Biomedical subjects

R A Pettigrew

Publications and source records attributed to R A Pettigrew.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Validation of subjective measures of fatigue after elective operations.

OBJECTIVE: To find out if it was possible to evaluate postoperative fatigue by questionnaire. DESIGN: Open study. SETTING: University hospital. SUBJECTS: 23 patients about to undergo elective general surgical operations. INTERVENTIONS: A questionnaire was filled in before, and 2-46 days after, operation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Six measures of fatigue were derived from the questionnaire and validated objectively with changes in body weight, exercise tolerance (n = 10), or grip strength (n = 21). RESULTS: The six measures all showed a significant increase after operation. The changes in fatigue correlated well, but there were differences in sensitivity to changes in perceived weakness compared with perceived tiredness. Each measure correlated significantly with either body weight, exercise tolerance or grip strength. CONCLUSION: Questionnaires can provide reliable results in the assessment of postoperative fatigue.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Developing a system for surgical audit.

A system for surgical audit, which has been developed during a 6 year period in an active surgical unit of a teaching hospital, is described. Following a review of the first 3 years of our computerized audit, major modifications to the audit processes and computer program were made. The key lessons for systematic practical surgical audit include the collection of essential data only, establishing audit processes within current department practices, verification of data by consultants, and the provision of incentives for all users. The current system is proving a valuable resource for quality assurance, surgical training and departmental management.

Computer Systems↗

PubMed1990

Coding for surgical audit.

A simple system of codes for operations, diagnoses and complications, developed specifically for computerized surgical audit, is described. This arose following a review of our established surgical audit in which problems in the retrieval of data from the database were identified. Evaluation of current methods of classification of surgical data highlighted the need for a dedicated coding system that was suitable for classifying surgical audit data, enabling rapid retrieval from large databases. After 2 years of use, the coding system has been found to fulfil the criteria of being sufficiently flexible and specific for computerized surgical audit, yet simple enough for medical staff to use.

Diagnosis-Related Groups↗

PubMed1988

Identification and assessment of the malnourished patient.

The assessment of protein-energy malnutrition has become important for identifying patients whose nutritional status increases their risk of an adverse outcome during hospitalization. Anthropometric, biochemical and immunological measurements, used either alone or in combination are not sensitive or specific enough for monitoring short-term nutritional changes, although some of these variables are associated with an increased incidence of postoperative complications after surgical procedures. The sensitivity of clinical assessment is dependent on the training of the clinician and the outcome variable being sought. For most clinicians, objective measurements are needed to raise their awareness to potential nutritional problems. The relationship of nutritional status to clinical events, particularly stress events during hospitalization, is critical to the interpretation of nutritional measurements and relating them to outcome variables. A classification based on the concepts of nutritional depletion and stress is presented. The prevalence of PEM has been shown to be between 20 and 30% in western hospitals, depending on the population studied and the criteria used to define PEM. In studies which have claimed an association between nutritional status and outcome, the contribution of nutritional variables to the development of postoperative complications has been overestimated and the relevance of technical factors underestimated.

Energy Metabolism↗

PubMed1987

Evaluating surgical risk: the importance of technical factors in determining outcome.

A total of 113 patients having elective resection of the alimentary tract were studied prospectively to examine the relationship of pre-operative clinical and nutritional assessment to the development of major postoperative complications. In addition, the operating surgeon made a risk assessment on a linear analogue scale before and immediately after operation. Major complications developed in 28 patients (25 per cent). Age, weight loss and relative weight did not select high risk patients, but patients with a serum albumin of 29 g/l developed significantly more complications than those with higher levels (60 versus 22 per cent, P less than 0.05). Clinical assessment also selected some high risk patients but patients selected by the surgeon's pre-operative assessment did not develop significantly more complications than those not selected (38 versus 21 per cent). However, the surgeon's postoperative assessment did select patients at significantly increased risk, especially when compared with his pre-operative assessment. Of 38 patients who were selected pre-operatively as high risk or who increased their risk ranking postoperatively, 20 (53 per cent) developed complications, as opposed to only 6 of 65 patients (9 per cent) who were low risk or decreased their risk ranking (P less than 0.001). The surgeons changed their ranking postoperatively in 44 patients and in 36 (82 per cent) the reason given was the technical ease or difficulty of the procedure. Using receiver-operating characteristic curves, immediate postoperative assessment was superior to any pre-operative method of selecting high risk patients. Of 15 patients with normal serum albumin levels whose risk ranking increased postoperatively 6 (40 per cent) developed complications while none of the 7 patients with low serum albumin (high risk) who decreased their risk ranking developed complications. It is concluded that operative performance is the main factor in the development of postoperative complications and should be assessed in future studies of outcome.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Indicators of surgical risk and clinical judgement.

A number of indicators of surgical risk were measured in 218 patients awaiting major gastrointestinal surgery. The indices chosen had been used by others to identify high risk patients and they were compared with each other and with two clinical assessments of risk, one by the operating surgeon and the other by an independent clinician who performed a complete physical examination. Anthropometric indices did not pick out patients who were significantly at high risk but the plasma proteins (albumin, pre-albumin, transferrin) identified subgroups of high risk patients, about a third of whom developed major postoperative complications. Although some nutritional indicators which use plasma proteins for the computation selected patients who were significantly more at risk, some (20-30 per cent) of the patients with low levels of plasma proteins (particularly those who were septic) did not have depleted fat or muscle protein stores. Although the surgeons were able correctly to identify only a small number of very high risk patients the results showed that a carefully performed clinical examination was able to do this as effectively as the plasma proteins. It is suggested that something more than a global assessment by the operating surgeon is required to identify high risk patients. A careful assessment of medical risk noting in particular cardiorespiratory disease and pre-existing sepsis, as well as nutritional state, is as effective as any other currently used indicator of risk.

Aged↗

PubMed1985

Catheter-related sepsis in patients on intravenous nutrition: a prospective study of quantitative catheter cultures and guidewire changes for suspected sepsis.

One hundred and ninety-five central venous catheters used for intravenous nutrition in 113 patients were studied prospectively. Catheter-related sepsis (CRS), defined by recovery of the same organism from the catheter tip and peripheral blood cultures, occurred with only 3.3 per cent of catheters or 2.3 per 1000 days of therapy. In contrast, CRS was suspected with 30 per cent of catheters and catheter contamination occurred in 37 per cent. Contamination was defined by a positive catheter tip culture without recovery of the same organism from the blood. CRS was present in 4 of 12 cases (33 per cent) with greater than 1000 colony forming units on the catheter tip but in only 2 of 54 (4 per cent) with fewer organisms. Thirty-eight cases suspected of having CRS were randomized to have catheter removal and later replacement, or replacement over a guidewire. There were no significant differences in the catheter contamination rate but there were significantly fewer problems of insertion in the guidewire group. However, transfer of Klebsiella sp., during the guidewire procedure, resulted in subsequent sepsis in one case. It is concluded that replacement of catheters over a guidewire is a safe and convenient way of establishing whether sepsis is catheter-related. Because organisms may be transferred, the procedure is not an appropriate treatment for catheter-related sepsis.

Adolescent↗