symptoms

Additional file 1. Supplementary Data

Understanding the long‐term impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer outcomes: 12‐Month follow‐up data from the international, prospective COVIDSurg Cancer study

Objective: The objective of this study was to report the 12-month oncological outcomes for patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) within the prospective, international COVIDSurg Cancer study. Patients and methods: Eligible patients were aged ≥18 years and scheduled for elective surgical management of NMIBC with curative intent (transurethral resection of bladder tumour [TURBT] or bladder biopsy) from 21 January to 14 April 2020. The primary outcome was disease recurrence within 12 months of previous elective TURBT/bladder biopsy. Secondary outcomes included disease progression within 12 months of previous elective TURBT/bladder biopsy, site-declared delay to surgery from diagnosis as a consequence of COVID-19 and deviation in standard care due to COVID-19. Comparisons were made to cohorts from the pre-pandemic era. Results: Bladder cancer accounted for 2.2% (n&nbsp;= 446) of patients in the COVIDSurg Cancer study, with data contributed by 27 centres across 12 countries internationally. Within this included cohort, 229 patients had NMIBC and 12-month follow-up data available. On application of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) criteria, 47.2% were classified as having high-risk disease. Overall disease recurrence and progression rates were 29.3% and 9.7% at 12 months, respectively. In purely high-risk pre-pandemic cohorts, the International Bladder Cancer Group (IBCG) estimates a recurrence rate of 25% at 12 months, and the European Association of Urology (EAU) NMIBC 2021 scoring model estimates a 12-month progression rate of 3.5%. As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, 10.9% of patients had site-declared delay to TURBT/bladder biopsy; 7.4% did not undergo intravesical therapy or had early discontinuation of this; 9.2% did not undergo early repeat resection for high-risk disease; and 18.3% had a delay to cystoscopic follow-up surveillance. Conclusions: This prospective study indicates that there were widespread deviations in usual care for NMIBC during the pandemic and that 12-month oncological outcomes appear to be impaired compared to published pre-pandemic outcomes

Global 30-day morbidity and mortality of surgery for perforated peptic ulcer: GRACE study

Background There is little international data on morbidity and mortality of surgery for perforated peptic ulcer (PPU). This study aimed to understand the global 30-day morbidity and mortality of patients undergoing surgery for PPU and to identify variables associated with these. Method We performed an international study of adults (≥ 18 years) who underwent surgery for PPU from 1st January 2022 to 30th June 2022. Patients who were treated conservatively or had an underlying gastric cancer were excluded. Patients were divided into subgroups according to age (≤ 50 and &gt; 50 years) and time from onset of symptoms to hospital presentation (≤ 24 and &gt; 24 h). Univariate and Multivariate analyses were carried out to identify factors associated with higher 30-day morbidity and mortality. Results 1874 patients from 159 centres across 52 countries were included. 78.3% (n = 1467) of the patients were males and the median (IQR) age was 49 years (25). Thirty-day morbidity and mortality were 48.5% (n = 910) and 9.3% (n = 174) respectively. Median (IQR) hospital stay was 7 (5) days. Open surgery was performed in 80% (n = 1505) of the cohort. Age &gt; 50 years [(OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.4–2), (OR = 4.7, 95% CI 3.1–7.6)], female gender [(OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.4–2.3), (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.3–2.9)], shock on admission [(OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.7–2.7), (OR = 4.8, 95% CI 3.2–7.1)], and acute kidney injury [(OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.9–3.2), (OR = 3.9), 95% CI 2.7–5.6)] were associated with both 30-day morbidity and mortality. Delayed presentation was associated with 30-day morbidity [OR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.6], but not mortality. Conclusions This study showed that surgery for PPU was associated with high 30-day morbidity and mortality rate. Age, female gender, and signs of shock at presentation were associated with both 30-day morbidity and mortality

Effects of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery: an international prospective cohort study

We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05-1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4-7 days or >= 8 days of 1.25 (1.04-1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11-1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care