EP.WE.268Impact of COVID-19 on surgical services in a District General Hospital in the UK: benefits versus drawbacks

Background

COVID-19 outbreak led to significant changes in health services worldwide. This study aims to assess the impact of this outbreak on the surgical services in a small District General Hospital and to highlight any benefits that we can take forward.

Methods

Data were collected retrospectively comparing the surgical service activity during the two months (April and May 2020) around the peak of COVID-19 first wave in the UK and the similar two-month period the year before when activity was at its usual pre-COVID level. A short questionnaire on the use and satisfaction of remote consultation was circulated to all hospital consultants.

Results

The total number of patients presenting to the emergency department in all specialities almost halved during the COVID-19 crisis. The number of emergency surgical admissions decreased. All elective lists were cancelled and more patients were managed conservatively.

In April and May 2020, 156 patients had outpatient surgical consultations. Only 14 of them were face-to-face, whereas the rest were done either by telephone or video calls. This is compared to 472 patients who had face-to-face consultations in April and May 2019. The results of the questionnaire showed that over 90% of the consultants felt telemedicine consultations were satisfactory and that they would have an important role in the future.

Conclusion

COVID-19 had serious impacts on surgical services regarding cancellation of elective lists and prolongation of waiting time. Despite these drawbacks, the increased confidence with telemedicine services was a significant benefit.

Development of a pediatric obstructive sleep apnea triage algorithm

INTRODUCTION

Diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children is often delayed due to the high prevalence and limited physician and sleep testing resources. As a result, children may be referred to multiple specialties, such as pediatric sleep medicine and pediatric otolaryngology, resulting in long waitlists.

METHOD

We used data from our pediatric OSA clinic to identify predictors of tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy (AT). Before being seen in the clinic, parents completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) and screening questionnaires for restless leg syndrome (RLS), nasal rhinitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Tonsil size data were obtained from patient charts and graded using the Brodsky-five grade scale. Children completed an overnight oximetry study before being seen in the clinic, and a McGill oximetry score (MOS) was assigned based on the number and depth of oxygen desaturations. Logistic regression, controlling for otolaryngology physician, was used to identify significant predictors of AT. Three triage algorithms were subsequently generated based on the univariate and multivariate results to predict AT.

RESULTS

From the OSA cohort, there were 469 eligible children (47% female, mean age = 8.19 years, SD = 3.59), with 89% of children reported snoring. Significant predictors of AT in univariate analysis included tonsil size and four PSQ questions, (1) struggles to breathe at night, (2) apneas, (3) daytime mouth breathing, and (4) AM dry mouth. The first triage algorithm, only using the four PSQ questions, had an odds ratio (OR) of 4.02 for predicting AT (sensitivity = 0.28, specificity = 0.91). Using only tonsil size, the second algorithm had an OR to predict AT of 9.11 (sensitivity = 0.72, specificity = 0.78). The third algorithm, where MOS was used to stratify risk for AT among those children with 2+ tonsils, had the same OR, sensitivity, and specificity as the tonsil-only algorithm.

CONCLUSION

Tonsil size was the strongest predictor of AT, while oximetry helped stratify individual risk for AT. We recommend that referral letters for snoring children include graded tonsil size to aid in the triage based on our findings. Children with 2+ tonsil sizes should be triaged to otolaryngology, while the remainder should be referred to a pediatric sleep specialist.

Diabetes in day case general and vascular surgery: A multicentre regional audit

BACKGROUND

People with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) are at increased risk of postoperative complications if their HbA1C readings are not well controlled. In the UK, there are clear national guidelines requiring all people with DM to have HbA1C blood testing within 6months before undergoing surgery and that these readings should be below 69 mmol/mol if this is safe to achieve. The aim of this study was to determine whether hospitals in the region were compliant with the guidelines.

METHODS

Data were prospectively collected from seven hospitals across the East of England region from 1st October 2017 to 31st March 2018 (6 months) in all people with DM undergoing elective day case procedures in General and Vascular surgery for benign disease.

RESULTS

A total of 181 people with DM were included in the study, of whom 77.9% were male patients and the median age was 63 years. The three most commonly performed operations were laparoscopic cholecystectomy (20.9%, n = 38/181), inguinal hernia repair (20.4%, n = 37/181) and umbilical/para-umbilical hernia repair (11.0%, n = 20/181). In keeping with the national guidelines, only 86.7% (n = 157/181) of patients had an HbA1C tested within 6 months prior to their surgery date. Of the patients who had a preoperative HbA1C, 14 (n = 14/157, 8.9%) had an HbA1C ≥ 69 mmol/mol, and 12 (n = 12/14, 85.7%) of these proceeded to surgery without optimisation of their HbA1C.

CONCLUSION

A significant proportion of people with diabetes undergoing elective day case procedures in our region do not have HbA1C testing within 6 months of their procedure as recommended by the national guidelines. In patients who do have a high HbA1C, the majority still undergo surgery without adequate control of their DM. Greater awareness amongst healthcare workers and robust pathways are required for this vulnerable group of patients if we are to reduce the risk of developing postoperative complication rates.

Comparison of inhaled versus intravenous anesthesia for laryngoscopy and laryngeal electromyography in a rat model

Background

Propofol and remifentanil intravenous combination is one popular form of total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) in mainstream clinical practice, but it has rarely been applied to a rat model for laryngoscopy and laryngeal electromyography (LEMG). Our objective was to establish a safe and reproducible general anesthetic protocol for laryngoscopy and endoscopic LEMG in a rat model. Our hypothesis is that TIVA allows a minimally morbid, and feasible laryngoscopy and LEMG.

Methods

Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to either inhalational anesthesia (IA) (isoflurane) or TIVA (propofol and remifentanil) and underwent laryngoscopy and LEMG. The primary outcome was a complete minimally interrupted rigid laryngoscopy and obtaining reproducible motor unit potentials from the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles. The secondary outcome was morbidity and mortality.

Results

Seventeen out of twenty-two rats underwent both TIVA and IA. Only two underwent IA only. All nineteen rats that underwent IA had a successful experiment. Seventeen rats underwent TIVA, however, only nine completed a successful experiment due to difficulty achieving a surgical plane, and respiratory events. Upon comparing the success of the two anaesthetic regimens, IA was superior to TIVA (P = 0.0008). There was no statistical difference between the amplitudes (p = 0.1985) or motor units burst duration (p = 0.82605) of both methods. Three mortalities were encountered, one of which was due to lidocaine toxicity and two were during anesthetic induction. Respiratory related morbidity was encountered in two rats, all seen with TIVA.

Conclusions

TIVA is not an ideal anesthetic regimen for laryngeal endoscopy and LEMG in rat models. Contrary to our hypothesis, IA did not affect the quality of the LEMG and allowed a seamless rigid endoscopy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40463-018-0312-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Correlation between gonial angle and dynamic tongue collapse in children with snoring/sleep disordered breathing - an exploratory pilot study

BACKGROUND

Drug induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is hoped to identify reasons of failure of adenotonsillectomy (AT) in treating pediatric sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Maxillomandibular disproportion has been studied as another association which may explain alternative pathogenesis of SDB. We aimed to explore the relation between the size of the gonial angle and inclination of the epiglottis measured from cone beam CT (CBCT) and tongue base collapse based on DISE in children with SDB.

METHOD

A retrospective chart review was conducted at a tertiary pediatric center. Children (6-17 years old) assessed at a multi-disciplinary Upper Airway Clinic, diagnosed with SDB and maxillo-mandibular disproportion (MMD), and who underwent DISE were eligible. Variables obtained from the electronic medical records of the clinic and prospective database included demographics, comorbidities, surgeries performed, investigations, DISE findings and CBCT findings. The gonial angle of subjects with and without tongue base collapse (TBC) on SNP were compared.

RESULTS

In total 29 patients (13 male, 8 female) age 6-17 (median= 9) were eligible for the study from January 2009 - July 2016. We included 11 subjects, and 10 comparators. The mean gonial angle of the TBC group was 139.3°± 7.6°, while that of the comparison group was 129.4°±3.5 (mean difference -9.937, 95% CI of -15.454 to - 4.421, P = 0.001, power of test 0.95). Additionally, the mean inclination of the epiglottis had a mild positive correlation (r=0.32, p<0.05) with the gonial angle, in the whole cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study suggests that TBC may be mediated by a wider gonial angle in children with SDB patients. The posterior tilt of the epiglottis on CBCT may be a surrogate sign of TBC.

Unilateral Opacification of Paranasal Sinus CT Scans

Objectives

The aim of study was to describe the histopathology in patients with unilateral sinus opacification and to identify variables that may predict neoplastic pathology.

Study Design

A retrospective review of paranasal sinus CT scans performed between 2000 and 2003 was conducted to identify patients with unilateral sinus opacification.

Results

Twenty-eight of 1118 CT scans showed unilateral sinus opacification. Twelve patients had neoplastic disease, 13 had inflammatory disease. Nasal discharge was more common in inflammatory than neoplastic disease (P = 0.009). A polyp or mass lesion was more common on nasendoscopy in neoplastic than inflammatory disease (P = 0.01). Bony erosion was only identified in malignant disease.

Conclusion

A wide variety of pathologies present with unilateral sinus opacification on CT scanning. In our series, neoplastic disease was more associated with a visible polyp or mass lesion and less with nasal discharge. Bony erosion on CT scan was only seen in malignant disease. Histologic confirmation remains obligatory for diagnosis.

A case of the otogenic variant of Lemierre's syndrome with atypical sequelae and a review of pediatric literature

We report a case of an 8-year-old girl who presented with the clinical picture of Lemierre's syndrome (LS) secondary to bilateral mastoiditis. She developed unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) along with internal jugular vein (IJV) thrombosis, septic arthritis of her ankle and cervical fasciitis. Combined antimicrobial, anticoagulant and surgical treatment helped reverse all the effects of the sequelae, including nearly all the hearing loss. This is a unique case of this uncommon variant of the syndrome and with an uncommonly reported complication. The literature indicates that pediatric cases are a minority and enforces that successful management rests on awareness of the condition, vigil and promptness of communication of a multidisciplinary pediatric team.

Does synchronous nasal surgery increase the risk of post-operative haemorrhage in adult patients undergoing tonsillectomy?

Otolaryngologists occasionally perform simultaneous procedures on their patients, the indication being co-existent pathology. This is not a universally accepted practice as some feel that the post-operative morbidity is increased in such patients. Tonsillectomy is a common otolaryngological procedure and the main life-threatening complication, haemorrhage is easily identifiable. This study compares the incidence of post-operative haemorrhage requiring admission in patients undergoing tonsillectomy alone with that in patients undergoing tonsillectomy and nasal surgery. A retrospective study was undertaken of all adult patients undergoing tonsillectomy alone or tonsillectomy and synchronous nasal surgery in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Seventy-one patients (34 male) with a mean age of 23 years underwent tonsillectomy and synchronous nasal surgery over a nine-year period 1991-1999. The commonest nasal procedure was reduction of the inferior turbinates (in 48 cases). Three hundred and ninety-eight patients (131 male) with a mean age of 23 years underwent tonsillectomy alone over a nine-month period, July 1998 to April 1999. The incidence of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage in the synchronous nasal surgery group was 12.7 per cent (9 out of 71) compared with four per cent (16 out of 398) in the tonsillectomy alone group (p <0.01, Chi-squared test). There was no difference in hospital stay between the two groups (mean two days). Synchronous nasal surgery increases the incidence of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage.

A randomized control trial of post-operative care following endoscopic sinus surgery: debridement versus no debridement

Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) has undergone exponential growth worldwide in the last decade. It is now accepted as a safe and effective means of treating sinonasal disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether post-operative debridement is necessary after ESS. Seventeen patients undergoing bilateral primary ESS were randomized to receive debridement of either the left or right ethmoid cavity. All patients included in the study had symmetrical disease. Saline douches and all other concomitant treatments were delivered bilaterally. Outcome measures were based on regular symptom scores and surgeons' semi-quantitative assessment of the debrided and non-debrided cavities, over a three-month period. Analysis of adhesion rates, healing and symptom scores showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups. In conclusion, this study did not demonstrate significant benefit from post-operative ESS cavity debridement, at least with regard to cavity healing. This should be considered a pilot study and therefore limited conclusions can be drawn. Further work is needed to determine the optimum post-operative care for ESS.

The effects of age of cochlear implantation on speech perception outcomes in prelingually deaf children

We have made a retrospective analysis on 70 prelingually deaf children (78% congenital; age range 2-15 years) followed for up to 5 years post-implant during which both closed set speech perception tests (TAC, WIPI) and open set tasks (PBK, GASP) were administered. We used a binary partitioning algorithm to optimally divide our dataset on the basis of age at implantation This technique achieves an optimal split when the heterogeneity of the data is most reduced (maximal drop in deviance). For the closed set speech perception tests (TAC and WIPI) partitioning best divided-out data at age 4.4 years. For the open set tests optimal division was at a higher age of implantation (GASP word, 5.6 years; PBK word, 8.4 years). Using these partitioning values, we have found statistically significant differences between rate of improvement of scores in the younger implanted children compared with those implanted later.

A study of anthropometric measures before and after external septoplasty in children: a preliminary study

OBJECTIVE

To test the hypothesis that surgery on the growing nasal septum does not adversely affect nasal and midfacial dimensions.

DESIGN

Paired study.

SETTING

Tertiary care center.

PARTICIPANTS

Children treated consecutively during a 4-year period; all had significant nasal obstruction and cosmetic disfigurement secondary to skeletal septal deformities.

INTERVENTION

Nasal septal surgery (using an external approach), in which the quadrilateral cartilage was removed, remodeled, and reinserted as a free graft.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Anthropometric linear measurements and indexes of the face and nose preoperatively and postoperatively; nasal dorsum length, nasal height, nasal dorsum index, nasal tip protrusion, columellar length, facial height, face width, upper face height, facial index, nose-upper face height index, and columellar length-nasal tip protrusion index. Continuous measurements were transformed into ordered categories with reference to normative data. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed rank sum test (alpha level of.05) and by applying the Bonferroni adjustment for multiple testing.

RESULTS

Twenty-six children were studied (12 females and 14 males); age at surgery ranged from 4.5 to 15.5 years (mean age, 9.5 years); average age at postoperative measurement, 12.5 years; mean follow-up, 3.1 years. Only nasal dorsum length (P =.007) and nasal tip protrusion (P =.04) were decreased by a statistically significant level before the Bonferroni adjustment. The change was not considered clinically significant. Thus, relative to age-appropriate norms, the dimensions of the nose and midface and their proportionality did not change after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Appropriate nasal septal surgery involving excision and subsequent reinsertion of a remodeled segment of the quadrilateral cartilage has no deleterious effects on development of the nose and midface. We question the absolute dogma that nasal surgery in children must always be avoided.

Assessment of vocabulary development in children after cochlear implantation

OBJECTIVES

To assess vocabulary development in children following cochlear implantation and to evaluate the effect of age at implantation on performance.

DESIGN

Retrospective study (mean follow-up, 3(1/2) years).

SETTING

Tertiary center.

PATIENTS

Children with prelingual deafness provided with a cochlear implant between 1988 and 1999, who serially performed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (60 patients) and the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (52 patients). The children were subgrouped into those receiving implants at younger than 5 years and at 5 years or older.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Age-equivalent vocabulary test score and gap index (chronological age minus the age-equivalent score, divided by the chronological age at the time of testing) were calculated. For each test, the following were performed: calculation of rate of change for age-equivalent score; comparison of earliest and latest gap indices means (the cohort and intergroup and intragroup comparison); and multiple regression analysis demonstrating the effect of age at implantation, sex, communication mode, etiology of deafness, and residual hearing on the rate of vocabulary development.

RESULTS

Expressive and receptive vocabulary development rates were 0.93 and 0.71 (age-equivalent scores per year), respectively. Subgrouped by age at implantation, the children's rates (for both vocabularies) were not statistically different (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, P =.90; Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, P =.23). The global latest gap indices were significantly less than the earliest (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, P =.048; Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, P<.001), indicating an improvement in age-appropriate vocabulary development over time. The age subgroups demonstrated similar results, except for the younger group's receptive gap index. On multiple regression analysis, the significant predictive variables were residual hearing (Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised) and male sex and oral communication mode (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised).

CONCLUSIONS

Children with cochlear implants developed their vocabularies at rates that were sufficient to prevent an increase in their gap indices as related to ideal scores at testing. A late age at implantation does not singularly preclude beneficial development of vocabulary.

Vocabulary acquisition rate after pediatric cochlear implantation and the impact of age at implantation

OBJECTIVE

studies of early vocabulary development after pediatric cochlear implantation show growth rates that approach normality. Do these growth rates continue to rise over time and, therefore, allow a 'catch up' with ideal scores for age, or do they decline after an initial peak. Could age at implantation be a decisive factor in that process?

DESIGN

retrospective study (mean follow-up 4 years).

PATIENTS

pre-lingually deaf children implanted between 1988 and1999, who serially performed Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT), (37 patients) and Expressive One-word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (EOWPVT), (35 patients).

OUTCOME MEASURES

the mean rates of age equivalent scores were determined for the whole follow-up period and analyzed further for two post-implant periods (the two halves of follow-up duration of individual patients). After sub-grouping by age at implantation (younger or older than 5 years old), the same analysis was executed for each subgroup.

RESULTS

the mean EOWPVT rate of the earlier period was higher than that of the later period (1.33 vs. 0.67, P<0.01) and the mean PPVT rate of the earlier period was higher than that of the later period (0.72 vs. 0.5). The latter difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Within subgroups by age at implantation, the PPVT mean rates were stable for younger implanted patients (0.56 for both periods) and dropped for the older implanted sub-group (0.87-0.43, P>0.05). The EOWPVT mean rates declined significantly for the older patients group (1.72-0.55, P<0.01) but insignificantly for the younger patients (0.99-0.77, P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

vocabulary acquisition rates decline in the post-implantation period. This is more pronounced with older implanted children and the EOWPVT rates. This information on the time course development of vocabulary after implantation would be valuable in counseling and planning habilitation in addition to candidate selection.

A randomised controlled trial of the effect of regional nerve blocks on immediate post-tonsillectomy pain in adult patients

Post-operative pain is the main cause of morbidity following tonsillectomy. The efficacy of glossopharyngeal and lesser palatine nerve blocks in controlling postoperative pain in adult patients was investigated prospectively. Patients 16 years and older admitted for elective tonsillectomy were randomised to one of three groups to receive a pre-incisional oropharyngeal injection of 0.5% bupivicaine, a 'dummy' injection of saline or no injection. Dissection tonsillectomy and general anaesthetic techniques were standardized. Postoperative pain was monitored for 24 h. ANOVA, chi2 and Fisher's exact test were used for intergroup comparisons. Ninety-two patients (72 women and 20 men), mean age 22 years were studied. Twenty-nine patients received 0.5% bupivicaine, 30 saline and 33 no pre-incisional injection. The overall mean pain scores of 2.1, 1.9 and 1.9 in the bupivicaine, saline and no injection groups were similar. Glossopharyngeal and lesser palatine 0.5% bupivicaine nerve blocks are not effective in reducing early post-tonsillectomy pain.

Target oriented computed tomography-scanning of the paranasal sinuses

A limited computed tomography (CT) scanning protocol for the paranasal sinuses is proposed consisting of only seven cuts in the coronal plane. A retrospective observational study has shown the ability of these cuts to demonstrate the regions of interest to the FESS surgeon. The regions are detected at a rate ranging from 85% to 96% in this sample of 100 patients. The novelty of the protocol is the principle of targeting those regions. We believe that the targeted protocol is practically feasible and provides the necessary information concerning benign sinus disease, along with the expected reduction of exposure to radiation and reduction of cost.