No abstract

Patients undergoing PICC insertion with a blood group B appear to have a higher risk of VT, independent of risks attached to the PICC procedure and cancer diagnosis. Without any existing guidelines for PICC-related VT, this investigation creates a platform for further research to be conducted in order to establish guidelines. Advances in knowledge: Previous studies investigating VT risk associated with blood group status related to large heterogeneous populations. In this article, we look at patients specifically with PICC, which reduces the heterogeneity in the cohort. In addition, due to the substantial number of patients enrolled, we had a chance to perform multivariate analyses with statistical significance.

There is a higher incidence of oxycodone prescribing in the Australian ED than previously recognised. An overuse of oxycodone may be contributing to adverse patient outcomes and a public health crisis. Hospitals should consider appropriate steps to reduce the incidence of opioid prescribing and the supply of these medications into the community.

Background: The Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality (VASM) investigates all surgically related deaths in Victoria, Australia, as a surgical educational activity aimed to make surgery safer. Whilst data collected within the audit are regularly reviewed for accuracy, there has never been a review of the data provided from health services. Methods: Two-year death data provided by one Victorian health service were reviewed. Hospital notes for 4 months of each year were analysed to assess patients dying under surgical care. These data were compared to referrals to the VASM over the same period. Results: Of the 3907 patient deaths recorded, 35.1% were reviewed. During their final admission, 178 (13%) patients underwent a procedure (93 medical and 85 surgical). Only 29.2% of these were recorded in the health service data set. Eighteen patients died under the care of a surgeon without a procedure, meaning that 103 deaths should have been reported to the VASM of which only 55.3% (57/103) were reported. Conclusion: There were major errors in the health service database resulting in underreporting of deaths to the VASM which could have education and policy repercussions. For improvements to the safety and quality of health services, it is critical that all deaths are accurately recorded by health services and reported to the relevant bodies with internal verification processes.© 2020 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons ANZ J Surg 90 (2020) 725-727ANZJSurg.com

Background: In the setting of multi-system traumas, the etiology and pathophysiology of neurologic injuries can be difficult to identify.