Uptake and impact of synoptic reporting in a community care setting.

Background: Breast cancer surgeries have traditionally been documented in narrative reports. Narrative reports have been shown to be incomplete. Synoptic reports utilize standardized templates to record data and have emerged as an alternative to narrative reports.

Completeness of breast cancer operative reports in a community care setting.

Objectives: The narrative operative report represents the traditional means by which breast cancer surgery has been documented. Previous work has established that omissions occur in narrative operative reports produced in an academic setting. The goal of this study was to determine the completeness of breast cancer narrative operative reports produced in a community care setting and to explore the effect of a surgeon's case volume and years in practice on the completeness of these reports.

Selective unilateral parathyroid exploration: an effective treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism.

Background: Unilateral neck exploration (UNE) is a well-recognized approach in the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP). The objective of this study was to review the success of an approach involving UNE guided by preoperative sestamibi (SM) scanning.

Methods: All data were gathered by retrospective chart review.

Detecting and defining hypothyroidism after hemithyroidectomy.

Background: The incidence of hypothyroidism after hemithyroidectomy for benign thyroid disease remains uncertain. This study examines the incidence, natural history, and the factors contributing to hypothyroidism after hemithyroidectomy.

Methods: A retrospective review of patients undergoing hemithyroidectomy over 37 months was performed.

Hemipelvectomy: a changing perspective for a rare procedure.

Objective: To compare the prognosis of patients undergoing a hemipelvectomy (HP) in the treatment of pelvic sarcomas and carcinomas and to review the morbidity and mortality associated with HP.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: The Foothills Hospital, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.

Desmoid tumors: a novel approach for local control.

Background And Objectives: After resection, desmoid tumors are associated with a recurrence rate that is typically 25-50%. Although this is an unusual problem, we instituted a prospective cohort study with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation, followed by surgical resection, in an effort to improve local control.

Methods: Between 1985 and 1999, 13 patients with potentially resectable disease were managed with a treatment protocol of preoperative doxorubicin (30 mg continuous infusion daily for 3 days) and radiotherapy (10 x 300 cGy).