The 99th Annual American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress
The annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons was held from Oct. 6 to 10 in Washington, D.C., and attracted approximately 14,000 participants from around the world, including surgeons, medical experts, allied health professionals, and administrators. The conference included hundreds of general and specialty sessions, post-graduate courses, scientific paper presentations, video-based education presentations, and posters focusing on the latest advances in surgical care.
In one study, David Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, and colleagues found that patients with albumin less than 3 g/dL had greater than two times the odds of having at least one complication within 30 days after radical cystectomy. The investigators also found that neither body mass index nor unintentional weight loss prior to surgery was associated with increased postoperative complications.
"Poor preoperative nutrition is an established risk factor for worse operative outcomes in terms of both complications and mortality. While albumin is a non-specific marker for malnutrition, it has been shown in prior studies to be a significant predictor for increased mortality and decreased survival in patients undergoing radical cystectomy, and our study demonstrates its association with increased postoperative complications," said Johnson. "Identifying and improving nutrition status in patients at risk for nutritional deficiency prior to radical cystectomy may confer substantial benefits to these patients."
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In another study, Shaun Kunisaki, M.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues found that a stem cell technology approach of turning amniotic fluid cells into beating heart cells may have potential use for therapy in children born with severe heart defects.
"Cells isolated from a small sample of amniotic fluid obtained in the middle of pregnancy can be transformed in the lab into embryonic-like stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells. The stem cells can then be differentiated into beating heart cells in a petri dish for over one month," said Kunisaki. "The results of this pilot study suggest an autologous approach to using ethically acceptable stem cells and warrant further investigation in animal models prior to clinical application."
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John Afthinos, M.D., of the Staten Island University Hospital in New York City, and colleagues found that patients who had their appendix removed over a weekend paid higher hospital charges compared to those who underwent the procedure during the week, but did not experience any increase in postoperative complications. The investigators identified nearly 826,000 appendectomies performed between 2006 and 2009 using the U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample database.
"From what we can see, there's no difference in the quality of patient care between weekend and weekday admissions of patients who have an appendectomy," Afthinos said in a statement. "Patients with symptoms of acute appendicitis should not wait for the weekend to pass to go to the hospital."
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ACS: Laparoscopic Colon Cancer Resection Benefits Elderly
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Laparoscopic resection for colon cancer in elderly patients is associated with lower risk of discharge to a nursing facility compared with open surgery, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons, held from Oct. 6 to 10 in Washington, D.C.
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ACS: Risk Factors for Post-Op Cardiac Events ID'd After Stent
MONDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- For patients within two years of stent placement, factors associated with major cardiac adverse events after non-cardiac operations have been identified, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons, held from Oct. 6 to 10 in Washington, D.C.
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ACS: Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy May Not Extend Life
MONDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A decision model shows that women with early breast cancer without a BRCA mutation who undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) have a maximum gain in life expectancy of about six months, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons, held from Oct. 6 to 10 in Washington, D.C.
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ACS: False-Negative Rate >10 Percent With SLN Surgery
MONDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- For women with clinically node-positive (cN1) breast cancer, the false-negative rate (FNR) for sentinel lymph node (SLN) surgery is more than 10 percent, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons, held from Oct. 6 to 10 in Washington, D.C.
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ACS: Surveillance Bias Noted in VTE Measurement
MONDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis rates are higher but risk-adjusted VTE rates are worse for hospitals with higher quality scores, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons, held from Oct. 6 to 10 in Washington, D.C.
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