Assessing surgical care delivery at facilities caring for higher volumes of minority children utilizing the pediatric quality indicator for perforated appendicitis: a propensity-matched analysis

Impact of Healthcare Disparities on Time to Surgery for Pediatric Urologic Patients

Introduction

Healthcare disparities are differences in health outcomes reflecting social inequalities. We aim to identify healthcare disparities in pediatric urologic patients by analyzing the time from surgical scheduling to completion of procedure at a single center and identify variables associated with increased time to surgery.

Materials and methods

We reviewed all patients aged 0-18 years who underwent surgery with one of three pediatric urologists at our institution from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019. We collected or calculated variables including age, sex, race, ethnicity, caregivers’ primary language, insurance status, zip code, median distance to hospital, clinic visit date, and time to surgery (calculated as days between surgery request and date of surgery). Data analysis included bivariate analysis and linear regression with all variables of interest presented with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), where log-transformed time to surgery was the outcome. Because the practice at our institution is to delay elective surgeries until after six months of age, we excluded patients who were less than six months of age at the time of surgery request date.

Results

A total of 697 patients were included in the final analysis. Patients’ caregivers who spoke languages other than English or Spanish had a lower model-adjusted mean log-days to surgery (−0.44; 95% CI: −0.85, −0.03) relative to English-speaking caregivers. Uninsured patients had increased time to surgery compared to Medicaid patients (0.28; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.53). Income was also associated with increased time to surgery, meaning patients from higher-income backgrounds had a longer time to surgery (0.04; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.08).

Conclusions

In our patient population, primary language spoken and insurance status were associated with increases in time from initial evaluation to surgical intervention among pediatric patients undergoing urologic surgery. Additional research is needed to better understand variations in access to pediatric urologic surgery.

Racial and ethnic disparities in the delayed diagnosis of appendicitis among children

BACKGROUND

Appendicitis is the most common surgical condition in pediatric emergency department (ED) patients. Prompt diagnosis can reduce morbidity, including appendiceal perforation. The goal of this study was to measure racial/ethnic differences in rates of 1) appendiceal perforation, 2) delayed diagnosis of appendicitis, and 3) diagnostic imaging during prior visit(s).

METHODS

This was a 3-year multicenter (seven EDs) retrospective cohort study of children diagnosed with appendicitis using the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Registry. Delayed diagnosis was defined as having at least one prior ED visit within 7 days preceding appendicitis diagnosis. We performed multivariable logistic regression to measure associations of race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic [NH]-white, NH-Black, Hispanic, other) with 1) appendiceal perforation, 2) delayed diagnosis of appendicitis, and 3) diagnostic imaging during prior visit(s).

RESULTS

Of 7,298 patients with appendicitis and documented race/ethnicity, 2,567 (35.2%) had appendiceal perforation. In comparison to NH-whites, NH-Black children had higher likelihood of perforation (36.5% vs. 34.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.21 [95% confidence interval {CI} = 1.01 to 1.45]). A total of 206 (2.8%) had a delayed diagnosis of appendicitis. NH-Black children were more likely to have delayed diagnoses (4.7% vs. 2.0%; aOR = 1.81 [95% CI = 1.09 to 2.98]). Eighty-nine (43.2%) patients with delayed diagnosis had abdominal imaging during their prior visits. In comparison to NH-whites, NH-Black children were less likely to undergo any imaging (28.2% vs. 46.2%; aOR = 0.41 [95% CI = 0.18 to 0.96]) or definitive imaging (e.g., ultrasound/computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging; 10.3% vs. 35.9%; aOR = 0.15 [95% CI = 0.05 to 0.50]) during prior visits.

CONCLUSIONS

In this multicenter cohort, there were racial disparities in appendiceal perforation. There were also racial disparities in rates of delayed diagnosis of appendicitis and diagnostic imaging during prior ED visits. These disparities in diagnostic imaging may lead to delays in appendicitis diagnosis and, thus, may contribute to higher perforation rates demonstrated among minority children.

Double barrel enteroplasty for the management of short bowel syndrome in children

BACKGROUND

Currently, there are two well-established methods of bowel lengthening in patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS)-longitudinal intestinal lengthening and tailoring (LILT) and serial transverse enteroplasty (STEP) [1-4]. Both procedures may carry a high reported morbidity and mortality of 30.2% and 14.4%, respectively [5]. We report the outcomes of a novel technique: double barrel enteroplasty (DBE) for autologous intestinal reconstruction.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of all ten patients who underwent DBE at our institution since 2011. All patients have SBS and were dependent on parenteral nutrition (PN) at the time of surgery. Etiologies were gastroschisis (n = 4), bowel atresia (n = 3), necrotising enterocolitis (n = 1), volvulus (n = 1), and near-total intestinal aganglionosis (n = 1). Patient survival, complications, and subsequent enteral autonomy were evaluated.

RESULTS

All patients are alive with normal liver function. Five children achieved enteral autonomy, while the remaining are on weaning PN. There was no bleeding, anastomotic leak, perforation, infective complications, or intestinal necrosis. No patient has required a liver and/or intestinal transplant.

CONCLUSIONS

Double barrel enteroplasty is technically feasible and safe. It has similar efficacy and may have fewer complications when compared with other methods of autologous intestinal reconstruction.