As the incidence of cancer and the number of annual oncologic surgeries continue to rise, especially among younger populations, there is increasing interest in how perioperative factors, including the choice of anesthetic agent, may influence long-term oncologic survival outcomes and postoperative cognitive recovery. While surgery remains a mainstay component of treatment for solid organ malignancies, the physiological stress and inflammatory response triggered during the perioperative period may play a meaningful role in tumor progression, recurrence, and metastasis. Given these concerns and the potential benefit of selective anesthesia, the choice of anesthetic agent has gained increased attention for its potential to impact patient care, recovery, and outcomes beyond perioperative management, including postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). In addition to providing adequate intraoperative sedation, propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and inhaled volatile agents have been studied with the intent of characterizing their oncologic impact, which has yielded mixed results, making it difficult to conclude that one agent is superior to the other. Limitations in trial design, cancer heterogeneity, and confounding perioperative factors, such as agent administration timing and adjunctive sedation, underscore the need for larger-scale, multicenter randomized trials with long-term follow-up periods to better characterize the impact of anesthetic agents. Until more definitive evidence emerges, anesthetic choice should be individualized based on individual comorbidities, cognitive risk factors, surgical context, and anesthesiologist familiarity.
Background and objective Efforts to improve gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy unit efficiency may lead to increases in colon cancer screening volumes. LEAN management principles applied to GI endoscopy unit practices may serve as a novel foundation for efficiency improvements. We conducted a pilot study in an outpatient, hospital-based GI endoscopy unit with the goal of improving endoscopy efficiency by using LEAN principles Methodology A single endoscopist and anesthesiologist along with the nursing care team implemented changes to their practice based on LEAN principles. Efficiency metrics were tracked before these changes and after to assess for improvements. Results We observed statistically significant improvements in waiting room time (13.1 minutes vs. 25.6 minutes, p<0.001), recovery room duration (55.5 minutes vs. 61.8 minutes, p=0.01), total facility time (172.5 minutes vs. 196.1 minutes, p<0.001), and true completion time (19.7 minutes vs. 32.3 minutes, p=0.002) after the implementation of LEAN interventions. Conclusions A systematic and standardized approach using LEAN methodology can improve GI endoscopy unit operational efficiency. Larger studies are needed to validate our findings and generalize the results to the field broadly.
OBJECTIVE:To develop and validate tools for measuring inpatient gastroenterology (GI) consultation quality on oncologic patients. METHODS:A total of 145 inpatient GI consults were analyzed using electronic health records in this cross-sectional study. Essential Consult Elements on oncologic-hospitalized patients (EE-COH) and Hospitalized Oncologic Patients Enhanced Quality of Consult Assessment Tool (HOPE-QCAT) were used for grading. Interrater reliability was assessed. RESULTS:Both EE-COH and HOPE-QCAT showed near-perfect interrater reliability across most measures in the validation cohort. On application of these measures for quality assessment, basic evaluation by the requesting hospitalist was partially complete in 24.8%, the request for GI consultation was inappropriate in 18.6%, while the rationale for recommended studies from the GI consultant was provided in 55.7% of cases suggesting key areas for quality improvement. CONCLUSION:We developed highly reliable quality measures for inpatient GI consults on oncology patients. The EE-COH and HOPE-QCAT tools can be utilized in future studies of inpatient GI consult quality and to form the basis for interventions to improve communication between consultants and hospitalists. Such tools could be adapted for inpatient quality assessment across other specialties and settings.
Objective: The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status (PS) Classification System defines perioperative patient scores ranging from 1 to 6 (healthy to brain dead, respectively). The scoring is performed and used by physician anesthesiologists and providers to classify surgical patients based on co -morbidities and various clinical characteristics. There is potentially a variability in scoring stemming from individual biases. The biases impact the prediction of operating times, length of stay in the hospital, anesthetic management, and billing. This study's purpose was to develop an automated system to achieve reproducible scoring. Methods: A machine learning (ML) model was trained on already assigned ASA PS scores of 12,064 patients. The ML algorithm was automatically selected by Wolfram Mathematica (Wolfram Research, Champaign, IL) and tested with retrospective records not used in training. Manual scoring was performed by the anesthesiologist as part of the standard preoperative evaluation. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) in R (version 4.2.2; R Development Core Team, Vienna, Austria) was calculated to assess the consistency of scoring. Results: An ML model was trained on the data corresponding to 12,064 patients. Logistic regression was chosen automatically, with an accuracy of 70.3 +/- 1.0% against the training dataset. The accuracy against 1,999 patients (the test dataset) was 69.6 +/- 1.0%. The ICC for the comparison between ML and the anesthesiologists' ASA PS scores was greater than 0.4 ("fair to good"). Conclusions: We have shown the feasibility of applying ML to assess the ASA PS score within an oncology patient population. Though our accuracy was not very good, we feel that, as more data are mined, a valid foundation for refinement to ML will emerge.
125 Background: Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosolized chemotherapy (PIPAC) is being evaluated as a novel minimally invasive palliative treatment of peritoneal metastases (PM). Prior studies have established the feasibility and safety of repeated PIPAC treatments in gastrointestinal and gynecologic cancers. The goal of the present phase 1 trial was to establish the safety and feasibility of PIPAC oxaliplatin in a highly chemotherapy refractory colorectal and appendiceal cancer patient population. Methods: Patients with biopsy-proven peritoneal metastases from colorectal or appendiceal cancer underwent up to three PIPAC treatments using oxaliplatin (92 mg/m2) with a six-week interval at two academic centers. Patients with bowel obstruction, extra-peritoneal metastases, or poor performance status (ECOG>2) were excluded. PIPAC was nebulized over 5 min with a 30 min aerosol dwell time. Apart from the first PIPAC cycle, the patients also received a sensitizing dose of 5FU/LV (400mg/m2) within 24 hours of the procedure. Primary end point was safety as assessed by dose limiting toxicities within 6 weeks of the first PIPAC. Secondary endpoints included safety with the addition of 5FU/LV, efficacy, surgical morbidity, technical failure rate, progression-free and overall survival, pharmacokinetics (PK), and quality of life assessment. Results: A total of 8 patients were included: 5 colorectal; and 3 appendiceal. Median number of prior chemotherapy cycles was 2 (Interquartile range – IQR; 1.5-3.5). All patients were refractory to systemic oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. Median time from diagnosis to PIPAC was 16 months (IQR; 5.6, 17.5) and Peritoneal Carcinomatosis Index was 29 (IQR; 20.5, 31.5). Five (62.5%) patients completed 3 PIPAC cycles while in 3 (37.5%) patients PIPAC was discontinued due to disease progression within the peritoneal cavity. No surgical complication or dose limiting toxicity was observed. Only one patient developed grade 3 treatment-related toxicity after first PIPAC (anemia), and another patient after second PIPAC (abdominal pain and anemia). At the completion of PIPAC treatment 5 patients had stable disease and 3 had disease progression. Pharmacokinetic, histologic response and preliminary survival data will be presented at the meeting. Conclusions: PIPAC with oxaliplatin is safe and feasible in a highly chemotherapy refractory cohort of appendiceal and colorectal carcinomatosis patients with or without sensitizing 5-FU/ LV. Clinical trial information: NCT04329494.
Small bowel Crohn's disease can present with episodic, relapsing, and remitting symptoms and delays in the diagnosis are common. We present a case of a young woman with three years of intermittent abdominal pain and nausea with negative previous evaluations. On presentation, inflammatory markers were elevated, and repeat imaging showed jejunal inflammation, with histopathological examination showing non-caseating granulomas of the small bowel consistent with Crohn's disease. This case highlights the importance of gastroenterologist recognizing the alarm signs in a patient with unexplained symptoms and adds to the literature on the clinical presentation of a rare diagnosis of isolated jejunal Crohn's disease.
BACKGROUND:Peritoneal metastases (PM) from ovarian, gastric, appendiceal, or colorectal origin can be treated via cytoreductive surgery with or without the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for selected patients. Unfortunately, not all patients are candidates for aggressive surgical debulking. For these patients, pressurized intraperitoneal aerosolized chemotherapy (PIPAC) has emerged as an alternative method for intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy administration. This report presents the design and implementation of the first phase 1 trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PIPAC in the United States.METHODS:This is an ongoing prospective phase 1 clinical trial of PIPAC for patients who have histologically confirmed ovarian, uterine, gastric, appendiceal, or colorectal cancer with PM and have progressed to at least one evidence-based chemotherapeutic regimen. The trial has two clinical arms. The patients in arm 1 have gynecologic and gastric malignancies treated with IP cisplatin and doxorubicin, and the arm 2 patients have colorectal and appendiceal malignancies treated with intravenous fluorouracil and leucovorin followed by IP oxaliplatin. All the patients are monitored for dose-limiting toxicities and adverse events.RESULTS:Practical and technical considerations for the phase 1 PIPAC trial are presented. These considerations include patient selection, operating room setup, and technical details for successful aerosolized chemotherapy delivery. The phase 1 study results will be reported separately at completion of the trial.CONCLUSIONS:The PIPAC treatment is a feasible, minimally invasive approach that permits IP delivery of chemotherapy. Once completed, the ongoing phase 1 trial will help to provide safety and initial efficacy data.
Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) can lead to complications and increased healthcare costs. We investigated whether patient preoperative concern about PONV is associated with postoperative antiemetic use, independently of Apfel score. Methods: Patients eligible for study were English- or Spanish-speaking women with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy, lumpectomy or reconstructive surgery as outpatients during July 2014-July 2017, when the pre-anesthesia clinic routinely screened for preoperative concern via tablet computer-based survey. Excluded were patients who did not rate their concern or lacked Apfel score. Risk factors for concern were evaluated in a multinomial model adjusted for multiple hypotheses. Using generalized linear regression, preoperative concern was tested for association with number of antiemetics administered in the postanesthesia care unit. Results: Of preoperative surveys, 7.1% (58/812) were excluded for missing data, leaving n = 754 surveys contributed by n = 706 subjects (age 26 - 80 years). Patient preoperative concern ranged from none (32.8%), mild (30.2%), moderate (22.9%), severe (7.8%), to very severe (6.2%). Adjusted for age, concern was increased by history of motion sickness (Odds Ratio 1.51, 95% Confidence Interval 1.11 - 2.06) and history of PONV (9.02, 6.30 - 12.90) and decreased by prior surgery without PONV (0.35, 0.23 - 0.53) and Spanish as primary language (0.42, 0.25 - 0.68). Number of postoperative antiemetics, usually 1 (41.2%) or 2 (33.4%) drugs, was unassociated with preoperative concern before or after adjustment for Apfel score. Conclusions: Among women undergoing breast cancer-related surgery, preoperative concern about PONV varies by prior history of PONV and motion sickness and by ethnicity. However, preoperative concern is not associated with postoperative antiemetic medications.
BACKGROUNDMaintenance of peri-operative normothermia remains a global quality metric for hospitals. Hypothermia is associated with surgical site infections (SSIs) in colorectal surgery. Patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intra-peritoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) can experience multiple complications post-operatively. We sought to investigate the association of peri-operative hypothermia with SSIs in patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC at our institution.PATIENTS AND METHODSPatients undergoing CRS/HIPEC from 2009-2017 were identified retrospectively from a prospectively collected institutional database. Hypothermia defined as less than 36.0°C in accordance with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality metric. Regression analyses were performed with SSIs diagnosed within 30 days post-operatively as the primary outcome.RESULTSA total of 170 patients were identified, 14 (8.2%) of whom developed an SSI. Patients who developed an SSI experienced lower median temperatures (p = 0.027) and a greater percentage of operative time in hypothermia (p = 0.008). On a multivariable analysis adjusting for known risk factors for SSI, the percentage of operative time in hypothermia (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.07, p = 0.008) was the only parameter associated with SSI within 30 days post-operatively.CONCLUSIONHypothermia is associated with the development of SSIs in patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC. Our findings suggest that minimizing peri-operative temperatures to less than 36.0°C may decrease peri-operative SSI in this patient population.
79 Background: Advance Care Planning is a central component of patient centered care and helps assure treatment aligns with a patient’s goals, values, and priorities. Various studies demonstrate advance care planning decreases stress and anxiety, increases satisfaction, improves awareness and implementation of a patient’s end of life wishes, and reduces costs in select populations. At City of Hope (COH) National Medical Center, we made concerted efforts over the last four years to improve the overall number of advance directives(ADs), and have additionally focused on improving AD capture rates in clinically relevant populations (patients undergoing surgery, those with metastatic disease, and those undergoing hematologic transplant). Methods: The Department of Supportive Care Medicine with executive team endorsement and in collaboration with medical oncology, hematology, anesthesia, surgery, nursing, marketing, and informatics created a patient-centric advance care planning program. We developed disease specific workflows, created multi-lingual AD workshops in the Sheri & Les Biller Patient and Family Resource Center, changed policy to provide complimentary patient/caregiver and staff notarizations for ADs, leveraged the electronic medical record (assured providers were able to document discussions, know when ADs were absent, and easily retrieve ADs when present), deploy AD specific screening questions, and most recently created a culturally sensitive branding campaign coined “Plan Today for Tomorrow.” Results: The rate of advance directive capture for all patients new to COH has continuously improved from 12% in 2012 to 22% in 2016. In transplant patients, AD capture rate increased to 63%. In a pilot for bladder cancer patients undergoing cystectomy, ADs were increased to 68%, and in the pre-anesthesia testing clinic, ADs were increased to 35%. Conclusions: We have made significant strides in the capture of advance directives at City of Hope with markedly higher capture rates in selectively targeted, clinically relevant populations. We anticipate improved patient centric care as a result, with the unintended consequence of cost savings and decreased resource utilization.
Reports on outcomes after double-staple technique (DST) for total and proximal gastrectomy are limited, originating mostly from Asian centers. Our objective was to examine anastomotic leak and stricture with DST for esophagoenteric anastomosis in gastric cancer patients.
The da Vinci Xi platform provides expanded movement of the arms relative to the base, theoretically allowing increased versatility in complex multi‐field or multi‐quadrant surgery. We describe the initial Xi experience in oncologic surgery at a tertiary cancer center.
Surgeries performed with traditionally available robotic systems have many well-documented anesthetic implications. In this observational report, new and unique anesthetic considerations encountered with the introduction of the da Vinci Xi robot related to positioning operating room equipment, patient access and chance for unintended patient contact are described.
In response to recent studies, we investigated an association between perioperative β-blockade and breast cancer metastases. First, a retrospective study examining perioperative β-blocker use and cancer recurrence and metastases was conducted on 1,029 patients who underwent breast cancer surgery at the City of Hope Cancer Center between 2000 and 2010. We followed the clinical study and examined proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro of primary and brain-metastatic breast cancer cells in response to β2-activation and inhibition. We also investigated in vivo the metastatic potential of propranolol-treated metastatic cells. For stage II breast cancer patients, perioperative β-blockade was associated with decreased cancer recurrence using Cox regression analysis (hazard's ratio =0.51; 95% CI: 0.23–0.97; p=0.041). Triple-negative (TN) brain-metastatic cells were found to have increased β2-adrenergic receptor mRNA and protein expression relative to TN primary cells. In response to β2-adrenergic receptor activation, TN brain-metastatic cells also exhibited increased cell proliferation and migration relative to the control. These effects were abrogated by propranolol. Propranolol decreased β2-adrenergic receptor-activated invasion. In vivo, propranolol treatment of TN brain-metastatic cells decreased establishment of brain metastases. Our results suggest that stress and corresponding β2-activation may promote the establishment of brain metastases of TN breast cancer cells. In addition, our data suggest a benefit to perioperative β-blockade during surgery-induced stress with respect to breast cancer recurrence and metastases.