Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Palliative care services and life-sustaining treatments are provided to dying patients with lung cancer in the United States. However, data on the utilization trends of palliative care services and life-sustaining treatments of dying patients with lung cancer are not available. METHODS:tests were used to determine the statistical significance of temporal utilization trends of palliative care services and life-sustaining treatments and their hospital costs. Multilevel multivariate regressions were performed to identify factors associated with hospital costs. RESULTS:< .001). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The temporal trends of palliative care services indicate that their utilization has increased gradually. Palliative care services were associated with reduced hospital costs. However, life-sustaining treatments were associated with increased hospital costs.

We aim to examine temporal trends of orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors in the nation and states of Oregon and Washington where marijuana legalization was accepted earlier than any others.As aging society advances in the United States (U.S.), orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors increase in the nation.A serial cross-sectional cohort study using the healthcare cost and utilization project fast stats from 2006 through 2015 measured annual rate per 100,000 populations of orthopedic operations by age groups (45-64 vs 65 and older) as well as annual rate per 100,000 populations of opioid-related hospital stays among 65 and older in the nation, Oregon and Washington states from 2008 through 2017. Orthopedic operations (knee arthroplasty, total or partial hip replacement, spinal fusion or laminectomy) and opioid-related hospital stays were measured. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) was used to quantify temporal trends of orthopedic operations by age groups as well as opioid-related hospital stays and was tested by Rao-Scott correction of χ for categorical variables.The CAGR (4.06%) of orthopedic operations among age 65 and older increased (P < .001) unlike the unchanged rate among age 45 to 64. The CAGRs of opioid-related hospital stays among age 65 and older were upward trends among seniors in general (6.79%) and in Oregon (10.32%) and Washington (15.48%) in particular (all P < .001).Orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors increased over time in the U.S. Marijuana legalization might have played a role of gateway drug to opioid among seniors.

Clinical trials in the past decade have established the antitumor effects of immune checkpoint inhibition as a revolutionary treatment for cancer. Namely, blocking antibodies to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 and programmed death 1 or its ligand have reached routine clinical use. Manipulation of the immune system is not without side effects, and autoimmune toxicities often known as immune-related adverse events (IRAEs) are observed. Endocrine IRAEs, such as hypophysitis, thyroid dysfunction, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, can present with unique profiles that are not seen with the use of traditional chemotherapeutics. In this Review, we discuss the current hypotheses regarding the mechanism of these endocrinopathies and their clinical presentations. Further, we suggest guidelines and algorithms for patient management and future clinical trials to optimize the detection and treatment of immune checkpoint-related endocrinopathies.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if smoking status is associated with 30-day postoperative complications following radical prostatectomy. METHODS: From the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program's (NSQIP) 2005-2013 database, we identified patients who underwent prostatectomy for treatment of prostate cancer. The cohort was stratified into current smokers, former smokers, and never smokers. Bivariable and multivariable analysis was utilized to assess the association between smoking status and risk of complications. RESULTS: We identified 22,802 patients who underwent malignancy-related prostatectomy and met inclusion criteria. Based on reported smoking history, 2799 (12.3%) were current smokers, 1879 (8.2%) were former smokers, and 18,124 (79.5%) were never smokers. Current smokers had a higher rate of total complications (5.7%) in comparison with former (4.8%) and never smokers (4.6%; P = .050). Postoperative pneumonia was more frequent in current smokers (0.4%) compared with former smokers (0.2%) and never smokers (0.2%; P = .039). Unplanned intubation occurred more frequently in current smokers (0.4%) when compared with former smokers (0.3%) and never smokers (0.1%; P = .002). Multivariable analysis found that current smoking status was an independent predictor of an increased risk of unplanned intubation (odds ratio, 5.87; 95% confidence interval, 2.18-15.8; P < .001). CONCLUSION: Smoking status influences the risk of postoperative complications following prostatectomy. Specifically, current smoking status is an independent predictor of unplanned intubation within 30 days of the procedure.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the relative axonal match between potential donor and recipient nerves, so that maximal reinnervation potential may be reached with the least chance of donor site morbidity. METHODS:In 10 fresh-frozen cadaveric specimens, the main trunk and anterior, posterior, sensory and teres minor branches of the axillary nerve were identified, as were the radial nerve branches to the long, medial, and lateral heads of the triceps. The swing distances of the triceps fascicular nerve branches and the axillary nerve branches relative to the inferior border of the teres major muscle were recorded. Histomorphological analysis and axon counts were performed on sections of each branch. RESULTS:The median number of axons in the main axillary trunk was 7,887, with 4,052, 1,242, and 1,161 axons in the anterior, posterior, and teres minor branches, respectively. All specimens had a single long head triceps branch (median, 2,302 axons), a range of 1 to 3 branches to the medial head of the triceps (composite axon count, 2,198 axons), and 1 to 3 branches to the lateral head of the triceps (composite average, 1,462 axons). The medial and lateral head branches had sufficient swing distance to reach the anterior branch of the axillary nerve in all 10 specimens, with only 4 specimens having adequate long head branch swing distances. CONCLUSIONS:It is anatomically feasible to transfer multiple branches of the radial nerve supplying the medial, lateral, and sometimes, long head of the triceps to all branches of the axillary nerve in an attempt to reinnervate the deltoid and teres minor muscles. CLINICAL RELEVANCE/CONCLUSIONS:Understanding the axon counts of the different possible transfer combinations will improve operative flexibility and enable peripheral nerve surgeons to reinnervate for both abduction and external rotation with the highest donor/recipient axon count ratios.