Browsing by Author "Schuster, Kevin M."

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    American Association for the Surgery of Trauma emergency general surgery guideline summaries 2018: acute appendicitis, acute cholecystitis, acute diverticulitis, acute pancreatitis, and small bowel obstruction
    (BMJ, 2019-03-27) Schuster, Kevin M.; Holena, Daniel N.; Salim, Ali; Savage, Stephanie; Crandall, Marie; Surgery, School of Medicine
    In April 2017, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) asked the AAST Patient Assessment Committee to undertake a gap analysis for published clinical practice guidelines in emergency general surgery (EGS). Committee members performed literature searches to catalogue published guidelines for common EGS diseases and also to identify gaps in the literature where guidelines could be created. For five of the most common EGS conditions, acute appendicitis, acute cholecystitis, acute diverticulitis, acute pancreatitis, and small bowel obstruction, we found multiple well-referenced guidelines published by leading professional organizations. We have summarized guideline recommendations for each of these disease states stratified by the AAST EGS anatomic severity score based on these published consensus guidelines. These summaries could be used to help inform evidence-based clinical decision-making, but are intended to be flexible and updatable in real time as further research emerges. Comprehensive guidelines were available for all of the diseases queried and identified gaps most commonly represented areas lacking a solid evidence base. These are therefore areas where further research is needed.
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    The EGS Grading Scale For Skin And Soft Tissue Infections Is Predictive Of Poor Outcomes : A Multicenter Validation Study
    (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2020-04-01) Savage, Stephanie A.; Li, Shi Wen; Utter, Garth H.; Cox, Jessica A.; Wydo, Salina M.; Cahill, Kevin; Sarani, Babak; Holzmacher, Jeremy; Duane, Therese M.; Gandhi, Rajesh R.; Zielinski, Martin D.; Ray-Zack, Mohamed; Tierney, Joshua; Chapin, Trinette; Murphy, Patrick B.; Vogt, Kelly N.; Schroeppel, Thomas J.; Callaghan, Emma; Kobayashi, Leslie; Coimbra, Raul; Schuster, Kevin M.; Gillaspie, Devin; Timsina, Lava; Louis, Alvancin; Crandall, Marie; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Over the last five years, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) has developed grading scales for Emergency General Surgery (EGS) diseases. In a prior validation study using diverticulitis, the grading scales were predictive of complications and length of stay. As EGS encompasses diverse diseases, the purpose of this study was to validate the grading scale concept against a different disease process with a higher associated mortality. We hypothesized that the grading scale would be predictive of complications, length of stay and mortality in skin and soft tissue infections (STI). Methods: This multi-institutional trial encompassed 12 centers. Data collected included demographic variables, disease characteristics and outcomes such as mortality, overall complications, hospital and ICU length of stay. The EGS scale for STI was used to grade each infection and two surgeons graded each case to evaluate inter-rater reliability. Results: 1170 patients were included in this study. Inter-rater reliability was moderate (kappa coefficient 0.472-0.642, with 64-76% agreement). Higher grades (IV and V) corresponded to significantly higher LRINEC scores when compared with lower EGS grades. Patients with grade IV and V STI had significantly increased odds of all complications, as well as ICU and overall length of stay. These associations remained significant in logistic regression controlling for age, gender, comorbidities, mental status and hospital-level volume. Grade V disease was significantly associated with mortality as well. Conclusion: This validation effort demonstrates that Grade IV and V STI are significantly predictive of complications, hospital length of stay and mortality. Though predictive ability does not improve linearly with STI grade, this is consistent with the clinical disease process, in which lower grades represent cellulitis and abscess and higher grades are invasive infections. This second validation study confirms the EGS grading scale as predictive, and easily used, in disparate disease processes.