Postoperative bowel dysfunction in patients with rectal cancer - Does a minimally invasive surgical approach improve outcomes?

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of MIS approaches for rectal cancer with long-term postoperative bowel dysfunction.

Materials And Methods: This was an Institutional Review Board-approved observational cohort study including consecutive patients with rectal or rectosigmoid cancer who underwent surgical resection between 2007 and 2017. The primary exposure was surgical approach, defined as open surgery or MIS (laparoscopy or robotic surgery).

Financial Toxicity of Long-Term Survivors Who Underwent Pancreatoduodenectomy for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Background: Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) for pancreatic cancer has a profound impact on patients' lives. However, the long-term financial implications are poorly understood.

Objective: Assess the financial burden of long-term survivors who underwent PD.

Economic Value of Unpaid Family Caregiver Time Following Hospital Discharge and at End of Life.

Context: Family caregivers (FCGs) play a crucial role in care for people with serious illness, yet unpaid care is often overlooked in estimates of care recipient (CR) care costs.

Objectives: This study quantifies the economic value of unpaid caregiving by FCGs between hospital discharge and end of life.

Methods: Trial participants were rural FCGs of CRs receiving palliative care during hospitalization.

Racial, Ethnic, and Geographic Disparities in Digestive Diseases Mortality in the United States, 2000-2019.

Background And Aims: The global burden of digestive diseases mortality has been increasing over the last 3 decades. However, little is known about disparities in digestive diseases-specific mortality in the United States. This study aimed to examine racial, ethnic, and state- and county-level disparities in digestive diseases mortality rate in the United States between 2000 and 2019.

Frailty Among Bladder Augmentation Patients: Healthcare Utilization and Perioperative Outcomes.

Objective: To study the impact of frailty on healthcare utilization in patients undergoing benign pelvic reconstructive surgery; specifically, bladder augmentation.

Methods: American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) was queried for adults undergoing bladder augmentation between 2005 and 2022. The Five-Item Frailty Index (FFI) was used to assign a score from 0 to 6.

Descriptions of Scientific Evidence and Uncertainty of Unproven COVID-19 Therapies in US News: Content Analysis Study.

Background: Politicization and misinformation or disinformation of unproven COVID-19 therapies have resulted in communication challenges in presenting science to the public, especially in times of heightened public trepidation and uncertainty.

Objective: This study aims to examine how scientific evidence and uncertainty were portrayed in US news on 3 unproven COVID-19 therapeutics, prior to the development of proven therapeutics and vaccines.

Methods: We conducted a media analysis of unproven COVID-19 therapeutics in early 2020.

Safety of Triptans in Patients Who Have or Are at High Risk for Cardiovascular Disease: A Target Trial Emulation.

Objective: To evaluate the safety of triptans in migraine patients with cardiovascular disease or elevated cardiovascular risk.

Patients And Methods: We retrieved data from a multistate US-based health system (January 2000 to August 2022) on adults with migraine and confirmed cardiovascular/cerebrovascular disease, or at least two cardiovascular risk factors. We compared the effect of triptans to nontriptan treatments on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and its components at 60 days of starting treatments.

Connected and supported: a scoping review of how online communities provide social support for breast cancer survivors.

Purpose: To (i) assess how and to what extent online communities are used among breast cancer survivors (BCS) as a source of social support, (ii) describe the kind of support BCS access through online communities, and (iii) explore how these communities foster social support for BCS that promotes well-being and reduces the challenges of survivorship.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review. A professional librarian performed a comprehensive search in multiple databases from January 2010 to May 2023.

Beta Test of a Christian Faith-Based Facebook Intervention for Smoking Cessation in Rural Communities (FaithCore): Development and Usability Study.

Background: Individuals living in rural communities experience substantial geographic and infrastructure barriers to attaining health equity in accessing tobacco use cessation treatment. Social media and other digital platforms offer promising avenues to improve access and overcome engagement challenges in tobacco cessation efforts. Research has also shown a positive correlation between faith-based involvement and a lower likelihood of smoking, which can be used to engage rural communities in these interventions.

Exploring Symptom Management Experiences Among College Students With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Using a Theoretical Framework: A Qualitative Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore symptom management experiences among college students with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Limited qualitative data using a theoretical framework exist that explore the self-care behavior processes for symptom management.

Methods: A qualitative approach was used for this study.

Unsupervised machine learning to identify subphenotypes among cardiac intensive care unit patients with heart failure.

Aims: Hospitalized patients with heart failure (HF) are a heterogeneous population, with multiple phenotypes proposed. Prior studies have not examined the biological phenotypes of critically ill patients with HF admitted to the contemporary cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). We aimed to leverage unsupervised machine learning to identify previously unknown HF phenotypes in a large and diverse cohort of patients with HF admitted to the CICU.

Perioperative outcomes of robotic versus laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair: a NSQIP analysis.

Background: Studies comparing outcomes between robotic and laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repairs have yielded conflicting results. We sought to analyze early postoperative complications between these approaches using a newly available NSQIP variable indicating robot use.

Methods: We queried the 2022 ACS NSQIP database for adult patients undergoing elective minimally invasive hiatal hernia repair.

Frailty predicts adverse outcomes in older patients with pulmonary embolism.

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the impact of frailty on the outcomes of older patients with pulmonary embolism (PE).

Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample database, we identified 288 070 patients aged 65 or older who were admitted with a primary diagnosis of PE from 2017 to 2019. Frailty was assessed using the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS), and patients were categorized into low-, intermediate-, and high-frailty-risk groups.

Outpatient remdesivir treatment program for hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease-2019: Patient perceptions, process and economic impact.

Background: Remdesivir is FDA-approved for the treatment of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. Many patients improve clinically to allow for hospital dismissal before completing the 5-day course. In a prior work, patients who continued remdesivir in an outpatient setting experienced better 28-day clinical outcomes.

Bivalirudin versus heparin in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in acute coronary syndromes.

Introduction: Data on outcomes between unfractionated heparin and bivalirudin anticoagulation during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) remains inconclusive. We aimed to systematically analyze PCI outcomes comparing unfractionated heparin and bivalirudin.

Methods: We systematically searched Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Scopus, and Web of Science from database inception in 1966 through January 2024 for studies evaluating PCI outcomes comparing unfractionated heparin and bivalirudin.

Rurality and patients' hospital experience: A multisite analysis from a US healthcare system.

Background: The association between rurality of patients' residence and hospital experience is incompletely described. The objective of the study was to compare hospital experience by rurality of patients' residence.

Methods: From a US Midwest institution's 17 hospitals, we included 56,685 patients who returned a post-hospital Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey.

Belonging, Affirmation, Safety, and Efficacy (BASE): An Integrative Model for Shame Resilience, Social Support, and Humor in r/hemorrhoid.

The present study sought to understand how participants in r/hemorrhoid used three coping strategies to improve their health and wellbeing. Drawing upon Shame Resilience Theory (SRT), the typology of social support, and the classification of humor styles, a theory-driven approach to qualitative analysis resulted in the identification of the following themes: (building authentic connections with others), (asserting the value of own experiences), (feeling able to express emotions and needs), and (exchanging information and advice for recovery). The study presents a coping model (BASE) that can inform research on communication patterns in contexts beyond other health conditions.

Transitional Palliative Care for Family Caregivers: Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Context: Patients receiving inpatient palliative care often face physical and psychological uncertainties during transitions out of the hospital. Family caregivers often take on responsibilities to ensure patient safety, quality of care, and extend palliative care principles, but often without support or training, potentially compromising their health and well-being.

Objectives: This study tested an eight-week intervention using video visits between palliative care nurse interventionists and caregivers to assess changes in caregiver outcomes and patient quality of life.

Advancing Care Team Adoption of Electronic Health Record Systems for Cancer Symptom Management: Findings From a Hybrid Type II, Cluster-Randomized, Stepped-Wedge Trial.

Purpose: The enhanced, electronic health record (EHR)-facilitated cancer symptom control (E2C2) trial is a cohort cluster-randomized, stepped-wedge, hybrid type II trial that leverages EHR systems to facilitate a collaborative care model (CCM) approach with the goal of improving cancer symptom management. Understanding factors that influence care team adoption of EHR systems remains a critical understudied area of research. This study examines how oncology care teams' perceptions regarding the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of E2C2 EHR systems preimplementation were associated with adoption 3 months after implementation and characterizes differences in adoption by individual- and system-level factors.