Objective A retrospective cohort study comparing survival and perioperative outcomes of patients with early vulvar cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy versus standard lymphadenectomy Methods Patients diagnosed between January 2012 and December 2015 with vulvar squamous cell carcinoma of less than 4 cm in size, with invasion of at least 1 mm, who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy, lymphadenectomy, or both were identified from the National Cancer Database. Overall survival was evaluated following generation of Kaplan-Meier curves and compared with the log-rank test for patients who had at least 1 month of follow-up. A Cox model was constructed to control for confounders. Results A total of 1583 patients were identified; 304 patients (19.2%) underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy alone. Sentinel lymph node biopsy utilization increased 13.9% between 2012 and 2015. Patients who underwent sentinel node biopsy alone were less likely to have comorbidities compared with those undergoing lymphadenectomy only or sentinel node biopsy with lymphadenectomy (25.3% vs 32.9% vs 31.9%, p=0.042), had smaller tumors (median 1.6 vs 2.0 vs 2.0 cm, p<0.001), and were less likely to have positive lymph nodes (11% vs 19.6% vs 28.1%, p<0.001). There was no difference in 3 year overall survival between the three groups (86.3% vs 82.1% vs 77.9%, p=0.26). After controlling for age, race, insurance, comorbidities, lymph node metastases, and tumor size, sentinel lymph node biopsy alone was not associated with worse overall survival compared with lymphadenectomy (HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.32). The sentinel node only group had shorter inpatient stays compared with lymphadenectomy only (median 1 vs 2 days, p<0.001) and a lower rate of unplanned readmission (1.7% vs 5.0%, p=0.010). Conclusions The utilization of sentinel lymph node biopsy is increasing in the management of vulvar cancer and is associated with superior perioperative outcomes without impacting overall survival.

Background: The 5-factor modified frailty index (mFI-5) has been validated against the original 11-factor modified frailty index in gynecologic surgery, however its utility has not been evaluated between benign versus gynecologic oncology patient populations. Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of the mFI-5 in identifying women at increased risk for major post-operative complications, readmission, or death within 30 days of hysterectomy for benign and oncologic indications. Methods: Patients who underwent hysterectomy between 2015 and 2017 were identified from the NSQIP database and stratified into benign or malignant indications. Demographic and mFI-5 variables were extracted. The mFI-5 was calculated by dividing the sum of all affirmative variables by the total number of input variables in the database. Logistic regression modeling was performed adjusting for confounders. C-statistic with 95% CI was obtained post-regression. Results: 80,293 hysterectomies (59,078 benign and 21,215 oncologic) were identified. The benign group was more likely to have an mFI-5 score of 0 (70 % vs 50 %, p = 0.001) and had shorter operative times (p = 0.001). In the benign group, mFI-5 was a strong predictor of mortality (c = 0.819, CI 0.704-0.933). Within the oncology group, the mFI-5 was a strong predictor of mortality (c = 0.801, CI 0.750-0.851), particularly for uterine and cervical cancers. It was moderately predictive of readmission (c = 0.671, CI 0.656-0.686) and strongly predictive of Clavien-Dindo class III and IV complications (c = 0.732, CI 0.713-0.750). Conclusion: The mFI-5 is a strong predictor of 30-day mortality and serious postoperative complications. These findings have the potential to improve identification of high-risk patients in the preoperative setting.

Objective: Postpartum hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Institutions are encouraged to have a standardized approach to the management of obstetric hemorrhage. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to investigate postpartum hemorrhage associated morbidity before and after implementing an obstetric hemorrhage checklist based protocol. Study design: In 2015, a resident-driven initiative for obstetric hemorrhage was initiated at a single institution using a checklist-based protocol for postpartum hemorrhage. The project included development of the obstetric hemorrhage checklist by a multidisciplinary team and implementation using low cost education and training strategies. Following implementation, a pre-and post-protocol retrospective analysis was performed measuring maternal morbidity surrogates and protocol compliance. During the 18 month study period, 422 women were identified for review and 147 met criteria in the pre-protocol group and 150 met criteria in the post-protocol group. Results: There was a significant decrease in severe postpartum hemorrhage rates in the post-protocol group (p = 0.04) and all other surrogates for maternal morbidity decreased in the post-protocol group. Protocol compliance was 62.2% and compliance with screening using an assessment of hemorrhage risk was 75.7%. Conclusion: The implementation of a checklist-based management protocol for postpartum hemorrhage has shown a promising trend in improving maternal morbidity, screening, early diagnosis, and healthcare delivery for obstetric hemorrhage at our institution and has been approved for larger scale implementation within our health system. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the US. Many obstetrical teams rely on clinical judgment when managing PPH, however critical care research has demonstrated that specific and uniform protocols result in better outcomes. This study analyzed the effect of implementation of a checklist-based management protocol for PPH. METHODS: A checklist was developed by a multidisciplinary team for the management of PPH that focused on timely diagnosis and systematic administration of uterotonics, invasive interventions, transfusions, and lab draws. A training video was used to introduce the protocol to nursing and physician staff. Following formal implementation, pre and post-protocol analyses were performed using nine matched months from 2015 and 2016. Outcome measures were surrogates for maternal morbidity. RESULTS: 147 subjects met criteria in the pre-protocol group and 150 met criteria in the post-protocol group. Within the analysis of the first three matched months, there was a significant decrease in surgical interventions for PPH (p value 0.039) and a decreased length of stay for PPH following cesarean sections (p value 0.039). In the 9 month analysis, there was a significant decrease in severe PPH as defined by an EBL of >2L (p value 0.035). CONCLUSION: The implementation of a checklist based management protocol for PPH has shown a promising trend in improving maternal outcomes and healthcare delivery for obstetric hemorrhage. Specifically, significant improvement in severe PPH rates was demonstrated. Further multi-center research is needed to demonstrate consistent beneficial effects of such protocols.