A Clinical Score to Predict Acute Renal Failure after Cardiac Surgery in Egypt

Background: Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery is a serious complication. AKI could occur in 30% of patients, and 1-5% develop severe kidney injury. The present study aimed to evaluate the use of the Cleveland Clinic Score (CCS) to identify patients at higher risk of AKI after cardiac surgery. Methods: This study included 100 patients, 83 were males, and the mean age was 52.47±11.3 years. All patients had elective operations; 30% had isolated valve surgery, 64% had isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and 6% had combined CABG and valve operation. Results: Creatinine serum level ranged between 0.5-2 mg/dL with a mean of 0.98±0.32 mg/dL. Seventy-four patients had good renal function postoperatively, and their CCS was 1.45±0.36, while 26 patients had renal impairment, and their CCS was 12.5±0.44 (P= 0.001). Patients who had AKI were older (62.87±8.7 vs. 49.9±13.9; P<0.001) and had higher preoperative creatinine (1.1±0.32 vs. 0.94±0.31; P= 0.03). AKI was more common in diabetics (23 (88.5%) vs. 28 (37.85, P<0.001) and patients with COPD (6 (23.1%) vs. 3 (4.1%); P= 0.004). CCS score was significantly higher among the different degrees of severity of AKI. Conclusion: Cleveland Clinic Score could be good for predicting acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery

Upper lip myomucosal flap for the repair of anterior oronasal fistula

Anterior oronasal fistula after cleft palatal repair is difficult to correct and it is consider challenging to many surgeons. Many techniques were used to repair this type of fistula without guarantee for success. Upper lip myomucosal flap is an alternative technique for the repair of this type of fistula. This is a retrospective descriptive case series study which included 10 patients diagnosed with anterior oronasal fistula after cleft palatal repair. They presented to Pediatric Surgery Department at the Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University Children Hospital from the period between November 2013 and August 2014. In this technique, we do harvesting of the flap with measurement of its length and width, then baring the edge of the fistula with trying of its closure with local flaps. After that we suture the flap to the edge of the fistula and then evaluate the success rate. This study included 10 patients with age ranging from 15 to 72 months. The size of the fistula was less than 1 cm in six patients and more than 1 cm in four patients. The flap was used as an additional layer repair in seven patients and as the only layer for the repair in three patients. This technique was found to be successful in 70% of the patients with good healing without any recurrent fistula. We concluded that the use of this technique is feasible; however, its efficacy should be tested in larger number of patients to be considered as an option for the treatment of anterior oronasal fistula.Keywords: oronasal fistula, upper lip myomucosal flap, lip fla

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research