Early surgical follow-up with primary care physicians can cut hospital readmissions

Study looks at high-risk surgeries in which patients have complications

2014-06-26

(Press-News.org) (SALT LAKE CITY)—Patients who have post-operative complications following high-risk surgery have a significantly lower risk of being readmitted to the hospital within 30 days if they go see their primary care physician soon following discharge, a new study in JAMA Surgery shows.

The study shows that better coordination of care between surgeons and primary care physicians is important to help reduce hospital readmissions within 30 days for those high-risk surgery patients who have post-operative complications or live with a chronic disease, according to Benjamin S. Brooke, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine and first author on the study.

Brooke, along with co-researchers at Dartmouth College, examined records of more than 12,000 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent open surgery to repair a thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA), a high-risk procedure, and almost 53,000 who received a ventral hernia repair (VHR), a lower-risk operation, between 2003-2010.

They found that patients who underwent TAA surgery were much more likely to experience post-operative complications and be readmitted compared to those who had VHR surgery. Nearly 37 percent of TAA surgery patients experienced complications following surgery while 8 percent of VHR patients had complications.

Early follow-up with a primary care physician had a major influence on whether TAA patients with medical and surgical complications had to go back to the hospital, according to the study. Those who saw their primary care provider within 30 days after surgery had a 20 percent readmission rate compared to a rate of 35 percent among those who did not have an early follow-up visit with their primary care physician.

The study makes a good case for better coordination of care between surgeons and primary care physicians, according to Brooke.

"Clearly, follow-up visits with a primary care provider soon after surgery will help ensure that a patient's medical complication or chronic disease conditions are being optimally managed," he says. "Clear communication between surgeons and primary care providers at the time of hospital discharge can help make sure these follow-up visits happen."

INFORMATION: To access the study, published in JAMA Surgery online on Tuesday, June 25, 2014, go to http://archsurg.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1883584.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Managing specialized microbes to clean stubborn chemicals from the environment

2014-06-26

Chlorinated chemicals perform a host of societally useful functions, but they also have a dark side. Once their use life has ended, such agents often become environmental contaminants, sometimes resistant to bioremediation. In a series of new studies, Anca Delgado, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, examines unique groups of microorganisms, capable of converting hazardous chlorinated chemicals like trichloroetheene (TCE) into ethene, a benign end product of microbial biodegradation. The research was conducted as part of her doctorate work ...

Peanuts don't panic parents as much as milk and eggs

2014-06-26

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (June 26, 2014) – It's tough being the parent of a child with food allergies. Constant vigilance is needed for everything your child eats, when a single food item containing a hidden ingredient can be fatal. Although worry is a factor for anyone caring for a child with food allergies, according to a study published in the July issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), there is increased anxiety and strain for caregivers of children allergic to milk ...

To avoid interbreeding, monkeys have undergone evolution in facial appearance

2014-06-26

Old World monkeys have undergone a remarkable evolution in facial appearance as a way of avoiding interbreeding with closely related and geographically proximate species, researchers from New York University and the University of Exeter have found. Their research provides the best evidence to date for the role of visual cues as a barrier to breeding across species. "Evolution produces adaptations that help animals thrive in a particular environment, and over time these adaptations lead to the evolution of new species," explains James Higham, an assistant professor in ...

A breakthrough for organic reactions in water

2014-06-26

Green-chemistry researchers at McGill University have discovered a way to use water as a solvent in one of the reactions most widely used to synthesize chemical products and pharmaceuticals. The findings, published June 26 in Nature Communications, mark a potential milestone in efforts to develop organic reactions in water. Chao-Jun Li and Feng Zhou of McGill's Department of Chemistry report that they have discovered a catalytic system which for the first time allows direct metal-mediated reactions between aryl halides and carbonyl compounds in water. For the past ...

Research says TB infection may be underestimated among people taking corticosteroid pills

2014-06-26

TORONTO, June 26, 2014—Tuberculosis infection among people taking corticosteroid pills may be underestimated, new research suggests. Current guidelines for what constitutes a positive TB skin test among corticosteroid pill users may not be capturing all those who are infected, said Dr. Nicholas Vozoris, a respirologist in the Tuberculosis Program at St. Michael's Hospital. Previous research has shown that people who take corticosteroid pills, such as Prednisone, and have inhaled the TB bacteria, have an eight times higher risk of the bacteria becoming active than people ...

Men and women use mental health services differently

2014-06-26

TORONTO, June 26, 2014 – Women with chronic physical illnesses are more likely to use mental health services than men with similar illnesses; they also seek out mental health services six months earlier than those same men, according to new study from St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). "Chronic physical illness can lead to depression," said Dr. Flora Matheson, a scientist in the hospital's Centre for Research on Inner City Health. "We want to better understand who will seek mental health services when diagnosed with a chronic ...

Continued use of low-dose aspirin may lower pancreatic cancer risk

2014-06-26

PHILADELPHIA — The longer a person took low-dose aspirin, the lower his or her risk for developing pancreatic cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "We found that the use of low-dose aspirin was associated with cutting the risk of pancreatic cancer in half, with some evidence that the longer low-dose aspirin was used, the lower the risk," said Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School ...

Revisions needed for current IV feeding safeguards against bloodstream infections

2014-06-26

Current guidelines to help prevent bloodstream infections during intravenous feeding may need revisions to strengthen protections for patients, a new study finds. Researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Southampton found that current guidelines do not account for other independent factors that can affect the growth of potentially deadly microorganisms. Their study was published today in the OnlineFirst version of the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (JPEN), the research journal of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.). ...

Researchers call for patients who receive home nutritional care to have emergency plans

2014-06-26

On the heels of the 2014 hurricane season, researchers are calling for home parenteral and enteral nutrition (HPEN) consumers and their homecare providers to have a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan (EPP) to ensure that special needs are met during the time of a disaster. In a paper published today in the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition's (A.S.P.E.N.) Nutrition in Clinical Practice journal, researchers with Coram Specialty Infusion Services outline the experiences of HPEN consumers and homecare providers in New Jersey affected by Hurricane ...

Researchers discover 'Trojan Horse' method of penetrating cellular walls without harm

2014-06-26

COLLEGE STATION – Scientists with Texas A&M AgriLife Research have found a "Trojan horse" way to deliver proteins into live human cells without damaging them. The finding, published in this month's Nature Methods, is expected to be easily adopted for use in medical research to find cures and treatments for a wide range of diseases, according to the team's lead scientist, Dr. Jean-Philippe Pellois, an associate professor of biochemistry at Texas A&M University. "This is something that for many years people have tried to do, because proteins are basic components of the ...

Walking further and faster is linked to a reduced risk of heart attacks, heart failure and stroke in people with high blood pressure

Adolescent girls who have weight concerns despite not being obese are more likely to also experience depression and suicidality, per Korean survey of more than 50,000 middle and high school students

Early surgical follow-up with primary care physicians can cut hospital readmissions

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: