Adverse events identified by Global Trigger Tool in 245 patients with colon cancer in a well-defined population ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abstract: Purpose: To report the rate, the type and the preventability of adverse events in patients with colon cancer. Materials and methods: In this retrospective population-based study conducted at one university hospital and six district hospitals from a region with one million inhabitants during an 8-month period 245 patients were diagnosed with colon cancer. The medical records were reviewed with the Global Trigger Tool method and the adverse events categorized as E (harm requiring some treatment), F (prolonged hospital stay), G (permanent disability), H (life saving measures performed in the intensive care unit), I (mortality associated with harm). Degree of preventability was evaluated. Results: Adverse events (n = 112) were reported in 35.9% of the patients (n = 88). They were more common after urgent than after elective admittance (45.3 vs. 31.8%). Category E was registered in 11.0%, F in 18.8%, and I in 6.1% (53.3% after urgent and 2.4% after elective admittance). Preventable or possibly preventable adverse events were judged to occur in 88.9% in the E group, in 97.8% in the F group, and in 53.3% in the I group. Adverse events associated with the surgical procedure dominated. There was a wide range of various types of adverse events but manifestations from the abdominal wall dominated. Conclusion: Adverse events were reported in one third of the patients. The majority of the adverse events in the whole cohort, and almost half of the patients who died postoperatively were assessed as possibly preventable or preventable

The ethical dilemma ofgranulocyte transfusions

Granulocyte transfusions have been administered to patients with life-threatening infections for more than five decades. However, to what extent this should be the case is far from established. On the one hand, the clinical effects of these transfusions are difficult to prove in clinical studies, and the donors of granulocytes may be exposed to certain risks. On the other hand, clinical experience seems to support the idea that granulocyte transfusions do play an important role for severely ill patients, and the donors are primarily motivated by altruistic reasons. In this paper, we first discuss the ethical issues that arise from the fact that there is a conflict between clinical experience and the results from the attempts to perform randomized control trials, and second, the risk/benefit assessment that has to be made between two different parties, namely the recipient and the donor of granulocyte transfusions

COVID-19 as the sole cause of death is uncommon in frail home healthcare individuals : a population-based study

BackgroundDuring the first pandemic wave, Sweden experienced a high mortality rate. Home healthcare reflects a group of people especially vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to evaluate the pattern of comorbidity and frailty in a group of individuals having fatal outcomes in home healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic March to September 2020, and to assess the contribution of COVID-19 in the fatal outcomes.MethodsA cohort of adults with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis that deceased in home healthcare between March and September 2020 were analysed in a retrospective study comprising home healthcare in 136 facilities in one Swedish county. Main outcome measures were comorbidity and frailty.ResultsOne hundred fifty-five individuals (88 women, 67 men) aged 57-106 (median 88) years were included in the analysis. Nine had considerable frailty (ability to perform various activities of daily living but confined to bed or chair on occasion) and the remaining 146 had severe frailty (unable to perform activities of daily living and/or confined to bed or chair; dementia necessitating care). Three or more diagnoses besides COVID-19 were present in 142 individuals and another eight had two diagnoses in addition to COVID-19. In 20 (13%) individuals, COVID-19 was assessed as the principal cause of death, in 100 (64.5%) a contributing cause, and for the remaining 35 (22.5%) death was probably caused by another comorbidity. This seemed to change over the course of the COVID -19 pandemic, with its contributing role decreasing from the middle of the summer.ConclusionsDeath in home healthcare during the first wave of the pandemic mostly affected individuals with severe frailty and comorbidity at very advanced ages. One fifth of the individuals who died in home health care had another cause than Covid-19.Trial registrationClinical Trials.gov NCT04642196 date 24/11/2020.Funding Agencies|Linkoping University</p

Concordance between COVID-19 mortality statistics derived from clinical audit and death certificates in euroOstergoeurotland county, Sweden

Objectives: Despite early notions that correct attribution of deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection is critical to the understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic, three years later, the accuracy of COVID-19 death counts is still contested. We aimed to compare official death statistics with cause-of-death as-sessments made in a clinical audit routine by experienced physicians having access to the full medical record.Study design: Health service quality evaluation.Methods: In Oeurostergoeurotland county (pop. 465,000), Sweden, a clinical audit team assessed from the start of the pandemic the cause of death in individuals having deceased after testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. We estimated the concordance between official data on COVID-19 deaths and data from the clinical audit using correlations (r) between the cause-of-death categories and discrepancies between the absolute numbers of categorised deaths. Results: The concordance between the data sources was poor regarding whether COVID-19 was the underlying or a contributing cause of death. Grouping of the causes increased the correlations to acceptable strength. Also including deaths implicated by a positive SARS-CoV-2 test in the clinical cat-egorisation of COVID-19 deaths reduced the difference in absolute number of deaths; with these mod-ifications, the concordance was acceptable before the COVID-19 vaccination program was initiated (r = 0.97; symmetric mean absolute percentage error (SMAPE) = 19%), while a difference in the absolute numbers of deaths remained in the vaccination period (r = 0.94; SMAPE = 35%).Conclusions: This study highlights that carefulness is warranted when COVID-19 death statistics are used in health service planning and resonates a need for further research on cause-of-death recording methodologies.&amp; COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Association between vaccination and preventive routines on COVID-19-related mortality in nursing home facilities : a population-based systematic retrospective chart review

Background:Older and frail individuals are at high risk of dying from COVID-19, and residents in nursing homes (NHs) are overrepresented in death rates. We explored four different periods during the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze the effects of improved preventive routines and vaccinations, respectively, on mortality in NHs. Methods:We undertook a population-based systematic retrospective chart review comprising 136 NH facilities in southeast Sweden. All residents, among these facilities, who died within 30 days after a laboratory-verified COVID-19 diagnosis during four separate 92-day periods representing early pandemic (second quarter 2020), middle of the pandemic (fourth quarter 2020), early post-vaccination phase (first quarter 2021), and the following post-vaccination phase (second quarter 2021). Mortality together with electronic chart data on demographic variables, comorbidity, frailty, and cause of death was collected. Results:The number of deaths during the four periods was 104, 120, 34 and 4, respectively, with a significant reduction in the two post-vaccination periods (P &amp;lt; 0.001). COVID-19 was assessed as the dominant cause of death in 20 (19%), 19 (16%), 4 (12%) and 1 (3%) residents in each period (P &amp;lt; 0.01). The respective median age in the four studied periods varied between 87and 89 years, and three or more diagnoses besides COVID-19 were present in 70-90% of the respective periods study population. Considerable or severe frailty was found in all residents. Conclusions:Vaccination against COVID-19 seems associated with a reduced number of deaths in NHs. We could not demonstrate an effect on mortality merely from the protective routines that were undertaken

Palliation of Malignant Biliary Obstruction: Adverse Events are Common after Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage

Background and Aim: Endoscopic stents in the common bile duct is the first treatment choice to alleviate symptoms of biliary obstruction due to malignant disease. When endoscopic stenting fails in palliative patients, one option is to use a percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage, but it is not clear whether and how it can reduce the symptom load. The aim of this study was to evaluate benefits and disadvantages of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage in palliative care. Material and Methods: Inclusion criteria were malignant disease and bilirubin 26 mu mol/L in plasma. A structured protocol for obtaining data from the medical records was used. Data were collected from the time of last computed tomography scan before the percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage was placed and during 14days afterward. Results and Conclusion: Inclusion criteria were fulfilled in 140 patients. Median age was 70years (33-91years). Some 126 patients had a remaining external percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage. Jaundice was the initial symptom in 62 patients (44%). Within the first week after percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage, the bilirubin decreased from 237 mu mol/L (31-634) to 180 mu mol/L (17-545). Only 25% reached a level below the double upper reference value. Pruritus occurred in 27% before the percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage, but the bilirubin value did not differ from patients without pruritus. However, the pruritus was relieved in 56% with percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage. Antibiotic prophylaxis protected to some extent from infectious complications. Adverse events were common and early mortality was high (16% within 14days). Jaundice should not by itself be an indication for percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage for palliation except when the aim is to prepare the patient for chemotherapy. It is mandatory that the patients are informed carefully about what can be expected regarding the positive effects and the risks of adverse events

Rehabilitation needs and mortality associated with the Covid-19 pandemic : a population-based study of all hospitalised and home-healthcare individuals in a Swedish healthcare region

Background: This first report of the Linkoping Covid-19 Study (LinCoS) aimed at determination of Covid-19-associated mortality, impairments, activity and participation limitations denoting rehabilitation needs four months after discharge from hospital. Methods: An ambidirectional population-based cohort study including all confirmed Covid-19 cases admitted to hospital during 1/03-31/05 and those living in home healthcare settings identified through a regional registry and evaluated through medical records, including WHO Clinical Progression Scale (CPS). All patients discharged from hospital were followed-up by structured telephone interview at 4 months post-discharge. Respondents indicated any new or aggravated persisting problems in any of 25 body functions and 12 activity/participation items and rated them for impact on daily life. Findings: Out of 734 hospitalised patients, 149 were excluded, 125 died, and 460 were alive at 4-month follow-up of whom 433 (94.1%) were interviewed. In total, 40% reported impairments and activity/participation limitations affecting daily life and warranted further multi-professional rehabilitation assessment, predominantly those with severe disease and a considerable proportion of those with moderate disease. Cognitive and affective impairments were equally common in all groups and were reported by 20-40% of cases. Limb weakness was reported by 31%, with CPS 7-9 being four times more likely to report this problem as compared to CPS 4-5. 26% of those working or studying reported difficulties returning to these activities, this being 3.5 times more likely in CPS 7-9 as compared to CPS 4-5. 25% reported problems walking &amp;gt;1 km, with CPS 7-9 over three times more likely to report this as compared to the other two sub-groups. 90-day mortality rate of Covid-19 associated deaths was 15.1%. Interpretation: Most rehabilitation needs after Covid-19 involved higher cerebral dysfunction both in patients with moderate and severe disease. This should be considered when designing services aiming at minimizing long-term disability. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Funding Agencies|ALF grant; Region _Osterg_otlandRegion Auvergne-Rhone-AlpesRegion Bourgogne-Franche-ComteRegion Hauts-de-FranceRegion Nouvelle-Aquitaine</p

Patient benefit of dog-assisted interventions in health care: a systematic review

Background: Dogs are the most common companion animal, and therefore not surprisingly a popular choice for animal-assisted interventions. Dog-assisted interventions are increasingly used in healthcare. The aim of the review was to conduct a systematic literature review of quantitative studies on dog-assisted interventions in healthcare, with the intention of assessing the effects and cost-effectiveness of the interventions for different categories of patients. Methods: A systematic review of the scientific literature reporting results of studies in healthcare, nursing home or home care settings, was conducted. The inclusion criteria applied for this review were: quantitative studies, inclusion of at least 20 study subjects, existence of a control and performed in healthcare settings including nursing homes and home care. The electronic databases PubMed, AMED, CINAHL and Scopus were searched from their inception date through January 2017, for published articles from peer-reviewed journals with full text in English. Results: Eighteen studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and were judged to be of at least moderate quality, were included in the analysis. Three of them showed no effect. Fifteen showed at least one significant positive effect but in most studied outcome measures there was no significant treatment effect. Dog-assisted therapy had the greatest potential in treatment of psychiatric disorders among both young and adult patients. Dog-assisted activities had some positive effects on health, wellbeing, depression and quality of life for patients with severe cognitive disorders. Dog-assisted support had positive effects on stress and mood. Conclusions: The overall assessment of the included studies indicates minor to moderate effects of dog-assisted therapy in psychiatric conditions, as well as for dog-assisted activities in cognitive disorders and for dog-assisted support in different types of medical interventions. However, the majority of studied outcome measures showed no significant effect.Funding Agencies|Region Ostergotland, Sweden</p

Preventable Adverse Events in Surgical Care in Sweden: A Nationwide Review of Patient Notes

Adverse events (AEs) occur in health care and may result in harm to patients especially in the field of surgery. Our objective was to analyze AEs in surgical patient care from a nationwide perspective and to analyze the frequency of AEs that may be preventable. In total 19,141 randomly selected admissions in 63 Swedish hospitals were reviewed each month during 2013 using a 2-stage record review method based on the identification of predefined triggers. The subgroup of 3301 surgical admissions was analyzed. All AEs were categorized according to site, type, level of severity, and degree of preventability. We reviewed 3301 patients records and 507 (15.4%) were associated with AEs. A total of 62.5% of the AEs were considered probably preventable, over half contributed to prolonged hospital care or readmission, and 4.7% to permanent harm or death. Healthcare acquired infections composed of more than one third of AEs. The majority of the most serious AEs composed of healthcare acquired infections and surgical or other invasive AEs. The incidence of AEs was 13% in patients 18 to 64 years old and 17% in &amp;gt;= 65 years. Pressure sores and drug-related AEs were more common in patients being &amp;gt;= 65 years. Urinary retention and pressure sores showed the highest degree of preventability. Patients with probably preventable AEs had in median 7.1 days longer hospital stay. We conclude that AEs are common in surgical care and the majority are probably preventable.Funding Agencies|Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions</p

Characterisations of adverse events detected in a university hospital: a 4-year study using the Global Trigger Tool method

Objectives: To describe the level, preventability and categories of adverse events (AEs) identified by medical record review using the Global Trigger Tool (GTT). To estimate when the AE occurred in the course of the hospital stay and to compare voluntary AE reporting with medical record reviewing. Design: Two-stage retrospective record review. Setting: 650-bed university hospital. Participants: 20 randomly selected medical records were reviewed every month from 2009 to 2012. Primary and secondary outcome measures: AE/1000 patient-days. Proportion of AEs found by GTT found also in the voluntary reporting system. AE categorisation. Description of when during hospital stay AEs occur. Results: A total of 271 AEs were detected in the 960 medical records reviewed, corresponding to 33.2 AEs/1000 patient-days or 20.5% of the patients. Of the AEs, 6.3% were reported in the voluntary AE reporting system. Hospital-acquired infections were the most common AE category. The AEs occurred and were detected during the hospital stay in 65.5% of cases; the rest occurred or were detected within 30 days before or after the hospital stay. The AE usually occurred early during the hospital stay, and the hospital stay was 5 days longer on average for patients with an AE. Conclusions: Record reviewing identified AEs to a much larger extent than voluntary AE reporting. Healthcare organisations should consider using a portfolio of tools to gain a comprehensive picture of AEs. Substantial costs could be saved if AEs were prevented