Does surgical decompression in Ludwig's angina decrease hospital length of stay?

2010 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Phillip Rowe ◽  
Jacob Ollapallil
Author(s):  
Ekaniyere EB

Background: Even though the decompression of the cellulitis phase of Ludwig’s angina (LA) by surgical or pharmacological approach is well documented, it is unclear which approach is more effective. Objective: We aim to compare the outcome of treatment between surgical versus pharmacological decompression in patients with LA. Subjects and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was designed. Data were collected from the case notes of patients that met the inclusion criteria from 2004 to 2018 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.The data were age, gender, type of decompression approach, length of hospital stay (LOS) and airway compromise. Result: A total of 62 patients comprising 37(59.7%) surgical decompression group and 25(40.3%) pharmacological decompression group were studied. Thirty-six (58.1%) males and 26 (41.9%) females were studied. Their mean age and standard deviation were 40.6 years and 11.9 years respectively. The mean length of hospital stays between the pharmacological and surgical decompression groups were 8.05 days and 13.8 days respectively. The incidence of airway compromise in the surgical decompression group was 19.9% lower than that of the pharmacological decompression group (P=0.47), which was not significant. The type of decompression approach also failed to influence the incidence of airway compromise (P = 0.41). Conclusion: The use of surgical versus pharmacological decompression does not significantly alter the incidence of airway compromise in the management of LA. The Patients that had surgical decompression had a shorter stay in the hospital as compared to those who had pharmacological decompression. This was not statistically significant.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S98-S98
Author(s):  
Corey J Medler ◽  
Mary Whitney ◽  
Juan Galvan-Cruz ◽  
Ron Kendall ◽  
Rachel Kenney ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Unnecessary and prolonged IV vancomycin exposure increases risk of adverse drug events, notably nephrotoxicity, which may result in prolonged hospital length of stay. The purpose of this study is to identify areas of improvement in antimicrobial stewardship for vancomycin appropriateness by clinical pharmacists at the time of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). Methods Retrospective, observational cohort study at an academic medical center and a community hospital. Inclusion: patient over 18 years, received at least three days of IV vancomycin where the clinical pharmacy TDM service assessed for appropriate continuation for hospital admission between June 19, 2019 and June 30, 2019. Exclusion: vancomycin prophylaxis or administered by routes other than IV. Primary outcome was to determine the frequency and clinical components of inappropriate vancomycin continuation at the time of TDM. Inappropriate vancomycin continuation was defined as cultures positive for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant bacteria, and non-purulent skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) in the absence of vasopressors. Data was reported using descriptive statistics and measures of central tendency. Results 167 patients met inclusion criteria with 38.3% from the ICU. SSTIs were most common indication 39 (23.4%) cases, followed by pneumonia and blood with 34 (20.4%) cases each. At time of vancomycin TDM assessment, vancomycin continuation was appropriate 59.3% of the time. Mean of 4.22 ± 2.69 days of appropriate vancomycin use, 2.18 ± 2.47 days of inappropriate use, and total duration 5.42 ± 2.94. 16.4% patients developed an AKI. Majority of missed opportunities were attributed to non-purulent SSTI (28.2%) and missed MRSA nares swabs in 21% pneumonia cases (table 1). Conclusion Vancomycin is used extensively for empiric treatment of presumed infections. Appropriate de-escalation of vancomycin therapy is important to decrease the incidence of adverse effects, decreasing hospital length of stay, and reduce development of resistance. According to the mean duration of inappropriate therapy, there are opportunities for pharmacy and antibiotic stewardship involvement at the time of TDM to optimize patient care (table 1). Missed opportunities for vancomycin de-escalation Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 237437352110114
Author(s):  
Andrew Nyce ◽  
Snehal Gandhi ◽  
Brian Freeze ◽  
Joshua Bosire ◽  
Terry Ricca ◽  
...  

Prolonged waiting times are associated with worse patient experience in patients discharged from the emergency department (ED). However, it is unclear which component of the waiting times is most impactful to the patient experience and the impact on hospitalized patients. We performed a retrospective analysis of ED patients between July 2018 and March 30, 2020. In all, 3278 patients were included: 1477 patients were discharged from the ED, and 1680 were admitted. Discharged patients had a longer door-to-first provider and door-to-doctor time, but a shorter doctor-to-disposition, disposition-to-departure, and total ED time when compared to admitted patients. Some, but not all, components of waiting times were significantly higher in patients with suboptimal experience (<100th percentile). Prolonged door-to-doctor time was significantly associated with worse patient experience in discharged patients and in patients with hospital length of stay ≤4 days. Prolonged ED waiting times were significantly associated with worse patient experience in patients who were discharged from the ED and in inpatients with short length of stay. Door-to-doctor time seems to have the highest impact on the patient’s experience of these 2 groups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e001120
Author(s):  
Brendan Joseph McMullan ◽  
Michelle Mahony ◽  
Lolita Java ◽  
Mona Mostaghim ◽  
Michael Plaister ◽  
...  

Children in hospital are frequently prescribed intravenous antibiotics for longer than needed. Programmes to optimise timely intravenous-to-oral antibiotic switch may limit excessive in-hospital antibiotic use, minimise complications of intravenous therapy and allow children to go home faster. Here, we describe a quality improvement approach to implement a guideline, with team-based education, audit and feedback, for timely, safe switch from intravenous-to-oral antibiotics in hospitalised children. Eligibility for switch was based on evidence-based guidelines and supported by education and feedback. The project was conducted over 12 months in a tertiary paediatric hospital. Primary outcomes assessed were the proportion of eligible children admitted under paediatric and surgical teams switched within 24 hours, and switch timing prior to and after guideline launch. Secondary outcomes were hospital length of stay, recommencement of intravenous therapy or readmission. The percentage of children switched within 24 hours of eligibility significantly increased from 32/50 (64%) at baseline to 203/249 (82%) post-implementation (p=0.006). The median time to switch fell from 15 hours 42 min to 4 hours 20 min (p=0.0006). In addition, there was a 14-hour median reduction in hospital length of stay (p=0.008). Readmission to hospital and recommencement of intravenous therapy did not significantly change postimplementation. This education, audit and feedback approach improved timely intravenous-to-oral switch in children and also allowed for more timely discharge from hospital. The study demonstrates proof of concept for this implementation with a methodology that can be readily adapted to other paediatric inpatient settings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anping Guo ◽  
Jin Lu ◽  
Haizhu Tan ◽  
Zejian Kuang ◽  
Ying Luo ◽  
...  

AbstractTreating patients with COVID-19 is expensive, thus it is essential to identify factors on admission associated with hospital length of stay (LOS) and provide a risk assessment for clinical treatment. To address this, we conduct a retrospective study, which involved patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection in Hefei, China and being discharged between January 20 2020 and March 16 2020. Demographic information, clinical treatment, and laboratory data for the participants were extracted from medical records. A prolonged LOS was defined as equal to or greater than the median length of hospitable stay. The median LOS for the 75 patients was 17 days (IQR 13–22). We used univariable and multivariable logistic regressions to explore the risk factors associated with a prolonged hospital LOS. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. The median age of the 75 patients was 47 years. Approximately 75% of the patients had mild or general disease. The univariate logistic regression model showed that female sex and having a fever on admission were significantly associated with longer duration of hospitalization. The multivariate logistic regression model enhances these associations. Odds of a prolonged LOS were associated with male sex (aOR 0.19, 95% CI 0.05–0.63, p = 0.01), having fever on admission (aOR 8.27, 95% CI 1.47–72.16, p = 0.028) and pre-existing chronic kidney or liver disease (aOR 13.73 95% CI 1.95–145.4, p = 0.015) as well as each 1-unit increase in creatinine level (aOR 0.94, 95% CI 0.9–0.98, p = 0.007). We also found that a prolonged LOS was associated with increased creatinine levels in patients with chronic kidney or liver disease (p < 0.001). In conclusion, female sex, fever, chronic kidney or liver disease before admission and increasing creatinine levels were associated with prolonged LOS in patients with COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s339-s340
Author(s):  
Roopali Sharma ◽  
Deepali Dixit ◽  
Sherin Pathickal ◽  
Jenny Park ◽  
Bernice Lee ◽  
...  

Background: Data from Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in neutropenic patients are still scarce. Objective: To assess outcomes of CDI in patients with and without neutropenia. Methods: The study included a retrospective cohort of adult patients at 3 academic hospitals between January 2013 and December 2017. The 2 study arms were neutropenic patients (neutrophil count <500/mm3) and nonneutropenic patients with confirmed CDI episodes. The primary outcome evaluated the composite end point of all-cause in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and treatment failure at 7 days. The secondary outcome evaluated hospital length of stay. Results: Of 962 unique cases of CDI, 158 were neutropenic (59% men) and 804 were nonneutropenic (46% men). The median age was 57 years (IQR, 44–64) in the neutropenic group and 68 years (IQR, 56–79) in the nonneutropenic group. The median Charlson comorbidity score was 5 (IQR, 3–7.8) and 4 (IQR, 3–5) in the neutropenic and nonneutropenic groups, respectively. Regarding severity, 88.6% versus 48.9% were nonsevere, 8.2% versus 47% were severe, and 3.2% versus 4.1% were fulminant in the neutropenic and nonneutropenic groups, respectively. Also, 63% of patients (60.9% in nonneutropenic, 65.2% in neutropenic) were exposed to proton-pump inhibitors. A combination CDI treatment was required in 53.2% of neutropenic patients and 50.1% of nonneutropenic patients. The primary composite end point occurred in 27% of neutropenic patients versus 22% of nonneutropenic patients (P = .257), with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.30 (95% CI, 0.84–2.00). The median hospital length of stay after controlling for covariates was 21.3 days versus 14.2 days in the neutropenic and nonneutropenic groups, respectively (P < .001). Complications (defined as hypotension requiring vasopressors, ileus, or bowel perforation) were seen in 6.0% of the nonneutropenic group and 4.4% of the neutropenic group (P = .574), with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.61 (95% CI, 0.28–1.45). Conclusions: Neutropenic patients were younger and their cases were less severe; however, they had lower incidences of all-cause in-hospital mortality, ICU admissions, and treatment failure. Hospital length of stay was significantly shorter in the neutropenic group than in the nonneutropenic group.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


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