Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Effective and accurate screening for diabetic retinopathy using a 60º mydriatic fundus camera

Objectives. To establish whether an experienced endocrinologist could screen accurately for diabetic retinopathy using mydriatic 60° fundus photographs compared with a reference standard, viz. the combined highest scores of two experienced ophthalmologists. Design. Retrospective review of 60° colour transparency photographs taken over a 6-year period. Retinopathy was graded in a standardised way. Setting. Patients attending the diabetic clinic at Johannesburg Hospital, South Africa. Subjects. Fifteen hundred and seventeen patients (2 446 eyes) formed the basis for the study. Patients were included if there was more than 50% readability of the fundus photographs. Outcome measures. Outcome measures were prevalence of any retinopathy and presence of referable (severe) retinopathy. Interobserver agreement was measured using the kappa statistic, and sensitivity and specificity of the screener were evaluated. Results. The prevalence of retinopathy at the clinic was approximately 30%, but only about 12% was severe enough to warrant referral to the ophthalmology outpatient department. The endocrinologist was very accurate in determining cases requiring referral; there was 97% agreement with the reference standard, viz. the combined highest score of two experienced ophthalmologists (gold standard). Correlation on the determination of any retinopathy was less accurate (80% agreement), mostly owing to the endocrinologist reporting more isolated microaneurysms than the ophthalmologists. The screening method used gave a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 99% which are within recommended standards. Conclusions. The screening strategy using a mydriatic fundus camera at the diabetic clinic was found to be effective and accurate and greatly reduced the number of possible referrals to the ophthalmology outpatient department. S Afr Med J 2005; 95: 57-61

Effective and accurate screening for diabetic retinopathy using a 60° mydriatic fundus camera

Objectives. To establish whether an experienced endocrinologist could screen accurately for diabetic retinopathy using mydriatic 60° fundus photographs compared with a reference standard, viz. the combined highest scores of two experienced ophthalmologists. Design. Retrospective review of 60° colour transparency photographs taken over a 6-year period. Retinopathy was graded in a standardised way. Setting. Patients attending the diabetic clinic at Johannesburg Hospital, South Africa. Subjects. Fifteen hundred and seventeen patients (2 446 eyes) formed the basis for the study. Patients were included if there was more than 50% readability of the fundus photographs. Outcome measures. Outcome measures were prevalence of any retinopathy and presence of referable (severe) retinopathy. Inter-observer agreement was measured using the kappa statistic, and sensitivity and specificity of the screener were evaluated. Results. The prevalence of retinopathy at the clinic was approximately 30%, but only about 12% was severe enough to warrant referral to the ophthalmology outpatient department. The endocrinologist was very accurate in determining cases requiring referral; there was 97% agreement with the reference standard, viz. the combined highest score of two experienced ophthalmologists (gold standard). Correlation on the determination of any retinopathy was less accurate (80% agreement), mostly owing to the endocrinologist reporting more isolated microaneurysms than the ophthalmologists. The screening method used gave a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 99% which are within recommended standards. Conclusions. The screening strategy using a mydriatic fundus camera at the diabetic clinic was found to be effective and accurate and greatly reduced the number of possible referrals to the ophthalmology outpatient department. JEMDSA Vol.10(1) 2005: 11-1