Volume and outcomes relationship in laparoscopic diaphragmatic hernia repair

BackgroundThere is no published data regarding the relationship between hospital volume and outcomes in patients undergoing laparoscopic diaphragmatic hernia repair. We hypothesize that hospitals performing high case volume have improved outcomes compared to low-volume hospitals.Materials and methodsWe reviewed the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database between 2008 and 2012 for adults with the diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernia who underwent elective laparoscopic repair of diaphragmatic Hernia and/or Nissen fundoplication. Pediatric, emergent, and open cases were excluded. Main outcome measures included logistic regression analysis of factors predictive of in-hospital mortality and outcomes according to annual hospital case volume.ResultsA total of 31,228 laparoscopic diaphragmatic hernia operations were analyzed. The overall in-hospital mortality was 0.14%. Risk factors for higher in-hospital mortality included renal failure (AOR: 6.26; 95% CI: 2.48-15.78; p < 0.001), age>60 years (AOR: 5.06; 95% CI: 2.38-10.76; p < 0.001), and CHF (AOR: 3.80; 95% CI: 1.39-10.38; p = 0.009) while an incremental increase in volume of 10 cases/year (AOR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.81-0.98; p = 0.019) and diabetes (AOR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.12-0.93; p = 0.036) decreases mortality. There was a small but significant inverse relationship between hospital case volume and mortality with a 10% reduction in adjusted odds of in-hospital mortality for every increase in 10 cases per year. Using 10 cases per year as the volume threshold, low-volume hospitals (≤10 cases/year) had almost a twofold higher mortality compared to high-volume hospitals (0.23 vs. 0.12%, respectively, p = 0.02).ConclusionsThere was a small but significant inverse relationship between the hospitals' case volume and mortality in laparoscopic diaphragmatic hernia repair

Challenge in the aerospace university classroom

Challenging problems and research have been considered as vital components of Aerospace Engineering curricula. Some Engineering, Computer Science, and Math Courses in American colleges have been analyzed to find positive factors that would be helpful in mutually beneficial cooperation between colleges and industry. The analysis of traditional and modern applications of the course concepts [design of a hypersonic vehicle, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, anisotropic media and liquid crystals, properties of Martian atmospheric gases, non-monotone aerodynamic coefficients of simple-shape bodies, etc.] and ways of collaboration between industry and universities have been discussed. Students ’ “mistakes” have been reviewed allowing to generate new research ideas and numerical algorithms, as well as to discover new physical phenomena. Challenge in the classroom allows motivating students in the analysis of modern engineering concepts, developing strong background and research skills, finding unique solutions of new problems, and preparing students for success and surviving in industrial environment

How to Choose the Best Metabolic Procedure?

Bariatric/metabolic surgery has proven to be effective in inducing and maintaining diabetes remission\u2014although with a percentage of patients undergoing hyperglycemia relapse\u2014weight loss, and improvement of the cardiovascular risk. It is, however, associated with mortality, although low, and early and late complications. In particular, metabolic complications are related to vitamin deficiency due to the erratic absorption of the supplemented vitamins and to the unpredictable compliance of patients to vitamin and trace element supplementation. In addition, often, the general practitioners and even the specialists are unaware of the clinical effects of metabolic dysfunction following malabsorptive surgery. The choice of the surgical procedure should be the balance between benefits and risks. Our review addresses this important question trying to give some suggestions