Activities of daily living and quality of life of elderly patients after elective surgery for gastric and colorectal cancers

Surgical outcome after incomplete endoscopic submucosal dissection of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer is a relatively new and attractive treatment, but occasionally fails to remove all cancer lesions completely. This study aimed to elucidate clinicopathological factors that could be helpful in predicting residual tumour in the surgical specimen after incomplete endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).

METHODS

Patients who underwent gastrectomy because of incomplete ESD between August 2004 and August 2008 were analysed. Clinicopathological characteristics were reviewed retrospectively from prospectively collected medical records. Patients were classified into groups with and without residual tumour. Pathology results following gastrectomy were compared with those of incomplete ESD.

RESULTS

A total of 118 patients were included. The incidence of residual tumour in the surgical specimen was 24·6 per cent after incomplete ESD. Elevated/flat-type cancers, large tumours (at least 2 cm) and those limited to the mucosa had significantly higher incomplete ESD rates. Cancer limited to the mucosa and the presence of tumour in the lateral margin were associated with residual tumour in the surgical specimen (both P = 0·001).

CONCLUSION

Radical gastrectomy should be performed if pathological examination reveals a positive lateral resection margin after ESD.

Optimizing the management of elderly colorectal surgery patients

With the ever increasing number of geriatric surgical patients, there is a need to develop efficient processes that address all of the potential issues faced by patients during the perioperative period. This article explores the physiological changes in elderly surgical patients and the outcomes achieved after major abdominal surgery. Perioperative management strategies for elderly surgical patients in line with the practices of the Geriatric Surgical Team of Alexandra Health, Singapore, are also presented. A coordinated transdisciplinary approach best tackles the complexities encountered in these patients.

Assessment of the risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients using E-PASS and the NEECHAM Confusion Scale

BACKGROUND

The incidences of surgery-field disorders such as femur neck fracture and colorectal cancer in elderly persons have increased with the rapid aging of society. In such patients, postoperative delirium is also frequent. Patients should be generally assessed from the aspect of both physical and mental conditions in order to predict a high-delirium risk group. If so, delirium may be prevented more efficiently. In this study, we investigated whether the early detection of postoperative delirium in elderly patients is possible using a simple, useful behavior-assessing scale, the NEECHAM Confusion Scale, and a method for comprehensively evaluating elderly persons' stress related to surgery, E-PASS.

METHODS

The subjects were 160 patients aged more than 75 years who underwent surgery. Among them, three patients had vascular surgery-field disorders, 67 had orthopedic-field disorders, and 90 had digestive surgery-field disorders. To comprehensively evaluate surgery-related stress, E-PASS was employed. In addition, we assessed recognition, activities of daily living (ADL), and the quality of life (QOL). For delirium diagnosis and severity assessment, we used the NEECHAM Confusion Scale. The cut-off value of the NEECHAM score was established as 20 points, and patients showing values less than this after surgery were regarded as having postoperative delirium. Evaluation was performed until 10 days after surgery.

RESULTS

Postoperative delirium was noted in 54.7% of the subjects. There was a decrease in the NEECHAM score between the first and fourth postoperative days, but it gradually increased thereafter. Both uni- and multivariate analyses showed that postoperative delirium was associated with an advanced age (more than 80 years), low preoperative NEECHAM and MMSE scores, the preoperative QOL, and E-PASS. In groups showing an MMSE score of less than 25 or a preoperative NEECHAM score of less than 27, the incidence of postoperative delirium was 76%.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that E-PASS and the NEECHAM score facilitate assessment of the risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients, contributing to early prevention/treatment.

Patient-reported recovery after abdominal and pelvic surgery using the Convalescence and Recovery Evaluation (CARE): implications for measuring the impact of surgical processes of care and innovation

BACKGROUND

Recovery is an integral part of the surgical process and measuring it provides insight into the impact of surgical innovation. This study used a recently validated instrument, the Convalescence and Recovery Evaluation (CARE), to measure return to baseline health after surgery and explore clinical factors associated with recovery.

STUDY DESIGN

Patient health was measured among 96 patients before and after abdominal and pelvic surgery. Patients were grouped by time to recovery of 90% of baseline status. chi2 Tests and logistic models were used to measure relationships between recovery time and patient characteristics, processes of care, and outcomes.

RESULTS

Return to baseline health was reached by 44% of patients within 2 weeks, 28% between 2 and 4 weeks, and 28% after 4 weeks. Patients who recovered faster were younger, female, single, and undergoing ambulatory surgery for benign diseases. Patients who were married, underwent surgery for cancer, or had bowel surgery were more likely to require longer recovery time.

CONCLUSIONS

Several patient and clinical characteristics were found to be associated with recovery after surgery. CARE appears to be sensitive to these factors and may be useful for informed decision making, assessing changes in processes of care, and evaluating the impact of surgical innovations on recovery.

Functional Status Scale: new pediatric outcome measure

OBJECTIVE

The goal was to create a functional status outcome measure for large outcome studies that is well defined, quantitative, rapid, reliable, minimally dependent on subjective assessments, and applicable to hospitalized pediatric patients across a wide range of ages and inpatient environments.

METHODS

Functional Status Scale (FSS) domains of functioning included mental status, sensory functioning, communication, motor functioning, feeding, and respiratory status, categorized from normal (score = 1) to very severe dysfunction (score = 5). The Adaptive Behavior Assessment System II (ABAS II) established construct validity and calibration within domains. Seven institutions provided PICU patients within 24 hours before or after PICU discharge, high-risk non-PICU patients within 24 hours after admission, and technology-dependent children. Primary care nurses completed the ABAS II. Statistical analyses were performed.

RESULTS

A total of 836 children, with a mean FSS score of 10.3 (SD: 4.4), were studied. Eighteen percent had the minimal possible FSS score of 6, 44% had FSS scores of >or=10, 14% had FSS scores of >or=15, and 6% had FSS scores of >or=20. Each FSS domain was associated with mean ABAS II scores (P < .0001). Cells in each domain were collapsed and reweighted, which improved correlations with ABAS II scores (P < .001 for improvements). Discrimination was very good for moderate and severe dysfunction (ABAS II categories) and improved with FSS weighting. Intraclass correlations of original and weighted total FSS scores were 0.95 and 0.94, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The FSS met our objectives and is well suited for large outcome studies.

Surgical risk and post-operative complications in older unfit cancer patients

Surgeons have always dealt with elderly cancer patients, but understanding frailty and tailoring treatment is a new achievement endeavour. Mounting evidence is resulting in the introduction of geriatric assessment into clinical practice. Particularly, undernourishment should be assessed and corrected in order to avoid emergency situations whenever possible.

Is gastrectomy mandatory for all residual or recurrent gastric cancer following endoscopic resection? A large-scale Korean multi-center study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

To clarify optimal treatment guidelines for residual or local recurrence after endoscopic resection (ER).

METHODS

Eighty-six patients underwent gastrectomy due to incomplete ER and local recurrence after ER. The pathological findings of ER and gastrectomy specimens were analyzed.

RESULTS

The cause of gastrectomy was categorized into five groups; submucosal (sm) invasion without margin involvement, positive margin, margin not evaluable, high risk of lymph node metastasis and local recurrence after ER. According to the pathological findings of gastrectomy specimens, remnant cancer and lymph node metastases were found in 56 (65.1%) and in 5 patients (5.8%), respectively. At 10 gastrectomy specimens which were sm invasion without margin involvement, the scattered residual cancer cells were found around the ulcer scar in 2 (20%) patients. In 11 of 44 margin involvement specimens, no residual cancer or lymph node metastasis was found. In patients with local recurrence, mean duration from ER to surgery was 14.8 months, and 19% of patients were found to have sm or deeper depth of invasion.

CONCLUSION

Gastrectomy with lymph node dissection should be performed in patients with sm invasion with or without margin involvement. However, minimal approach other than gastrectomy could further be applied to selected patients.