Introduction:Hip fracture remains the biggest single source of morbidity and mortality in the elderly trauma population, and any intervention focused on quality improvement and system efficiency is beneficial for both patients and clinicians. Two of the variables contributory to improving care and efficiency are time to theater and length of stay, with the overall goal being to improve care as reflected within the achievement of best practice tariff. One of the biggest barriers to optimizing these variables is preinjury anticoagulation.Method:Building on our previous work with warfarin in this population, we utilized a regional hip fracture collaborative network collecting prospective data through the National Hip Fracture Database with custom fields pertaining to all agents, including novel oral anticoagulants.Results:In all, 1965 hip fracture patients median age 83 years (1639 not anticoagulated) were admitted to the 5 centers over 12 months. Median length of stay was 20.71 days; time to theater 23.09 hours, and the populations (anticoagulated vs control) were evenly matched for injury. Anticoagulated patients were delayed to theater (P ≤ .001), were inpatients for longer (P ≤ .001) and gained less best practice tariff (P ≤ .05). All variables per agent were noted and the impact of each assessed.Conclusions:Despite the widespread use of newer anticoagulants, popular due to unmonitored reversal and administration, patients stay longer in hospital and wait longer for surgery than nonanticoagulated patients of the same age and injury. Contemporary perioperative practices impact negatively on the ability to perform timely surgery on hip fracture patients. We propose a guideline specific to the management of anticoagulation in the hip fracture population to aid the optimum preparation of patients for theater, achievement of timely surgery, and potentially reduce length of stay.
We report the first large-scale evaluation of the Hemochron Junior Signature (HJS) Microcoagulation System for community monitoring of oral anticoagulation and establishment of a programme of internal and external quality assurance. Over 1600 HJS results, with a simultaneous venous sample for central analysis, were obtained over a 19 month period. Monitoring of an initial period of HJS results (n = 135) revealed an International Normalized Ratio (INR) over estimation (mean +1.05), with only 27% of results within 0.5 of the central laboratory INR. A correction factor was introduced which reduced the INR bias to +0.07 and improved the percentage of results within 0.5 of the central laboratory INR to 76% (n = 353). A revised correction factor was later introduced to adjust for an under estimation at higher INR values. This changed the INR bias to -0.05, with 76% of results within 0.5 of the central laboratory INR (n = 1174). Local external quality assurance samples were distributed monthly with a total of 791 samples during the study period. 84% of test results were within 15% of the median value (range 73-97% per month). These results emphasize the value of a robust quality assurance programme when using point-of-care devices for community monitoring of oral anticoagulation.
We describe the successful administration of ibrutinib via nasogastic (NG) tube & percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG)tube. It was not previously known by the manufacturer if this route of administration was possible. Our patient was a 71 year old man diagnosed with a leukaemic variant mantle cell lymphoma. He was commenced on R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophospahmide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone) chemotherapy however after 3 cycles of chemotherapy there was no reduction in his lymphadenopathy or splenomegaly despite a reduction in the peripheral blood lymphocytosis. During the R-CHOP chemotherapy, the patient suffered left-sided facial shingles causing Ramsay Hunt syndrome. He was left with a residual neurological swallowing deficit requiring nasogastric feeding. Due to the lack of response to R-CHOP chemotherapy, we felt that ibrutinib could be a useful second line treatment, however we were not sure if the capsule could be opened to allow administration via his nasogastric tube. We contacted the manufacturer who said that there was no data about this method of administration and therefore it was not recommended. Our own research identified one ongoing clinical trial comparing suspension and sprinkle formulations of ibrutinib to the capsule formulation (NCT02390609). This trial was unreported however we felt encouraged that this method of administration did seem feasible. It was felt that ibrutinib represented the best chance of a useful disease response so full dose treatment was commenced via the nasogastric tube. This was later changed to a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. The patient opened the capsule and flushed the contents down the tube with water. A follow up blood count 2 weeks later showed a marked lymphocytosis (baseline lymphocyte count 0.4 x109/L, risen to 40.8 x 109/L), as would be expected with ibrutinib therapy. This reduced to near normal values over the following 3 months, accompanied by an improvement in the haemoglobin and platelet counts. Imaging at 3 months confirmed compete resolution of all pre-existing lymphadenopathy and the previous 25.6 cm splenomegaly. Our patients' dramatic response suggests that capsule formulation ibrutinib can be successfully administered by NG or PEG tubes. Disclosures Maddox: Janssen: Other: Funding to attend ASH 2016 (travel, accommodation, registration); Boehringer-Ingelheim: Other: Funding to attend ASH 2014 (travel, accommodation, registration).
We present the case of a patient with acquired von Willebrand's syndrome and a monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance who required cystectomy for relapsed transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder. We demonstrated that infused von Willebrand factor (VWF) containing factor VIII concentrates had an unacceptably short half-life, but that this was significantly prolonged following combined therapy with plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIgG). This approach was successfully utilized peri-operatively, with the total surgical blood loss less than would be expected even for a haemostatically normal patient. Trough VWF antigen and Ristocetin co-factor activity levels fell on the second postoperative day and we therefore administered further IVIgG. Levels again fell on the fifth postoperative day with the development of a Staphylococcus aureus septicaemia. At this point bleeding occurred from a surgical drain site requiring 'factor VIII inhibitor bypass activity' to secure haemostasis while further plasma exchange and IVIgG were administered. Now 5 years later, there is no evidence of recurrence of the TCC or progression of the monoclonal gammopathy.
Background: Substantial numbers of patients are now receiving either immunosuppressive therapies or chemotherapy. There are significant risks in such patients of developing opportunistic infections or re-activation of latent infections, with higher associated morbidity and mortality. The aim of this quality improvement project was to determine how effective 5 different specialties were in assessing and mitigating risks of developing opportunistic infections or re-activation of latent infections in patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapies. Methods: This was a single centre audit where records of patients attending clinics providing immunosuppressive therapies were reviewed for the following: evidence of screening for blood-borne virus [BBV] infections, varicella and measles immunity, latent/active TB or hypogammaglobulinaemia, and whether appropriate vaccines had been advised or various infection risks discussed. These assessments were audited against both national and international guidelines, or a cross-specialty consensus guideline where specific recommendations were lacking. Two subpopulations were also analysed separately: patients receiving more potent immunosuppression and black and minority ethnic [BME] patients,. Results: For the 204 patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria, BBV, varicella/measles and latent TB screening was inconsistent, as was advice for vaccinations, with few areas complying with specialty or consensus guidelines. Less than 10% of patients in one specialty were tested for HIV. In BME patients screening for HIV [60%], measles [0%] and varicella [40%] immunity and latent [30%] or active [20%] TB was low. Only 38% of patients receiving potent immunosuppression received Pneumocystis prophylaxis, with 3 of 4 specialties providing less than 15% of patients in this category with prophylaxis. Conclusions: Compliance with guidelines to mitigate risks of infection from immunosuppressive therapies was either inconsistent or poor for most specialties. New approaches to highlight such risks and assist appropriate preimmunosuppression screening are needed.
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