“Team time-out” and surgical safety—experiences in 12,390 neurosurgical patients

Object

Quality and safety are basic concerns in any medical practice. Especially in daily surgical practice, with increasing turnover and shortened procedure times, attention to these topics needs to be assured. Starting in 2007, the authors used a perioperative checklist in all elective procedures and extended the checklist in January 2011 according to the so-called team time-out principles, with additional assessment of patient identity and the planned surgical procedure performed immediately before skin incision, including the emergency cases.

Methods

The advanced perioperative checklist includes parts for patient identification, preoperative assessments, team time-out, postoperative treatment, and imaging controls. All parts are signed by the responsible physician except for the team time-out, which is performed and signed by the theater nurse on behalf of the surgeon immediately before skin incision.

Results

Between January 2007 and December 2010, 1 wrong-sided bur hole in an emergency case and 1 wrong-sided lumbar approach in an elective case (of 8795 surgical procedures) occurred in the authors' department. Using the advanced perioperative checklist including the team time-out principles, no error occurred in 3595 surgical procedures (January 2011–June 2012). In the authors' department all team members appreciate the chance to focus on the patient, the surgical procedure, and expected difficulties. The number of incomplete checklists and of patients not being transferred into the operating room was lowered significantly (p = 0.002) after implementing the advanced perioperative checklist.

Conclusions

In the authors' daily experience, the advanced perioperative checklist developed according to the team time-out principles improves preoperative workup and the focus of the entire team. The focus is drawn to the procedure, expected difficulties of the surgery, and special needs in the treatment of the particular patient. Especially in emergency situations, the team time-out synchronizes the involved team members and helps to improve patient safety.

Chronic subdural haematoma in elderly patients: a retrospective analysis of 322 patients between the ages of 65-94 years

BACKGROUND

Chronic subdural haematoma (cSDH) is a common disease in neurosurgical practise, especially in elderly patients. This is of growing importance as the number of elderly people in the population is increasing steadily. There are scarce data focussing especially on elderly patients with cSDH. This study intended to evaluate the outcome and peri-operative risks in elderly patients with cSDH.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 322 consecutive patients aged ≥65 years treated at our department between 2002 and 2009 focussing on outcome, aetiology, peri-operative risks, recurrence rate, and co-factors such as concomitant diseases and therapy with anticoagulants. The surgical procedure included burr-hole craniostomy followed by insertion of a subdural drain in each case. The outcome was classified according to the Karnofsky performance status (KPS) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score. Patients were divided into three groups according to age (group I: age 65-74 years, group II: 75-84 years, group III: 85-94 years).

RESULTS

Three hundred twenty-two patients underwent burr-hole craniostomy for cSDH in 399 surgical procedures. The mean age was 76 ± 7.9 years. After surgery, the mean neurological status improved in all three groups. Overall favourable outcome (mRS 0-2) was achieved in 83 % in group I, 68 % in group II and 51 % in group III, respectively. The rate of recurrence was lower in group III (7.5 %) compared to groups I (21.5 %) and II (27.37 %, p = 0.004). Overall, complication rates and peri-operative mortality (2.75 %) did not differ significantly between the age groups.

CONCLUSION

The data of the current study suggest that treatment of cSDH is safe in elderly patients. Patients aged above 85 years carry a greater risk for peri-operative complications, i.e. aSDH, and therefore have to be examined and monitored meticulously in order to prevent complications.

Rapid closure technique in decompressive craniectomy

Object

The object of this study was to describe the rapid closure technique in decompressive craniectomy without duraplasty and its use in a large cohort of consecutive patients.

Methods

Between 1999 and 2008, supratentorial rapid closure decompressive craniectomy (RCDC) was performed 341 times in 318 patients at the authors' institution. Cases were stratified as 1) traumatic brain injury, 2) subarachnoid hemorrhage, 3) intracerebral hemorrhage, 4) cerebral infarction, and 5) other. A large bone flap was removed and the dura mater was opened in a stellate fashion. Duraplasty was not performed—that is, the dura was not sutured, and a dural substitute was neither sutured in nor layed on. The dura and exposed brain tissue were covered with hemostyptic material (Surgicel). Surgical time and complications of this procedure including follow-up (> 6 months) were recorded. After 3–6 months cranioplasty was performed, and, again, surgical time and any complications were recorded.

Results

Rapid closure decompressive craniectomy was feasible in all cases. Complications included superficial wound healing disturbance (3.5% of procedures), abscess (2.6%) and CSF fistula (0.6%); the mean surgical time (± SD) was 69 ± 20 minutes. Cranioplasty was performed in 196 cases; the mean interval (± SD) from craniectomy to cranioplasty was 118 ± 40 days. Complications of cranioplasty included epidural hematoma (4.1%), abscess (2.6%), wound healing disturbance (6.1%), and CSF fistula (1%).

Compared with the results reported in the literature for decompressive craniectomy with duraplasty followed by cranioplasty, there were no significant differences in the frequency of complications. However, surgical time for RCDC was significantly shorter (69 ± 20 vs 129 ± 43 minutes, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

The present analysis of the largest series reported to date reveals that the rapid closure technique is feasible and safe in decompressive craniectomy. The surgical time is significantly shorter without increased complication rates or additional complications. Cranioplasty after a RCDC procedure was also feasible, fast, safe and not impaired by the RCDC technique.

Influence of iMRI-Guidance on the Extent of Resection and Survival of Patients with Glioblastoma Multiforme

Intraoperative MRI (iMRI) is used in glioma surgery mainly to determine the extent of resection, allowing surgeons to immediately continue resection in case of residual tumor tissue. The aim of this study is to report on the influence of the use of iMRI on the extent of resection and survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

We analyzed our prospectively collected database of patients with GBM operated upon during the initial period after installation of an iMRI; between July 2004 and December 2005, all patients with GBM undergoing intended complete tumor resection were included in this study, while patients undergoing mere tumor biopsy or intended incomplete resection were not.

In total, 43 Patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 10 patients (23.3%) were operated upon with the help of iMRI while 33 underwent conventional tumor resection. All patients underwent postoperative high-field MR imaging at 1.5 Tesla to determine the extent of resection. Subsequently, all patients received adjuvant treatment. Median patient age was 60.0 years; median overall survival was 70.7 weeks. Radiologically complete tumor resection (P < 0.001) and the administration of temozolomide chemotherapy (P < 0.01) were statistically significant prognostic factors in a multivariate analysis. The rate of complete tumor resections was significantly higher in the iMRI group than in the conventional surgery group (P < 0.05). Patient age was not a prognostic factor in our series of patients (P = 0.22). Intraoperative MRI is a helpful tool to increase the extent of resection in GBM surgery and thereby improve patient survival.