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

Evaluation of phenoxymethylpenicillin treatment of acute otitis media in children aged 2–16

Objective. To study the clinical recovery from acute otitis media ( AOM) in children, 2-16 years of age, managed with or without treatment with phenoxymethylpenicillin ( PcV). Design. An open, prospective randomized trial. Children aged between 2 and 16 years, presenting with one- or double-sided AOM ( without perforation) with symptom duration of less than four days, were included. The children were randomized to PcV for five days or to no primary antibiotic treatment. A health score and compliance were registered on a daily basis for seven days. Setting. A total of 32 health centres and 72 GPs in south-east Sweden. Subjects. Children aged 2-16 presenting with earache. Main outcome measures. Recovery time, symptom duration, frequency of complications ( up to three months) and consumption of healthcare services independent of treatment with or without antibiotics. Results. A total of 179 patients carried out the trial; 92 were randomized to PcV, 87 to no primary antibiotic treatment. The median recovery time was four days in both groups. Patients who received PcV had less pain ( p<0.001) and used fewer analgesics. There were no significant differences in the number of middle-ear effusions or perforations at the final control after three months. Children randomized to PcV treatment consulted less ( p<0.001) during the first seven days. Conclusions. Our investigation supports that PcV treatment of AOM does not affect the recovery time or complication rates. PcV provided some symptomatic benefit in the treatment of AOM in otherwise healthy children, aged 2-16 years

Kuluttajabarometri maakunnittain 2000, 2. neljännes

Suomen virallinen tilasto (SVT

Use of failure-to-rescue to identify international variation in postoperative care in low-, middle- and high-income countries: a 7-day cohort study of elective surgery

This was an investigator-initiated study funded by Nestle Health Sciences through an unrestricted research grant and by a National Institute for Health Research (UK) Professorship held by R.P. The study was sponsored by Queen Mary University of London