Article
Surgery
Nina S. Cohen, Jiselle M. Bock, Addison K. May
Summary: Surgical site infections are a significant cause of illness and death. There is strong evidence supporting several preventive measures, but their effective implementation is not optimal. It is crucial to identify high-risk patients and avoid pitfalls in diagnosing surgical site infections, especially in emergency surgery patients with physiological disorders. Maintaining a high level of suspicion after surgery is critical in identifying patients with surgical site infections and preventing failure to rescue.
Article
Orthopedics
J. Bruce, R. Knight, N. Parsons, R. Betteridge, A. Verdon, J. Brown, M. Campolier, J. Achten, M. L. Costa
Summary: In the study, wound photography was feasible and there was substantial agreement among different assessors. However, using digital photographs in isolation overestimated the rates of deep SSI compared to CDC criteria.
BONE & JOINT JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Qi-Chun Song, Dong Li, Yan Zhao, Guang-Yang Zhang, Dong-Long Shang, Li-Hong Fan, Xiao-Qian Dang
Summary: This study demonstrates that the routine use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) can significantly reduce the incidence of wound dehiscence and surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients with obesity undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
Article
Dermatology
Rhiannon C. Macefield, Jane M. Blazeby, Barnaby C. Reeves, Anni King, Jonathan Rees, Anne Pullyblank, Kerry Avery
Summary: This study developed and evaluated a method for patients to capture standardized wound images for remote wound assessment to detect surgical site infection (SSI). The results showed that the method is simple, standardized, and acceptable, and high-quality images can be used for remote assessment of SSI.
JOURNAL OF TISSUE VIABILITY
(2023)
Article
Dermatology
Yixi Tao, Yusui Zhang, Yang Liu, Songjiang Tang
Summary: This study conducted a comprehensive analysis to evaluate the benefits of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) versus traditional dressings in preventing surgical site infections in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The findings revealed that NPWT was more effective in reducing surgical site infections, deep wound infections, and hospital stays compared to conventional dressings. However, the rate of superficial wound infections was not significantly affected by the method of wound care.
INTERNATIONAL WOUND JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
E. Baxter
Summary: Caesarean section is a common procedure with risk of surgical site infections. A programme led by a midwife successfully reduced the rate of CS SSI through targeted interventions. Hospitals should consider implementing surveillance and prevention programmes for CS SSI to achieve significant benefits with minimal resources.
JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL INFECTION
(2021)
Article
Dermatology
T. Hansen, A. Gangal, E. Hijab, D. Barrett, H. Yeung, Y. Cao, J. Switchenko, T. W. Blalock
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate diabetes as a potential risk factor for surgical site infection (SSI) following Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). The results showed no significant difference in postoperative SSI between patients with diabetes and patients without diabetes, regardless of the degree of glycemic control.
JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY AND VENEREOLOGY
(2022)
Letter
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
E. Houltz
Summary: Although postoperative surgical site infections (SSI) are rare, they can result in significant consequences for patients and costs for society. The pathogens causing SSI come from various sources, including airborne contamination. Large sample sizes are required for studying the effects of interventions due to the low incidence of SSI.
JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL INFECTION
(2022)
Article
Dermatology
Chunmei Fu, Linghong Meng, Miguo Ma, Na Li, Jingcen Zhang
Summary: The meta-analysis found that both antibiotic irrigation and aqueous povidone-iodine irrigation significantly reduced the risk of surgical site infections compared to saline irrigation or no irrigation. Further research is needed to validate these findings.
INTERNATIONAL WOUND JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Ruth Royle, Brigid M. Gillespie, Wendy Chaboyer, Joshua Byrnes, Son Nghiem
Summary: This study aims to estimate the cost of surgical site infections in Australian public hospitals in 2018-19, highlighting the economic burden of hospital-associated infection. A cost-of-illness analysis was conducted based on literature data and simulation techniques. The study found that there were approximately 16,541 cases of surgical site infections in Australian public hospitals in 2018-19, with a total direct cost of A$323.5 million and an average cost per case of A$18,814.
JOURNAL OF INFECTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Surgery
Michal Grat, Marcin Morawski, Maciej Krasnodebski, Jan Borkowski, Piotr Krawczyk, Karolina Grat, Jan Stypulkowski, Bartosz Maczkowski, Wojciech Figiel, Zbigniew Lewandowski, Konrad Kobry, Waldemar Patkowski, Marek Krawczyk, Tadeusz Wroblewski, Wlodzimierz Otto, Rafal Paluszkiewicz, Krzysztof Zieniewicz
Summary: Layered closure of upper abdominal transverse incisions should be preferred due to lower risk of incisional surgical site infections and higher suture-to-wound length ratio, despite a slightly longer closure duration.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Omaid Hayat Khan, Andee Dzulkarnaen Zakaria, Mohd Nizam Hashim, Amer Hayat Khan, Abdullmoin AlQarni, Manal AlGethamy, Mohammed Mahboob, Anas Mohammed Aljoaid, Nehad Jaser Ahmed, Abdul Haseeb
Summary: Surgical site infections are common among surgical patients and result in adverse outcomes. This study highlights the importance of surveillance studies in evaluating and revising infection control policies, and identifies risk factors associated with surgical site infections.
Article
Dermatology
Bo Tian, Yanli He, Zian Han, Tianjing Liu, Xingye Zhang
Summary: A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of powdered vancomycin on surgical site wound infections in neurosurgery. The results showed that the use of powdered vancomycin significantly reduced the occurrence of surgical site wound infections after spinal and cranial surgeries.
INTERNATIONAL WOUND JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Emmanuel Piednoir, Joan Robert-Yap, Patrice Baillet, Emilie Lermite, Niki Christou
Summary: Surgical site infections pose a significant economic burden, with costs varying depending on factors such as the patient and the type of surgery. Prevention of infections is a profitable concept for surgery and should be integrated into healthcare management globally.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Meera M. Dhodapkar, Anoop R. Galivanche, Scott J. Halperin, Ali Elaydi, Daniel R. Rubio, Jonathan N. Grauer
Summary: This study investigated the rate of surgical site infection (SSI) following elective spine surgery and the success of one-stage irrigation and debridement (I&D) with closure over drains. It found that less than one percent of patients developed SSIs, and presence of bacteremia was the only factor predictive of one-stage I&D failure.
Article
Surgery
Miriam Y. Neufeld, Wayne Bauerle, Evert Eriksson, Faris K. Azar, Heather L. Evans, Meredith Johnson, Ryan A. Lawless, Lawrence Lottenberg, Sabrina E. Sanchez, Vlad V. Simianu, Christopher S. Thomas, F. Thurston Drake
Summary: The study found that there was a 29% decrease in mean biweekly appendicitis presentations after the pandemic declaration, with a more significant decrease in uncomplicated cases. However, changes in complicated cases were not significant. This suggests that individual health care-use behaviors may have played a role in the differences observed.
Article
Critical Care Medicine
Melanie Smith Condeni, Alyson T. Basting, Patrick G. Costello, Ashley DePriest, Evert A. Eriksson, Heather Evans, Kristie Hertel, Andre L. Holder, Alyssa N. Kester, Kinsey R. Kowalski, Carolyn Magee Bell, Barbara McLean, Michael Reichert, Melissa Santibanez, Patrick M. Wieruszewski, Andrea Sikora Newsome
Summary: This review summarizes selected meta-analyses and trials related to critical care pharmacotherapy published in 2019, covering areas such as cardiac arrest and delirium, including clinical practice guidelines, meta-analyses, and original research trials.
JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Shivali Suri, Deborah Yoong, Duncan Short, Darrell H. S. Tan, Mark Naccarato, Heidi M. Crane, Alexandra Musten, Rob J. Fredericksen, William B. Lober, Kevin Gough
Summary: Collecting self-reported health information from people living with HIV through Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) was feasible in a busy urban clinic, providing relevant information to healthcare providers on adherence issues. The study found that factors such as dissatisfaction with ART and lack of a family doctor or not visiting one in the last year were associated with sub-optimal adherence.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STD & AIDS
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Alison M. Uyeda, J. Randall Curtis, Ruth A. Engelberg, Lyndia C. Brumback, Yue Guo, James Sibley, William B. Lober, Trevor Cohen, Janaki Torrence, Joanna Heywood, Sudiptho R. Paul, Erin K. Kross, Robert Y. Lee
Summary: This study compares three natural language processing (NLP) modeling approaches for identifying documentation of goals-of-care discussions in electronic health records (EHR). The results show that NLP holds promise for identifying EHR-documented goals-of-care discussions, although the rarity of such content limits the performance. The study also identifies opportunities to optimize NLP modeling approaches.
JOURNAL OF PAIN AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Duncan Short, Rob J. Fredericksen, Heidi M. Crane, Emma Fitzsimmons, Shivali Suri, Jean Bacon, Alexandra Musten, Kevin Gough, Moti Ramgopal, Jeff Berry, Justin McReynolds, Abigail Kroch, Brenda Jacobs, Vince Hodge, Divya Korlipara, William Lober
Summary: The PROgress study assessed the value and feasibility of implementing web-based patient-reported outcomes assessments (PROs) within routine HIV care. The results showed that delivering PRO results to providers improved patient-provider communication and increased the identification and management of complex health and behavioral issues.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Brandon Luu, Stephanie Ruderman, Robin Nance, Joseph A. C. Delaney, Jimmy Ma, Andrew Hahn, Susan R. Heckbert, Matthew J. Budoff, Kristina Crothers, William C. Mathews, Katerina Christopolous, Peter W. Hunt, Joseph Eron, Richard Moore, Jeanne Keruly, William B. Lober, Greer A. Burkholder, Amanda Willig, Geetanjali Chander, Mary E. McCaul, Karen Cropsey, Conall O'Cleirigh, Inga Peter, Matthew Feinstein, Judith Tsui, Sara Lindstroem, Michael Saag, Mari M. Kitahata, Heidi M. Crane, Lydia N. Drumright, Bridget M. Whitney
Summary: The study found that smoking and binge drinking behavior were associated with the occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in people with HIV. Current smoking, former smoking, and total pack-years of smoking increased the risk of VTE. In addition, frequency of binge drinking was also associated with VTE.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Samantha B. Dolan, Roy Burstein, Jessica C. Shearer, Ngwegwe Bulula, Hil Lyons, Emily Carnahan, Emily Beylerian, Jenny Thompson, Nancy Puttkammer, William B. Lober, Shan Liu, Skye S. Gilbert, Laurie Werner, Tove K. Ryman
Summary: Digital health interventions have the potential to improve the management and utilization of health information, but there is a lack of evaluation in low- and middle-income countries. The use of digital health interventions can improve vaccination timeliness, but difficulties in interpreting the findings arise from data quality issues and inconsistent data entry.
BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Courtney D. Segal, William B. Lober, Debra Revere, Daniel Lorigan, Bryant T. Karras, Janet G. Baseman
Summary: This study aims to identify performance measurement constructs for digital exposure notification (DEN) tools and describes Washington State's experience in using these constructs for data-driven evaluation approaches. The study identifies three important constructs, including reach, engagement, and effectiveness, and presents eight useful performance indicators.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Andrea L. Hartzler, Lauren E. Bartlett, Mara R. Hobler, Nick Reid, Joseph B. Pryor, Siddhartha G. Kapnadak, Donna L. Berry, William B. Lober, Christopher H. Goss, Kathleen J. Ramos
Summary: This study used a human-centered design process to develop a web-based education tool called "Take On Transplant (TOT)" to prepare cystic fibrosis patients for discussions about lung transplantation. Through needs assessment, design groups, and iterative user testing, TOT was refined from wireframe prototypes to an interactive website. The feasibility and preliminary efficacy of TOT were demonstrated through field testing.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Duncan Short, Xueqi Wang, Shivali Suri, Thomas K. Hsu, Bryn Jones, Rob J. Fredericksen, Heidi M. Crane, Alexandra Musten, Jean Bacon, Yongwei Wang, Kevin A. Gough, Moti Ramgopal, Jeff Berry, William B. Lober
Summary: This study examines the association between antiretroviral therapy adherence and patient-reported outcomes assessments among people with HIV. The results suggest that dissatisfaction with the therapy is significantly associated with reduced adherence.
PATIENT PREFERENCE AND ADHERENCE
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Alison M. Uyeda, Robert Y. Lee, Lauren R. Pollack, Sudiptho R. Paul, Lois Downey, Lyndia C. Brumback, Ruth A. Engelberg, James Sibley, William B. Lober, Trevor Cohen, Janaki Torrence, Erin K. Kross, J. Randall Curtis
Summary: This retrospective cohort study used natural language processing to examine the occurrence, predictors, and timing of electronic health record-documented goals-of-care discussions for hospitalized patients with serious illness. The study found that these discussions were more common among older patients, patients with comorbidities, and patients with cancer or dementia. However, racially or ethnically minoritized patients were less likely to have documented goals-of-care discussions.
JOURNAL OF PAIN AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Lydia N. Drumright, Robin M. Nance, Stephanie A. Ruderman, Jimmy Ma, Bridget M. Whitney, Andrew Hahn, Rob J. Fredericksen, Brandon Luu, William B. Lober, Richard D. Moore, Matthew J. Budoff, Jeanne C. Keruly, Katerina Christopoulos, Sarah Puryear, Amanda Willig, Karen Cropsey, William C. Mathews, Edward Cachay, Laura Bamford, Joseph J. Eron, Sonia Napravnik, Kenneth H. Mayer, Conall O'Cleirigh, Mary E. Mccaul, Geetanjali Chander, Matthew J. Feinstein, Michael S. Saag, Mari M. Kitahata, Susan R. Heckbert, Heidi M. Crane, Joseph A. C. Delaney
Summary: People with HIV have a higher risk of myocardial infarction, with a greater proportion of type 2 MI due to oxygen demand-supply mismatch compared with type 1 resulting from atherothrombotic plaque disruption. HIV-positive individuals report a higher prevalence of cigarette and alcohol use. However, the impact of smoking and alcohol consumption on MI type among people living with HIV is not well studied.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Samantha B. Dolan, Rachel Wittenauer, Anne Njoroge, Penina Onyango, George Owiso, Jessica C. Shearer, William B. Lober, Shan Liu, Nancy Puttkammer, Peter Rabinowitz
Summary: Digital health interventions have the potential to improve healthcare services through digitized data collection. Electronic immunization registries (EIRs) are being introduced in low- and middle-income countries to better capture and store childhood vaccination information. This study aimed to improve efficiency through workflow modifications and found that the paperless workflow provided the largest time savings in delivering services, but was threatened by poor EIR performance and internet connectivity.
JMIR FORMATIVE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Samantha B. Dolan, Rachel Wittenauer, Jessica C. Shearer, Anne Njoroge, Penina Onyango, George Owiso, William B. Lober, Shan Liu, Nancy Puttkammer, Peter Rabinowitz
Summary: This study aimed to understand how healthcare workers in Kenya integrated an electronic immunization registry into their workflows and used this information to develop a refined program theory on the registry's usability. The study found that while the electronic system had high acceptability among users, there were numerous barriers to its use, causing a misalignment between the system and users' workflows and environment. The study highlights the importance of human-centered design and human-factors methods to ensure interventions are suitable for all user settings.
JMIR FORMATIVE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Health Policy & Services
R. J. Fredericksen, B. N. Harding, S. A. Ruderman, J. McReynolds, G. Barnes, W. B. Lober, E. Fitzsimmons, R. M. Nance, B. M. Whitney, J. A. C. Delaney, W. C. Mathews, J. Willig, P. K. Crane, H. M. Crane
Summary: The study assessed the acceptability and usability of tablet-based patient-reported outcome assessments among patients in HIV care, finding that most patients found the assessments highly acceptable and easy to use, with strong associations with individual characteristics and health outcomes.
AIDS CARE-PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIO-MEDICAL ASPECTS OF AIDS/HIV
(2021)