Trends of complications and innovative techniques' utilization for colectomies in the United States.

Despite an increasing trend towards utilization of minimally invasive approaches (MIS), results regarding their safety profile are contradictory. All patients who underwent elective colectomy for any underlying disease with an identifiable operative approach available from the targeted colectomy files of the ACS-NSQIP PUFs 2013 to 2018 were included. The trend of utilization and complication rates of the different operative approaches (open, laparoscopic, robotic) were assessed during the inclusion period. Furthermore, overall, surgical, and medical complications were compared between the three approaches. The study cohort included 78,987 patients. Of them, 12,335 (15.6%) patients underwent open, 57,874 (73.3%) laparoscopic, and 8,778 (11.1%) robotic surgery. There was an increasing trend towards the utilization of robotic surgery (2.5% increase per year) at the expense of the other approaches. With the increasing trend toward the utilization of the robotic approach, a decreasing trend in overall and surgical complications and length of stay was observed. After adjusting for the baseline confounders, robotic surgery was associated with shorter length of stay, lower rate of overall (OR 0.397; p < 0.05 compared to open and OR: 0.763; p < 0.05 compared to laparoscopy) and surgical complications (OR: 0.464; p < 0.05 compared to open and OR: 0.734; p < 0.05 compared to laparoscopy). This study revealed an increasing trend toward the utilization of MIS for elective colectomy in the US. Robotic surgery was associated with a decreasing trend in overall and surgical morbidity and length of stay

Oral Antibiotics Bowel Preparation Without Mechanical Preparation For Minimally Invasive Colorectal Surgeries: Current Practice And Future Prospects.

The efficacy of preoperative oral antibiotics alone compared to mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotics in minimally invasive surgery is still a matter of ongoing debate. This study aimed to assess the trend of surgical site infection rates in parallel to the utilization of bowel preparation modality over time for minimally invasive surgery colorectal surgeries in the United States. Retrospective analysis. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Adult patients who underwent elective colorectal surgery and reported bowel preparation modality. The trends and compare surgical site infection rates for mutually exclusive groups according to the underlying disease (colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and diverticular disease) who underwent bowel preparation using oral antibiotics or combined mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotics. Patients who had rectal surgery were analyzed separately. A total of 30,939 patients were included. Of them, 12,417 (40%) had rectal resections. Over the seven-year study period, mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotics utilization has increased from 29.3% in 2012 to 64.0% in 2018; p<0.0001 at the expense of no preparation and mechanical bowel preparation alone. Similarly, oral antibiotics utilization has increased from 2.3% in 2012 to 5.5% in 2018; p<0.0001. For colon cancer patients, patients who had oral antibiotics alone had higher superficial surgical site infection rates compared to patients who had combined mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotics (1.9% vs. 1.1%; p=0.043). Superficial, deep and organ space surgical site infection rates were similar for all other comparative colon surgery groups (cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and diverticular disease). Patients with rectal cancer who had oral antibiotics had higher rates of deep surgical site infection (0.9% vs. 0.1%; p=0.004). However, superficial, deep and organ space surgical site infection rates were similar for all other comparative rectal surgery groups. Retrospective nature of the analysis. This study revealed widespread adoption of mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotics mechanical bowel preparation and oral antibiotics and increased adoption of oral antibiotics over the study period. Surgical site infection rates appear to be similar from a clinical relevance standpoint among most comparative groups, questioning systematic preoperative addition of mechanical bowel preparation to oral antibiotics alone in all patients for minimally invasive colorectal surgery. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/B828

Erratum: "A Gravitational-wave Measurement of the Hubble Constant Following the Second Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo" (2021, ApJ, 909, 218)

[no abstract available

Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by Fermi and Swift during the LIGO-Virgo Run O3b

We search for gravitational-wave signals associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi and Swift satellites during the second half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (2019 November 1 15:00 UTC-2020 March 27 17:00 UTC). We conduct two independent searches: A generic gravitational-wave transients search to analyze 86 GRBs and an analysis to target binary mergers with at least one neutron star as short GRB progenitors for 17 events. We find no significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with any of these GRBs. A weighted binomial test of the combined results finds no evidence for subthreshold gravitational-wave signals associated with this GRB ensemble either. We use several source types and signal morphologies during the searches, resulting in lower bounds on the estimated distance to each GRB. Finally, we constrain the population of low-luminosity short GRBs using results from the first to the third observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The resulting population is in accordance with the local binary neutron star merger rate. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run

Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo's third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, we look in O3 data for long-duration (hours-months) transient gravitational waves in the aftermath of pulsar glitches for six targets with a total of nine glitches. We report two marginal outliers from this search, but find no clear evidence for such emission either. The resulting duration-dependent strain upper limits do not surpass indirect energy constraints for any of these targets. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

Search for gravitational-wave transients associated with magnetar bursts in advanced LIGO and advanced Virgo data from the third observing run

Gravitational waves are expected to be produced from neutron star oscillations associated with magnetar giant f lares and short bursts. We present the results of a search for short-duration (milliseconds to seconds) and longduration (∼100 s) transient gravitational waves from 13 magnetar short bursts observed during Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA’s third observation run. These 13 bursts come from two magnetars, SGR1935 +2154 and SwiftJ1818.0−1607. We also include three other electromagnetic burst events detected by FermiGBM which were identified as likely coming from one or more magnetars, but they have no association with a known magnetar. No magnetar giant flares were detected during the analysis period. We find no evidence of gravitational waves associated with any of these 16 bursts. We place upper limits on the rms of the integrated incident gravitational-wave strain that reach 3.6 × 10−²³ Hz at 100 Hz for the short-duration search and 1.1 ×10−²² Hz at 450 Hz for the long-duration search. For a ringdown signal at 1590 Hz targeted by the short-duration search the limit is set to 2.3 × 10−²² Hz. Using the estimated distance to each magnetar, we derive upper limits upper limits on the emitted gravitational-wave energy of 1.5 × 1044 erg (1.0 × 1044 erg) for SGR 1935+2154 and 9.4 × 10^43 erg (1.3 × 1044 erg) for Swift J1818.0−1607, for the short-duration (long-duration) search. Assuming isotropic emission of electromagnetic radiation of the burst fluences, we constrain the ratio of gravitational-wave energy to electromagnetic energy for bursts from SGR 1935+2154 with the available fluence information. The lowest of these ratios is 4.5 × 103

Trends and consequences of surgical conversion in the United States.

The aim of this study was to identify national utilization trends of robotic surgery for elective colectomy, conversion rates over time, and the specific impact of conversion on postoperative morbidity. Conversion to open represents a hard endpoint for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and is associated with worse outcomes when compared to MIS or even traditional open procedures. All adult patients who underwent either laparoscopic or robotic elective colectomy from 2013 to 2018 as reported in the American College of Surgeons Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database were included. National trends of both robotic utilization and conversion rates were analyzed, overall and according to underlying disease (benign disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cancer), or the presence of obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m <sup>2</sup> ). Demographic and surgical risk factors for surgical conversion to open were identified through multivariable regression analysis. Further assessed were overall and specific postoperative 30-day complications, which were risk adjusted and compared between converted patients and the remaining cohort. Of 66,652 included procedures, 5353 (8.0%) were converted to open. Conversion rates were 8.5% for laparoscopic and 4.9% for robotic surgery (p < 0.0001). A decline in conversion rates over the 6-year inclusion period was observed overall and for patients with obesity. This trend paralleled an increased utilization of the robotic platform. Several surrogates for advanced disease stages for cancer, diverticulitis, and IBD and prolonged surgical duration were identified as independent risk factors for unplanned conversion, while robotic approach was an independent protective factor (OR 0.44, p < 0.0001). Patients who had unplanned conversion were more likely to experience postoperative complications (OR 2.36; 95% CI [2.21-2.51]), length of hospital stay ≥ 6 days (OR 2.86; 95% CI [2.67-3.05], and 30-day mortality (OR 2.28; 95% CI [1.72-3.02]). This nationwide study identified a decreasing trend in conversion rates over the 6-year inclusion period, both overall and in patients with obesity, paralleling increased utilization of the robotic platform. Unplanned conversion to open was associated with a higher risk of postoperative complications

How skilled are skilled facilities? Post-discharge complications after colorectal cancer surgery in the U.S.

Characteristics and indications for discharging patients to home or a specific facility type have been studied; however, critical evaluation of these facilities through analysis of post-discharge complications and readmission rates is mandatory. The aim of this study was to compare complications occurring after discharge to home, skilled, and unskilled care facilities to identify potential pitfalls. All adult (≥18 years) patients who underwent surgery for colon or rectal cancer from 2012 to 2017 as reported in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database were included. Patients were categorized according to the discharge destination into: home, skilled care (rehabilitation center, separate acute care, skilled facility), and unskilled care (multilevel senior community, facility which is home, unskilled facility). Demographics, surgical risk factors and predischarge complications were compared between the three groups. Primary endpoints were overall, major, surgical, and medical complications occurring post-discharge, within 30 days of surgery. Further assessed were specific complications, readmission, length of stay, and 30-day mortality. A total of 108,617 patients were identified. Of them, 100,478 (92%) discharged to home, 7313 (7%) to skilled, and 826 (1%) to unskilled care. Of patients discharged to skilled care, 1928 (26%) discharged to rehabilitation centers, 368 (5%) to separate acute care, and 5017 (69%) to skilled facilities. Adjusted overall, major, surgical, and medical post-discharge complications were highest among patients discharged to skilled care destinations. Subgroup analysis revealed separate acute care (inter-hospital transfer) to be associated with the highest morbidity. Main reasons for readmission were primarily related to surgical site infection and intestinal obstruction among the three main destinations, whereas readmissions for systemic sepsis and medical complications were more frequent in patients admitted to skilled care. This study identified higher rates of post-discharge complications associated with skilled care destinations, despite risk adjustment. This over-morbidity is potentially related to prevailing medical complications and inter-hospital transfers. Further studies are needed to better understand those findings and to improve quality of post-acute care and related outcomes

Additional Value of Preoperative Albumin for Surgical Risk Stratification among Colorectal Cancer Patients.

BMI ≤18.5 kg/m2 and preoperative weight loss may lead to inaccurate assessment of nutritional status, given the increasing prevalence of obesity. The aim of this study was to assess whether clinical evaluation of malnutrition based on these parameters is sufficient to predict complications after colorectal cancer surgery. The American College of Surgeons-National Quality Improvement Program database was queried from 2005 to 2018. Patients undergoing elective colorectal cancer surgery were divided into 4 groups: (1) albumin <3.1 g/dL within 21 days of surgery, (2) European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) 2 clinical parameters for malnutrition (≥10% loss of weight/6 months plus [BMI <20 kg/m2 if age <70 years OR BMI <22 kg/m2 if age ≥70 years]), (3) both aforementioned criteria, and (4) none of aforementioned criteria. Of 82,280 patients, 5,932 (7.2%) had hypoalbuminemia <3.1 g/dL, 764 (0.9%) fulfilled clinical ESPEN 2 parameters, and 338 (0.4%) met both criteria. After adjusting for baseline confounders, patients in the hypoalbuminemia group had a higher risk of overall complications (odds ratio [OR] 1.92, p < 0.05 vs. OR 1.18 in the ESPEN 2 group, p < 0.05), major complications (OR 1.98, p < 0.05 vs. OR 1.20, p < 0.05), surgical complications (OR 1.77, 95% p < 0.05 vs. OR 1.1, p > 0.05), medical complications (OR 1.73, p < 0.05 vs. OR 1.16, p > 0.05), surgical site infection (OR 1.32, p < 0.05 vs. OR 0.86, p > 0.05), and prolonged hospitalization (OR 1.79, p < 0.05 vs. OR 1.22, p < 0.05). Patients who met both criteria were at highest risk. Preoperative measurement of serum albumin appears to be essential to identify patients at risk for complications after colorectal cancer surgery. Clinical evaluation through BMI and weight loss alone may underestimate surgery-associated risks in the USA

Does Physical Intimate Partner Violence Affect Sexual Health?: A Systematic Review

Forty years of published research (1966-2006) addressing physical intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual health was reviewed (51 manuscripts) and synthesized to determine (a) those sexual health indicators for which sufficient evidence is available to suggest a causal association and (b) gaps in the literature for which additional careful research is needed to establish causality and explain mechanisms for these associations. Sexual health was defined as a continuum of indicators of gynecology and reproductive health. IPV was consistently associated with sexual risk taking, inconsistent condom use, or partner nonmonogamy (23 of 27 studies), having an unplanned pregnancy or induced abortion (13 of 16 studies), having a sexually transmitted infection (17 of 24 studies), and sexual dysfunction (17 of 18 studies). A conceptual model was presented to guide further needed research addressing direct and indirect mechanisms by which physical, sexual, and psychological IPV affects sexual health