Publications by authors named "Elizabeth Hechenbleikner"

Objective: COVID-19 greatly influenced medical education and the residency match. As new guidelines were established to promote safety, travel was restricted, visiting rotations discontinued, and residency interviews turned virtual. The purpose of this study is to assess the geographic trends in distribution of successfully matched General Surgery applicants prior to and after the implementation of pandemic guidelines, and what we can learn from them as we move forward.

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  • * The study assessed patients using the Body-Q Eating Module questionnaire over multiple time points, revealing a trend where initial positive changes in eating behaviors diminished after one year, leading to increased reports of symptoms like pain and regurgitation.
  • * While patients experienced some short-term benefits, such as healthier eating habits and improved emotional responses in the first year post-SG, many negative feelings and symptoms returned or worsened by the second year, highlighting the need for ongoing support post-surgery.
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Background: Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) venous thromboembolism (VTE) prescribing practices vary widely. Our institutional VTE prophylaxis protocol has historically been unstandardized.

Objectives: To create a standardized MBS VTE prophylaxis protocol, track protocol compliance, and identify barriers to protocol compliance and address them with Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles.

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Introduction: Assessment of surgical resident technical performance is an integral component of any surgical training program. Timely assessment delivered in a structured format is a critical step to enhance technical skills, but residents often report that the quality and quantity of timely feedback received is lacking. Moreover, the absence of written feedback with specificity can allow residents to seemingly progress in their operative milestones as a junior resident, but struggle as they progress into their postgraduate year 3 and above.

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  • - The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of suction calibration systems (SCS) and esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) to see if SCS could reduce the number of stapler load firings during the procedure.
  • - Conducted as a randomized, non-blinded trial at a single academic center, the study included 125 LSG candidates and focused on endpoints like stapler load firings, operative time, reflux symptoms, and weight change, analyzed using t-tests.
  • - Results showed no significant differences between the EGD and SCS groups in terms of stapler load firings (5.43 vs. 5.31) and
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Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of 30-day mortality after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). Multiple predictive tools exist for VTE risk assessment and extended VTE chemoprophylaxis determination.

Objective: To review existing risk-stratification tools and compare their predictive abilities.

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Introduction: The COVID-19- pandemic significantly impacted metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) practices due to large-scale surgery cancellations along with staff and supply shortages. We analyzed sleeve gastrectomy (SG) hospital-level financial metrics before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Hospital cost-accounting software (MicroStrategy, Tysons, VA) was reviewed for revenues, costs, and profits per SG at an academic hospital (2017-2022).

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Background: Enhanced recovery protocols (ERPs) after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) may help decrease length of stay (LOS) and postoperative nausea/vomiting but implementation is often fraught with challenges. The primary aim of this pilot study was to standardize a MBS ERP with a real-time data support dashboard and checklist and assess impact on global and individual element compliance. The secondary aim was to evaluate 30 day outcomes including LOS, hospital readmissions, and re-operations.

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Purpose: To evaluate the impact of an inpatient pharmacy consult on discharge medications following bariatric surgery.

Methods: A pharmacy consult for discharge medication review for bariatric surgery patients was instituted at an academic medical center. The intervention included conducting a medication history, reviewing home medications for updates post-bariatric surgery, creating and documenting a discharge medication plan, and providing patient education.

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Background: Multiple medication changes are common after bariatric surgery, but pharmacist assistance in this setting is not well described. This study evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of a pharmacy-led initiative for facilitating discharge medicine reconciliation after bariatric surgery.

Methods: A standardized post-operative pharmacy consult evaluation was conducted on bariatric surgery inpatients at a single academic center starting 1/2/2019.

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Introduction: There has been a recent increased interest in the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ketorolac for post-operative pain management to minimize opioid use and decrease hospital length of stay (LOS). Although NSAID use has been controversial following bariatric surgery due to anecdotal concerns for increased gastric bleeding, the impact of ketorolac as an adjunct to opioids needs further investigation on LOS and post-operative complications like bleeding.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the impact of post-operative ketorolac use on opioid consumption, LOS, and bleeding risk after bariatric surgery.

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Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is a minimally invasive radiation option for select patients with early stage breast cancer. This prospective, single institution, pilot study summarizes patient-reported quality of life (QoL) outcomes and clinician-reported toxicity following IORT following breast conservation therapy. Forty-nine patients were enrolled in a prospective study from 2013 until 2015 to assess QoL and toxicity following breast conservation therapy and IORT.

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Individuals with sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) frequently harbor abnormalities in the composition of the gut microbiome; however, the microbiota associated with precancerous lesions in hereditary CRC remains largely unknown. We studied colonic mucosa of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), who develop benign precursor lesions (polyps) early in life. We identified patchy bacterial biofilms composed predominately of and Genes for colibactin () and toxin (), encoding secreted oncotoxins, were highly enriched in FAP patients' colonic mucosa compared to healthy individuals.

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Background: Minority-serving hospitals have greater readmission rates after operative procedures including colectomy; however, little is known about the contribution of hospital factors to readmission risk and mortality in this setting. This study evaluated the impact of hospital factors on readmissions and inpatient mortality after colorectal resections at minority-serving hospitals in the context of patient- and procedure-related factors.

Methods: More than 168,000 patients who underwent colorectal resections in 374 California hospitals (2004-2011) were analyzed using the State Inpatient Database and American Hospital Association Hospital Survey data.

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Background: Penalties from the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program can push financially strained, vulnerable patient-serving hospitals into additional hardship. In this study, we quantified the association between vulnerable hospitals and readmissions and examined the respective contributions of patient- and hospital-related factors.

Methods: A total of 110,857 patients who underwent major cancer operations were identified from the 2004-2011 State Inpatient Database of California.

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Article Synopsis
  • Over one billion people globally are affected by intestinal parasites, which are more common in developing countries due to issues like overcrowding and sanitation, but can also appear in developed nations, particularly among immigrants and during outbreaks.
  • While many individuals might carry parasites without symptoms, others can experience a range of issues from mild discomfort to severe complications.
  • The two main types of intestinal parasites are protozoa (e.g., giardiasis, amebiasis) and helminths (e.g., ascariasis, schistosomiasis), with the article focusing on aspects like epidemiology, transmission, symptoms, diagnostics, and treatment options for these infections.
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Bacterial biofilms in the colon alter the host tissue microenvironment. A role for biofilms in colon cancer metabolism has been suggested but to date has not been evaluated. Using metabolomics, we investigated the metabolic influence that microbial biofilms have on colon tissues and the related occurrence of cancer.

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Background: Surgical site infections are a potentially preventable patient harm. Emerging evidence suggests that the implementation of evidence-based process measures for infection reduction is highly variable.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to develop an auditing tool to assess compliance with infection-related process measures and establish a system for identifying and addressing defects in measure implementation.

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Environmental factors clearly affect colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence, but the mechanisms through which these factors function are unknown. One prime candidate is an altered colonic microbiota. Here we show that the mucosal microbiota organization is a critical factor associated with a subset of CRC.

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Background: Decision support tools prioritizing transitional care can help decrease medical readmissions but little evidence exists within surgical specialties.

Materials And Methods: This study evaluated the use of early screen for discharge planning and discharge decision support system screening tools or selective multidisciplinary clinical evaluation for targeting post-acute care interventions among higher risk colorectal surgery patients based on 30-d readmission status. Patients with positive screening tool scores underwent standard discharge planning education and evaluation during index operation hospitalization and were referred for targeted post-acute interventions; patients with negative screening tool scores were further clinically evaluated for selective referral for post-acute interventions.

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Objectives: Much research has been conducted to describe medical mistakes resulting in patient harm using databases that capture these events for medical organizations. The objective of this study was to describe patients' perceptions regarding disclosure and their actions after harm.

Methods: We analyzed a patient harm survey database composed of responses from a voluntary online survey administered to patients by ProPublica, an independent nonprofit news organization, during a 1-year period (May 2012 to May 2013).

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Unlabelled: We examined the immune microenvironment of primary colorectal cancer using immunohistochemistry, laser capture microdissection/qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, and functional analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. A subset of colorectal cancer displayed high infiltration with activated CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) as well as activated Th1 cells characterized by IFNγ production and the Th1 transcription factor TBET. Parallel analysis of tumor genotypes revealed that virtually all of the tumors with this active Th1/CTL microenvironment had defects in mismatch repair, as evidenced by microsatellite instability (MSI).

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