Incidence of Acute Complications Following Surgery for Syndactyly and Polydactyly: An Analysis of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Database from 2012 to 2014

A Retrospective Review of Patient-reported Outcomes after Postaxial Polydactyly Ligation and Surgical Excision

Background

Interventions for type B postaxial polydactyly include suture ligation and surgical excision, yet there is a paucity of literature comparing the outcomes of these procedures. This study sought to compare patient-reported long-term outcomes of postaxial digit excision.

Methods

A six-question survey was distributed from January 2021 to March 2022 to patients who underwent treatment for type B postaxial polydactyly at a single pediatric institution from 2010 to 2016. Patients were queried about the incidence of pain sensitivity, keloid healing, and/or persistent presence of bump ("nubbin") at the treatment site.

Results

A total of 158 responses accounting for 258 digits were attained for a 53% response rate. The majority of digits (67.4%, n = 174) were surgically excised. Median age at procedure was 49 days: 13.0 days for ligation, 63.0 days for surgical excision. Median age at survey was 8 [IQR 5.4-10.2] years. Short-term (<30 days after procedure) complications rate was 1.6%. The rate of a raised or sensitive scar was 39.5% (ligation 51.5% versus surgery 35.4%, P < 0.05). The likelihood of postoperative sensitivity (P = 0.80) was similar among groups. However, the odds of a residual bump or raised scar at the surgical site was significantly higher in the ligation group (P = 0.001). These findings remained significant in the adjusted analysis.

Conclusion

This study suggests that suture ligation can be used in select cases without increasing the prevalence of long-term pain or sensitivity, albeit with greater risk of a bump or raised scar at the excision site compared with surgical excision.

Congenital Upper-Limb Differences: A 6-Year Literature Review

➤ The Oberg-Manske-Tonkin (OMT) classification of congenital hand and upper-limb anomalies continues to be refined as our understanding of the genetic and embryonic etiology of limb anomalies improves.➤ We have conducted an evaluation of graft and graftless techniques for syndactyly reconstruction; strengths and drawbacks exist for each technique.➤ Treatment for radial longitudinal deficiency remains controversial; however, radialization has shown promise in early follow-up for severe deformities.➤ Recent emphasis on psychosocial aspects of care has demonstrated that children with congenital upper-limb differences demonstrate good peer relationships and marked adaptability.

Incidence of Readmission Following Pediatric Hand Surgery: An Analysis of 6600 Patients

BACKGROUND

Quality in surgical outcomes is frequently assessed by the 30-day readmission rate. There are limited data available in the published literature regarding readmission rates following pediatric hand surgery. This study aims to identify factors associated with an increased risk of readmission following hand surgery in a pediatric population.

METHODS

The 2012-2017 National Surgical Quality Improvement Project - Pediatric (NSQIP-P) databases were queried for pediatric patients who underwent procedures with hand-specific current procedural terminology (CPT) codes. The primary outcome was readmission.

RESULTS

A total of 6600 pediatric patients were identified and included in the analysis. There were 45 patients who were readmitted in the study cohort, giving an overall readmission rate of 0.68%. The median time to readmission was 12 (IQR 5-20) days. On univariate analysis, factors associated with readmission included younger age, smaller size, prematurity, higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, inpatient admission at index operation, and longer anesthesia and operative times. Complex syndactyly repair was also associated with higher readmission rates. On multivariate analysis, ASA class 3 or 4 and inpatient surgery remained significant predictors of readmission.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, pediatric hand surgery is associated with a very low risk of 30-day readmission. Higher ASA class and inpatient surgery increase patients' risk for readmission. In particular, complex syndactyly repair is associated with a higher risk of readmission than other hand procedures. This information is useful in surgical planning and preoperative counseling of parents.

Single-stage Congenital Polysyndactyly Release: Outcomes and Long-term Followup

The current surgical strategy for syndactyly is multistage operations in which every other web is released, leaving adjacent webs unoperated for the next stage to avoid a presumed possible digital vascular compromise. In this series, we present our experience with single-stage multiple syndactylies release. A total of 7 patients, including 2 patients with bilateral hand involvement, were included. Dorsal and volar triangular flaps were created for commissure reconstruction, and zigzag manner volar and dorsal incisions were made to release the webbed fingers. Sterile thermoplastic splints were molded directly over the skin grafts without any dressing or tie-over. Following the surgical operation, minimal flexion contracture was seen in three patients that needed future correction procedures. Cosmesis and functional outcome were acceptable. This study shows that the release of all webs in 1 setting can be accomplished by no vascular compromise, and there is no need for a preoperative vascular imaging study.

Revision Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty are Associated With Lower Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Patient Satisfaction Scores Compared With Primary Arthroplasty

INTRODUCTION

As rates of primary total joint arthroplasty continue to rise, so do rates of revision. Revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are more frequently done at larger centers, are associated with higher morbidity, and may have different patient satisfaction outcomes. This study compares the survey results of Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) between patients who underwent primary versus revision THA or TKA.

METHODS

All adult patients who underwent inpatient, elective, primary, and revision THA or TKA at a single institution were selected for retrospective analysis. Patient demographics, comorbidities, functional status, surgical variables, 30-day outcomes, and HCAHPS scores were assessed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done to determine correlations between the aforementioned variables and top-box HCAHPS survey scores for primary versus revision THA and TKA.

RESULTS

Of 2,707 patients who met the inclusion criteria and had returned the HCAHPS survey, primary THA was documented in 1,075 patients (39.71%), revision THA in 75 (2.77%), primary TKA in 1,497 (55.30%), and revision TKA in 60 (2.22%). Revision THA patients were more functionally dependent, and TKA patients had higher American Society of Anesthesiologists score than their primary comparators. Revisions had longer hospital length of stay for both procedures. For THA, revision THA patients demonstrated lower total top-box rates compared withprimary THA patients (71.64% versus 75.67% top-box, P < 0.001) and lower scores on the care from doctors subsection (76.26% versus 85.34%, P < 0.001) of the HCAHPS survey. Similarly, for TKA, revision TKA patients demonstrated lower total top-box rates (76.13% versus 79.22%, P < 0.013) and lower scores on the care from doctors subsection (66.28% versus 83.65%, P < 0.001) of the HCAHPS survey.

DISCUSSION

For both THA and TKA, revision procedures were associated with lower total HCAHPS scores and rated care from doctors. This suggests that HCAHPS scores may be biased by factors outside the surgeon's control, such as the complexity associated with revision procedures.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III.

National Patterns in Surgical Management of Syndactyly: A Review of 956 Cases

Purpose: Being one of the most common congenital hand malformations, syndactyly is repaired by orthopedic, plastic, and fellowship-trained general surgeons. Limited multi-institutional outcomes analyses regarding incidence, timing, and type of repair exist. Methods: All syndactyly cases performed over a 5-year period from 2012-2016 were isolated from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric database. Patient demographics, surgical factors, perioperative outcomes, and risk factors were analyzed using χ², Fisher exact, and t-test analysis. Results: A total of 956 patients who underwent syndactyly repair were identified. Most cases were simple syndactyly with nearly even case distribution among plastic and orthopedic surgeons. Most patients were men and Caucasian. Mean age at the time of surgery was 2.6 years. Most cases were performed as outpatient surgery. Patients of plastic surgeons had significantly more airway abnormalities and shorter operative times. Patients with complex syndactyly had significantly more ventilator dependence, tracheostomy, and comorbidities when compared with those with simple syndactyly. Cases with complex syndactyly also had longer operative times and a higher rate of superficial surgical site infections. Conclusions: Syndactyly repair is a safe procedure with few major or minor reconstructive complications regardless of the surgical specialty or syndactyly type. Patients with complex syndactyly have significantly more preoperative comorbidities with comparable outcomes. orthopedic surgeons have significantly longer operative times than plastic surgeons, likely due to caring for increased number of patients with complex syndactyly.

To Tie or Not to Tie: A Systematic Review of Postaxial Polydactyly and Outcomes of Suture Ligation Versus Surgical Excision

Background: Ulnar polydactyly is frequently encountered in the newborn nursery and is commonly treated with bedside suture ligation. However, growing concern about the complications associated with suture ligation has led some practitioners to advocate for primary surgical excision instead. Thus, we set out to compare outcomes of suture ligation and surgical excision by systematic appraisal of the literature. Methods: Following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a systematic review was performed to identify studies published between 1950 and 2017 that described outcomes of suture ligation, surgical excision, or both. Baseline characteristics, complications, and study quality were extracted for each included article. Results: A total of 900 articles were reviewed, of which 10 studies (8 case series, 2 comparative analyses) met the inclusion criteria. There was considerable heterogeneity among the studies with respect to patient characteristics and reported outcomes. There were 2 retrospective case series of suture ligation that reported no acute complications and a variable proportion of patients with residual remnants or neuromas. Studies evaluating surgical ligation reported no acute or long-term complications, with only 1 case series reporting a small percentage of residual remnants. However, in the largest cohort analysis, the difference in complication rate was reported to be as high as 23.5% for suture ligation compared with 3% for surgical excision. Conclusions: There is a paucity of literature limiting the comparison of suture ligation and surgical excision for ulnar polydactyly. Further studies are required to determine the optimal treatment.

Timing of Complications following Hand Surgery

Introduction Our purposes were to (1) characterize the timeline of eight postoperative complications following hand surgery, (2) assess complication timing for the procedures that account for the majority of adverse events, and (3) determine any differences in complication timing between outpatient and inpatient procedures.

Materials and Methods Patients undergoing hand, wrist, and forearm procedures from 2005 to 2016 were identified in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Timing of eight adverse events was characterized. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to compare adverse event timing between inpatient and outpatient procedures.

Results A total of 59,040 patients were included. The median postoperative day of diagnosis for each adverse event was as follows: myocardial infarction 1, pulmonary embolism 2, acute kidney injury 3, pneumonia 8, deep vein thrombosis 9, sepsis 13, urinary tract infection 15, and surgical site infection 16. Amputations, fasciotomies, and distal radius open reduction internal fixation accounted for the majority of adverse events. Complication timing was significantly earlier in inpatients compared with outpatients for myocardial infarction.

Conclusion This study characterizes postoperative adverse event timing following hand surgery. Surgeons should have the lowest threshold for testing for each complication during the time period of greatest risk.

Level of Evidence This is a therapeutic, Level III study.

Treatment of congenital syndactyly

Defined as the union of two adjacent digits, syndactyly is one of the most common congenital deformities. The severity of the malformation depends on the fusion level, the tissues involved in the union, and whether it is isolated or syndromic. In order to improve the hand's appearance and function, surgery is recommended in the great majority of cases, ideally during early childhood (i.e., before entering school). Web space reconstruction is done using local flaps. Depending on the flap design, digital resurfacing can be done with or without skin grafts. While graftless techniques have shorter operating times and no morbidity associated with skin harvesting, their cosmetic outcomes seem to be worse than those of traditional grafting techniques, with more postoperative complications; furthermore, such techniques cannot be used in all cases, especially those with osteoarticular fusions. When the fingertip is involved, paronychial reconstruction is carried out with pulp flaps. The prognosis for these deformities directly depends on their severity, with excellent outcomes in cases of cutaneous fusion, and much less predictable ones when osteoarticular and/or tendinous tissues are involved.

Sub-Exome Target Sequencing in a Family With Syndactyly Type IV Due to a Novel Partial Duplication of the LMBR1 Gene: First Case Report in Fujian Province of China

Syndactyly is one of the most frequent hereditary limb malformations with clinical and genetical complexity. Autosomal dominant syndactyly type IV (SD4) is a rare form of syndactyly, caused by heterozygous mutations in a sonic hedgehog (SHH) regulatory element (ZRS) which resides in intron 5 of the LMBR1 gene on chromosome 7q36.3. SD4 is characterized by complete cutaneous syndactyly of the fingers, accompanied by cup-shaped hands due to flexion of the fingers and polydactyly. Here, for the first time, we reported a large Chinese family from Fujian province, manifesting cup-shaped hands consistent with SD4 and intrafamilial heterogeneity in clinical phenotype of tibial and fibulal shortening, triphalangeal thumb-polysyndactyly syndrome (TPTPS). We identified a novel duplication of ∼222 kb covering exons 2–17 of the LMBR1 gene in this family by sub-exome target sequencing. This case expands our new clinical understanding of SD4 phenotype and again confirms the feasibility to detect copy number variation by sub-exome target sequencing.

External fixation: Role in decreasing postoperative complications of complex syndactyly release - A review of 18 patients

BACKGROUND

Primary and revision surgery for complete complex congenital syndactyly (CCCS) of the hand carries a risk of complications such as web maceration, which can result in flap or graft loss and alter the final appearance. No consensus emerges from the scant published data on postoperative care after CCCS surgery. The objective of this study was to assess the role for temporary external fixation in stabilising the commissure and facilitating surgical wound care.

HYPOTHESIS

Using external fixation after CCCS release facilitates postoperative wound care and decreases the complication rate.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Eighteen patients requiring primary CCCS surgery or revision CCCS surgery due to adhesions or web creep were included in a single-centre retrospective study. After release, an external fixator made of Kirschner pins was installed to temporarily immobilise the inter-phalangeal joints. The dressing was changed every 3 days for 3 weeks, and the external fixator was then removed. The parents and nurses completed questionnaires that used 0-10 point scales to assess ease and duration of dressing changes and perceptions and apprehensions experienced by parents and nurses, as well as pain by patients, during dressing changes.

RESULTS

No patient experienced maceration or failure of a graft or flap. Pin site discharge was noted in 1 patient and resolved fully after pin removal. Pain intensity was estimated at 4.2/10 during the first dressing change and 1.3/10 during the last dressing change. In the parents, apprehension was 9.6/10 and 5.1/10 during the first and last dressing changes, and stress was 8.1/10 and 4.1/10, respectively. Dressing change difficulty was rated 1.1/10 at the first and 0.9/10 at the last dressing change. Dressing change duration decreased from 13 to 10minutes.

CONCLUSION

These encouraging results support temporary commissure stabilisation by an external fixator to decrease postoperative complication rates and facilitate dressing changes after CCCS release.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV, retrospective observational study.

Pollicization of the Index Finger in the United States: Early Readmission and Complications

PURPOSE

Pollicization is a well-accepted treatment for thumb hypoplasia, yet little is known about the reasons why patients return early in the postoperative period and complications that occur after surgery. The purpose of this investigation was to describe 30-day returns, readmission, and complication rates after pollicization in the United States.

METHODS

A total of 459 pollicization procedures performed in 408 patients at 38 U.S. pediatric hospitals from 2003 to 2014 were identified using the Pediatric Health Information System database. A stepwise search strategy identified returns and readmissions within 30 days after pollicization to quantify complications and/or additional procedures. Risk factors for readmission and complications were compared across groups using uni- and multivariable general linear modeling.

RESULTS

There were 61 patients who returned to the hospital (emergency department, ambulatory surgery, or inpatient hospitalization) within 30 days of their pollicization. Of those, 39 patients returned for suture removal, cast changes, or other expected aspects of postoperative care. The remaining 22 patients had a total of 26 complications, accounting for a 4.8% complication rate. The majority had vascular complications and wound problems. Single complications ranging from wound infection to hemorrhage were found in 20 cases. Overall, 35 of the 61 returns were readmitted to the hospital for treatment of complications or additional procedures. There was no effect of age group, diagnosis, geographical region, or physician subspecialty on the likelihood of complication or readmission.

CONCLUSIONS

Sixty-one patients returned within 30 days of their pollicization, and 22 presented with a complication (4.8%), most commonly vascular in nature. These baseline data are informative because they identify opportunities for future preventative measures and quality improvement.

TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic IV.

Predictive factors for adverse outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing low-risk skin and soft tissue surgery: A database analysis of 6730 patients

BACKGROUND

There is a paucity of data regarding risk stratification of pediatric patients presenting for low-risk skin and soft tissue surgery.

AIMS

We sought to determine the incidence and independent predictors of postoperative complications and unplanned 30-day readmission in a cohort of children undergoing low-risk skin and soft tissue surgery.

METHODS

The study included pediatric patients who underwent minor procedures of the skin and soft tissue at continuously enrolled American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric hospitals over a two-year period. The primary outcome was a 30-day postoperative complication composite. The secondary outcome was unplanned 30-day readmission.

RESULTS

The final analysis included 6,730 patients. There were a total of 170 postoperative complications among 152 patients (2.23%) with the majority of complications being either wound-related or postoperative mechanical ventilation. The independent predictors for an increased risk of postoperative complication were American Society of Anesthesiologists classification ≥3 and nutritional deficiency. There were 41 unplanned readmissions (0.61%). The presence of a postoperative wound complication or a postoperative pulmonary complication during the index hospital stay was an independent risk factor for unplanned 30-day readmission.

CONCLUSION

Pediatric patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists classification ≥3 and nutritional deficiency undergoing low-risk surgery are at risk for the development of postoperative complications. Patients who develop wound and postoperative pulmonary complications are at higher risk for unplanned 30-day readmission. Identification of these higher risk patients may allow the anesthesiologist to implement targeted therapies to minimize the likelihood of occurrence of these complications.