The role of obesity in cancer development

Access to an online video enhances the consent process, increases knowledge, and decreases anxiety of caregivers with children scheduled for inguinal hernia repair: A randomized controlled study.

Abstract Background There is limited time within the clinical workflow of most pediatric surgeons to obtain a comprehensive, well informed consent. This study evaluates whether ad-lib access to an online video on the consent dialogue enhances the consent process for inguinal hernia repair (IHR) in children. Methods The study was approved by the state ethics board. A 6-min video of a consent speech on IHR was produced and uploaded to a nonpublic online channel, explaining the condition, procedure, complications, and postoperative expectations. A total of 50 families were randomized to conventional, face-to-face consenting in clinic either with (intervention) or without (control) access to th…

The timeout procedure in pediatric surgery - effective tool or lip service? A randomized prospective observational study

ABSTRACTBackgroundFor over a decade, the preoperative timeout procedure has been implemented in most pediatric surgery units. In our hospital, a standardized team-timeout is performed before every operation. However, the impact of this intervention has not been systematically studied.PurposeThis study evaluates whether purposefully-introduced errors during the timeout routine are picked up by the operating team members.MethodsAfter ethics board approval and informed consent, deliberate errors were randomly and clandestinely introduced into the timeout routine for elective surgical procedures by a pediatric surgery attending. Errors were randomly selected among wrong name, site, side, allerg…

SARS-CoV-2 infection and venous thromboembolism after surgery: an international prospective cohort study

SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with an increased rate of venous thromboembolism in critically ill patients. Since surgical patients are already at higher risk of venous thromboembolism than general populations, this study aimed to determine if patients with peri-operative or prior SARS-CoV-2 were at further increased risk of venous thromboembolism. We conducted a planned sub-study and analysis from an international, multicentre, prospective cohort study of elective and emergency patients undergoing surgery during October 2020. Patients from all surgical specialties were included. The primary outcome measure was venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis) within 30 da…

Timeout procedure in paediatric surgery: effective tool or lip service? A randomised prospective observational study.

BackgroundFor over a decade, the preoperative timeout procedure has been implemented in most paediatric surgery units. However, the impact of this intervention has not been systematically studied. This study evaluates whether purposefully introduced errors during the timeout routine are detected and reported by the operating team members.MethodsAfter ethics board approval and informed consent, deliberate errors were randomly and clandestinely introduced into the timeout routine for elective surgical procedures by a paediatric surgery attending. Errors were randomly selected among wrong name, site, side, allergy, intervention, birthdate and gender items. The main outcome measure was how freq…

Multivariate analysis on complications of central venous access devices in children with cancer and severe disease influenced by catheter tip position and vessel insertion site (A STROBE-compliant study)

Abstract Context Reliable long-term central venous access device (CVAD) is essential for the management of pediatric patients with cancer or chronic diseases. However, there is no general consensus for optimal catheter tip location and vessel insertion site in children. Objective This single center study analyzes the risk of complications associated with long-term upper body CVAD and evaluates them with respect to catheter tip location as well as vessel insertion site. Design Pediatric patients who received long-term upper body CVAD from January 2008 through April 2017 and underwent radiographic documentation of the tip location were retrospectively included in the study. Data on demographi…

Telemedicine for pediatric surgical outpatient follow-up: A prospective, randomized single-center trial

Telemedicine is gaining popularity for a variety of indications. We performed a randomized controlled trial comparing telemedical versus conventional clinic follow-up in terms of feasibility and quality.Patients discharged from pediatric surgery were randomized to telemedical or onsite follow-up. In the telemedical group, video telephony was used to obtain interim history and physical findings. Onsite patients were personally seen in the outpatient clinic. Caregivers completed a postvisit survey on satisfaction and efficiency. Providers scored data transmission quality and clinical interpretability.From March 2015 until January 2017, 224 patients were randomized equally to the study groups.…

Pterygium axillae as a rare manifestation of Poland syndrome

Abstract Poland syndrome is characterized by a combination of absent pectoralis muscle, abnormalities of the rib cage, the breast, as well as brachy-syndactyly. We report a case of a 3 month old girl who was born with right sided axillary pterygium combined with flattening of the right anterior chest wall. Resection of a sclerotic band with reconstruction by Z-plasty was performed. Intraoperative and histopathological findings confirmed that the axillary pterygium developed on the basis of a scarred, hypoplastic pectoralis major muscle. Our case adds to the body of evidence that Poland syndrome may present in a heterogeneous fashion, including the rare finding of axillary pterygium with ass…