2,472,912 research outputs found
Challenges in evaluating surgical innovation
Research on surgical interventions is associated with several methodological and practical challenges of which few, if any, apply only to surgery. However, surgical evaluation is especially demanding because many of these challenges coincide. In this report, the second of three on surgical innovation and evaluation, we discuss obstacles related to the study design of randomised controlled trials and non-randomised studies assessing surgical interventions. We also describe the issues related to the nature of surgical procedures—for example, their complexity, surgeon-related factors, and the range of outcomes. Although difficult, surgical evaluation is achievable and necessary. Solutions tailored to surgical research and a framework for generating evidence on which to base surgical practice are essential.The Balliol Colloquium has been supported by Ethicon UK with unrestricted educational grants and by the National Institute of Health
Research Health Technology Assessment Programme. The Balliol Colloquium was administratively and financially supported by the Nuffield Department of Surgery at the University of Oxford and the Department of Surgery at McGill University. JAC holds a Medical Research Council UK special training fellowship. The University of Aberdeen’s Health Services Research Unit is core funded by the Chief Scientist Offi ce of the Scottish Government Health Directorates. IB is supported by a grant from the Société Française de Rhumatologie and Lavoisier Program (Ministère des Aff aires Etrangères et Européennes). PLE is a DPhil Candidate in Evidence-Based Health Care at Oxford
University
Post-surgical Pancreatitis Masquerading as Recurrent Neuroendocrine Cancer
Neuroendocrine tumours of the pancreas can have a spectrum of behaviour from relatively benign to aggressive. Resection can result in cure although metastatic disease is described. We present an unusual case of an apparent local recurrence of previously resected neuroendocrine tumour in a young man who had undergone distal pancreatectomy. Pathological analysis demonstrated focal post-surgical pancreatitis with radiological appearances bearing striking similarity to the original primary tumour
Surgical treatment of aortic coarctation
Coarctation of the aorta accounts for about 8% of all congenital heart diseases. Since
the first successful case of surgical treatment in 1944 by Crafoord and Nylin1 in Sweden, several surgical techniques have been employed in the treatment of this anomaly. This article reviews by illustration the various surgical options in coarctation of the aorta with emphasis on our preferred technique – the extended resection and end-to-end anastomosis. Why the extended resection technique? Our experience -and that of other institutions - has shown that this is a better option in childhood as it is associated with a lesser degree of recoarctation and subsequent need for reintervention.peer-reviewe
A method for clustering surgical cases to allow master surgical scheduling
Master surgical scheduling can improve manageability and efficiency of operating room departments. This approach cyclically executes a master surgical schedule of surgery types. These surgery types need to be constructed with low variability to be efficient. Each surgery type is scheduled based upon its frequency per cycle. Surgery types that cannot be scheduled repetitively are put together in so-called dummy surgeries. Narrow defined surgery types, with low variability, lead to a large volume of such dummy surgeries that reduce the benefits of a master surgical scheduling approach. In this paper we propose a method, based on Ward's hierarchical cluster method, to obtain surgery types that minimizes the weighted sum of the dummy surgery volume and the variability in resource demand of surgery types. The resulting surgery types (clusters) are thus based on logical features and can be used in master surgical scheduling. The approach is successfully tested on a case study in a regional hospital.operating room;health care efficiency;master surgical scheduling;Ward's hierarchical cluster method
Risk Factors of Surgical Site Infection at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common source of morbidity among operated patients. At Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), studies indicate that the rate of SSI has been increasing over the past thirty years. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with SSI among patients undergoing surgery at MNH. This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study. One hundred and eighteen patients who underwent surgical procedures in the surgical wards were recruited. Demographic information was obtained using standardised questionnaire, surgical sites were examined to determine infections, and case notes were reviewed for clinical information including surgical notes. Blood sample was collected for HIV serology. SSI occurred in 42 patients (35.6%). Wound class, abdominal surgeries, emergency procedures and HIV infection increased the risk of SSI. Superficial SSI was the most commonly observed type, 54.8%. Overall HIV prevalence in this study was 16.9% with a 5 times risk of developing SSI. Surgical site infection has remained a major Nosocomial infection in developing countries. Factors shown to be associated with increased risk are wound class, site and nature of surgery, and HIV infection. This study found higher prevalence of HIV infection among surgical patients
Process model analysis of parenchyma sparing laparoscopic liver surgery to recognize surgical steps and predict impact of new technologies
Background: Surgical process model (SPM) analysis is a great means to predict the surgical steps in a procedure as well as to predict the potential impact of new technologies. Especially in complicated and high-volume treatments, such as parenchyma sparing laparoscopic liver resection (LLR), profound process knowledge is essential for enabling improving surgical quality and efficiency. Methods: Videos of thirteen parenchyma sparing LLR were analyzed to extract the duration and sequence of surgical steps according to the process model. The videos were categorized into three groups, based on the tumor locations. Next, a detailed discrete events simulation model (DESM) of LLR was built, based on the process model and the process data obtained from the endoscopic videos. Furthermore, the impact of using a navigation platform on the total duration of the LLR was studied with the simulation model by assessing three different scenarios: (i) no navigation platform, (ii) conservative positive effect, and (iii) optimistic positive effect. Results: The possible variations of sequences of surgical steps in performing parenchyma sparing depending on the tumor locations were established. The statistically most probable chain of surgical steps was predicted, which could be used to improve parenchyma sparing surgeries. In all three categories (i–iii) the treatment phase covered the major part (~ 40%) of the total procedure duration (bottleneck). The simulation results predict that a navigation platform could decrease the total surgery duration by up to 30%. Conclusion: This study showed a DESM based on the analysis of steps during surgical procedures can be used to predict the impact of new technology. SPMs can be used to detect, e.g., the most probable workflow paths which enables predicting next surgical steps, improving surgical training systems, and analyzing surgical performance. Moreover, it provides insight into the points for improvement and bottlenecks in the surgical process.Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technolog
The challenges faced in the design, conduct and analysis of surgical randomised trials
Randomised evaluations of surgical interventions are rare; some interventions have been widely adopted without rigorous evaluation. Unlike other medical areas, the randomised controlled trial (RCT) design has not become the default study design for the evaluation of surgical interventions. Surgical trials are difficult to successfully undertake and pose particular practical and methodological challenges. However, RCTs have played a role in the assessment of surgical innovations and there is scope and need for greater use. This article will consider the design, conduct and analysis of an RCT of a surgical intervention. The issues will be reviewed under three headings: the timing of the evaluation, defining the research question and trial design issues. Recommendations on the conduct of future surgical RCTs are made. Collaboration between research and surgical communities is needed to address the distinct issues raised by the assessment of surgical interventions and enable the conduct of appropriate and well-designed trials
The challenges faced in the design, conduct and analysis of surgical randomised controlled trials
Randomised evaluations of surgical interventions are rare; some interventions have been widely
adopted without rigorous evaluation. Unlike other medical areas, the randomised controlled trial
(RCT) design has not become the default study design for the evaluation of surgical interventions.
Surgical trials are difficult to successfully undertake and pose particular practical and methodological challenges. However, RCTs have played a role in the assessment of surgical innovations and there is scope and need for greater use. This article will consider the design, conduct and analysis of an RCT of a surgical intervention. The issues will be reviewed under three
headings: the timing of the evaluation, defining the research question and trial design issues.
Recommendations on the conduct of future surgical RCTs are made. Collaboration between
research and surgical communities is needed to address the distinct issues raised by the assessmentof surgical interventions and enable the conduct of appropriate and well-designed trials.The Health Services Research Unit is funded by the Scottish Government Health DirectoratesPeer reviewedPublisher PD
Deep learning for surgical phase recognition using endoscopic videos
perating room planning is a complex task as pre-operative estimations of procedure duration have a limited accuracy. This is due to large variations in the course of procedures. Therefore, information about the progress of procedures is essential to adapt the daily operating room schedule accordingly. This information should ideally be objective, automatically retrievable and in real-time. Recordings made during endoscopic surgeries are a potential source of progress information. A trained observer is able to recognize the ongoing surgical phase from watching these videos. The introduction of deep learning techniques brought up opportunities to automatically retrieve information from surgical videos. The aim of this study was to apply state-of-the art deep learning techniques on a new set of endoscopic videos to automatically recognize the progress of a procedure, and to assess the feasibility of the approach in terms of performance, scalability and practical considerations.Acccepted Author ManuscriptMedical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technolog
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