Publications by authors named "Nikhil K Prasad"

Objective: To quantify the effect of 2 home-based 16-week multi-component physical therapy interventions on functional recovery compared to usual care after hip fracture.

Design: Cross-study comparison using participants from the Community Ambulation Project (CAP; a randomized controlled trial) were compared to the Baltimore Hip Studies-seventh cohort (BHS-7; an observational cohort study) at 3 different time points (CAP: 15, 31, 55 weeks; BHS-7: 8, 26, and 52 weeks).

Setting: General community PARTICIPANTS: Combined convenience sample of hip-fracture patients 8-26 weeks post admission from a prospective cohort study and randomized controlled trial.

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Objective: Determine mid-term postoperative outcomes among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-positive (+) patients compared with those who never tested positive before surgery.

Background: COVID-19 is thought to be associated with prohibitively high rates of postoperative complications. However, prior studies have only evaluated 30-day outcomes, and most did not adjust for demographic, clinical, or procedural characteristics.

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Background: There are currently no data to guide decisions about delaying surgery to achieve full vaccination.

Methods: We analyzed data from patients undergoing surgery at any of the 1,283 VA medical facilities nationwide and compared postoperative complication rates by vaccination status.

Results: Of 87,073 surgical patients, 20% were fully vaccinated, 15% partially vaccinated, and 65% unvaccinated.

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused disruptions in treatment for cancer. Less is known about its impact on new cancer diagnoses, where delays could cause worsening long-term outcomes. This study quantifies decreases in encounters related to prostate, lung, bladder and colorectal cancers, procedures that facilitate their diagnosis, and new diagnoses of those cancers in the COVID era compared to pre-COVID era.

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on postoperative mortality, pulmonary and thrombotic complications, readmissions and hospital lengths of stay among patients undergoing surgery in the United States.

Background: While vaccination prevents COVID-19, little is known about its impact on postoperative complications.

Methods: This is a nationwide observational cohort study of all 1,255 Veterans Affairs facilities nationwide.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 225,000 excess deaths in the United States. A moratorium on elective surgery was placed early in the pandemic to reduce risk to patients and staff and preserve critical care resources. This report evaluates the impact of the elective surgical moratorium on case volumes and intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilization.

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Massive pulmonary embolism (PE) is a life-threatening condition with a high mortality. Both systemic thrombolytics and veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) have been used in the management of massive PE. However, the safety of VA- ECMO in the setting of recent thrombolytic administration is not clear.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines COVID-19 positivity rates and complications in patients undergoing elective surgery during the pandemic, highlighting protocols like symptom screening and RT-PCR testing to minimize risks.
  • - Conducted at 170 Veterans Health Administration hospitals, the research tracked over 60,000 patients, revealing that 0.5% tested positive for COVID-19 post-surgery, emphasizing certain risk factors such as gender and pre-existing health conditions.
  • - Findings suggest that even with screening, there's a significant risk of COVID-19 infection post-surgery, with elevated complication rates in patients who tested positive, indicating a need for ongoing caution and monitoring.
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Lung ischemia-reperfusion injury (LIRI) and primary graft dysfunction are leading causes of morbidity and mortality among lung transplant recipients. Although extensive research endeavors have been undertaken, few preventative and therapeutic treatments have emerged for clinical use. Novel strategies are still needed to improve outcomes after lung transplantation.

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This report describes a case of penetrating aortic ulcer in zone 0 of the ascending aorta with concern for free rupture that was treated with a transcarotid endovascular stent graft. The patient was noted to be a poor candidate for open repair given comorbidities, frailty, and age. She had chronic occlusion of the right external iliac artery and stenosis of the left external iliac artery.

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Background: Reports on emergency surgery performed soon after a COVID-19 infection that are not controlled for premorbid risk-factors show increased 30-day mortality and pulmonary complications. This contributed to a virtual cessation of elective surgery during the pandemic surge. To inform evidence-based guidance on the decisions for surgery during the recovery phase of the pandemic, we compare 30-day outcomes in patients testing positive for COVID-19 before their operation, to contemporary propensity-matched COVID-19 negative patients undergoing the same procedures.

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There is a severe shortage in the availability of donor organs for lung transplantation. Novel strategies are needed to optimize usage of available organs to address the growing global needs. Ex vivo lung perfusion has emerged as a powerful tool for the assessment, rehabilitation, and optimization of donor lungs before transplantation.

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Background: The diagnosis of peripheral neurolymphomatosis (NL) is difficult and often delayed, because patients can have isolated, nonspecific nerve symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging will usually show nonspecific findings of enlarged, contrast-enhancing nerves. We aimed to elucidate the mechanism behind an imaging finding we believe is pathognomonic of NL and likely of other hematologic diseases with peripheral nerve involvement.

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Objective: Desmoid-type fibromatosis (DTF) presents a therapeutic dilemma. While lacking metastatic potential, it is a locally aggressive tumor with a strong propensity for occurrence near nerve(s) and recurrence following resection. In this study, the authors introduce the association of an occult neuromuscular choristoma (NMC) identified in patients with DTF.

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Purpose: Left-handed (LH) residents remain underrepresented among surgical trainees, and there are few available data on how best to train them. The challenge is amplified when pairing a LH resident with a right-handed (RH) mentor. This report provides recommendations on how to improve the training of LH surgeons in a safe and effective manner.

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Aside from affecting the stability of the glenohumeral joint, tears in the joint capsule can give rise to extraneural (paralabral) and, very rarely, intraneural ganglion cysts. This report presents the first two cases of axillary intraneural ganglion cysts in the literature with magnetic resonance imaging. Both cases were incidentally noted to have coexisting lesions (lymphadenopathy from an undifferentiated malignancy and suprascapular nerve entrapment, respectively).

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Background: Intraneural perineuriomas are rare, benign lesions produced by the neoplastic proliferation of perineurial cells. They typically present in adolescents and affect nerves of the limbs. In our experience, we have not encountered a single case of classic intraneural perineurioma at an intradural location.

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The assessment of neuromuscular recovery after peripheral nerve surgery has typically been a subjective physical examination. The purpose of this report was to assess the value of gait analysis in documenting recovery quantitatively. A professional football player underwent gait analysis before and after surgery for a peroneal intraneural ganglion cyst causing a left-sided foot drop.

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Lipomatosis of nerve (LN) is a rare disorder of peripheral nerves that produces proliferation of interfascicular adipose tissue. It may be associated with soft-tissue and bony overgrowth within the affected nerve territory. LN has been almost exclusively reported in appendicular peripheral nerves; the median nerve at the wrist and palm is among the most common locations.

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Background: Intraneural hemangiomas and vascular malformations are rare, with approximately 50 cases reported in the literature. They present a therapeutic challenge; surgical resection can result in damage to the nerve and lesion recurrence is common. We introduce a new framework to classify intraneural vascular anomalies in relation to the anatomic compartments of the nerve and assess amenability to surgical resection.

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Over the last decade, the mechanism of formation of intraneural ganglion cysts has been established through a meticulous review of clinical findings and correlation with patterns produced on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Pathognomonic imaging patterns distinguish these rare lesions from the more common extraneural variants in almost all cases. In this report, we present a new pattern of cyst occurrence in the subparaneurial compartment of the nerve and provide potential anatomic explanations for its pathogenesis.

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Intraneural hematoma is a rare entity with fewer than 20 cases reported in the literature. There is no consensus on surgical treatment due to its rarity. We present a novel classification for intraneural hematomas based on a review of the literature and illustrated by 4 cases that were treated in our 3 centers.

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OBJECT High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can distinguish between intraneural ganglion cysts and paralabral (extraneural) cysts at the glenohumeral joint. Suprascapular intraneural ganglion cysts share the same pathomechanism as their paralabral counterparts, emanating from a tear in the glenoid labrum. The authors present 2 cases to demonstrate that the identification and arthroscopic repair of labral tears form the cornerstone of treatment for intraneural ganglion cysts of the suprascapular nerve.

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