Surgery

The opioid prescription rates have significantly decreased for children, teens, and younger adults between 2006 and 2018, according to new research.

“What’s important about this new study is that it documented that these improvements were also occurring for children and young adults specifically,” said Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, primary care physician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the study. “The reason that’s important is that changes in medical practice for adults aren’t always reflected in pediatrics.”

The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that dispensed opioid prescriptions for this population have decreased by 15% annually since 2013. However, the study also examined specific prescribing variables, such as duration of opioid prescription and high-dosage prescriptions. Researchers found reduced rates of high-dosage and long-duration prescriptions for adolescents and younger adults. However, these types of prescription practices increased in children aged 0-5 years.

“I think [the findings are] promising, suggesting that opiate prescribing practices may be improving,” study author Madeline Renny, MD, pediatric emergency medicine doctor at New York University Langone Health, said in an interview. “But we did find that there were increases in the young children for the practice variables, which we didn’t expect. I think that was kind of one of the findings that we were a bit surprised about and want to explore further.”

Previous studies have linked prescription opioid use in children and teens to an increased risk of future opioid misuse. A 2015 study published in Pediatrics found that using prescribed opioids before the 12th grade is associated with a 33% increase in the risk of future opioid misuse by the age of 23. The study also found that for those with a low predicted risk of future opioid misuse, an opioid prescription increases the risk for misuse after high school threefold.

Furthermore, a 2018 study published in JAMA Network Open found that, between 1999 and 2016, the annual estimated mortality rate for all children and adolescents from prescription and illicit opioid use rose 268.2%.

In the new study, Dr. Renny and colleagues examined data from 2006 to 2018 from IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Data, which captured 74%-92% of U.S. retail outpatient opioid prescriptions dispensed to people up to the age of 24. Researchers also examined prescribing practice variables, which included opioid dispensing rates, average amount of opioid dispensed per prescription, duration of opioid prescription, high-dosage opioid prescription for individuals, and the rate in which extended-release or long-acting opioids are prescribed.

Researchers found that between 2006 and 2018, the total U.S. annual opioid prescriptions dispensed to patients younger than 25 years was highest in 2007 at 15,689,779 prescriptions, and since 2012 has steadily decreased to 6,705,478 in 2018.

“Our study did show that there were declines, but opioids remain readily dispensed,” Dr. Renny said. “And I think it’s good that rates have gone down, but I think opioids are still commonly dispensed to children and adolescents and young adults and all of our age groups.”

Dr. Chua said that the study was important, but when it came to younger children, it didn’t account for the fact that “the underlying population of patients who were getting opioids changed because it’s not the same group of children.”

“Maybe at the beginning there were more surgical patients who are getting shorter duration, lower dosage opioids,” he added. “Now some of those surgical exceptions kind of went away and who’s left in the population of people who get opioids is a sicker population.”

“Who are the 0 to 5-year-olds who are getting opioids now?” Dr. Chua asked. “Well, some of them are going to be cancer or surgical patients. If you think about it, over time their surgeons may be more judicious and they stop prescribing opioids for some things like circumcision or something like that. So that means that who’s left in the population of children who get opiate prescriptions are the cancer patients. Cancer patients’ opioid dosages are going to be higher because they have chronic pain.”

Dr. Chua said it is important to remember that the number of children who are affected by those high-risk prescriptions are lower because the overall number of opioid prescriptions has gone down. He added that the key piece of missing information is the absolute number of prescriptions that were high risk.

Researchers of the current study suggested that, because of the differences between pediatric and adult pain and indications for opioid prescribing, there should be national guidelines on general opioid prescribing for children and adolescents.

Experts did not disclose relevant financial relationships.

The opioid prescription rates have significantly decreased for children, teens, and younger adults between 2006 and 2018, according to new research.

“What’s important about this new study is that it documented that these improvements were also occurring for children and young adults specifically,” said Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, primary care physician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the study. “The reason that’s important is that changes in medical practice for adults aren’t always reflected in pediatrics.”

The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that dispensed opioid prescriptions for this population have decreased by 15% annually since 2013. However, the study also examined specific prescribing variables, such as duration of opioid prescription and high-dosage prescriptions. Researchers found reduced rates of high-dosage and long-duration prescriptions for adolescents and younger adults. However, these types of prescription practices increased in children aged 0-5 years.

“I think [the findings are] promising, suggesting that opiate prescribing practices may be improving,” study author Madeline Renny, MD, pediatric emergency medicine doctor at New York University Langone Health, said in an interview. “But we did find that there were increases in the young children for the practice variables, which we didn’t expect. I think that was kind of one of the findings that we were a bit surprised about and want to explore further.”

Previous studies have linked prescription opioid use in children and teens to an increased risk of future opioid misuse. A 2015 study published in Pediatrics found that using prescribed opioids before the 12th grade is associated with a 33% increase in the risk of future opioid misuse by the age of 23. The study also found that for those with a low predicted risk of future opioid misuse, an opioid prescription increases the risk for misuse after high school threefold.

Furthermore, a 2018 study published in JAMA Network Open found that, between 1999 and 2016, the annual estimated mortality rate for all children and adolescents from prescription and illicit opioid use rose 268.2%.

In the new study, Dr. Renny and colleagues examined data from 2006 to 2018 from IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Data, which captured 74%-92% of U.S. retail outpatient opioid prescriptions dispensed to people up to the age of 24. Researchers also examined prescribing practice variables, which included opioid dispensing rates, average amount of opioid dispensed per prescription, duration of opioid prescription, high-dosage opioid prescription for individuals, and the rate in which extended-release or long-acting opioids are prescribed.

Researchers found that between 2006 and 2018, the total U.S. annual opioid prescriptions dispensed to patients younger than 25 years was highest in 2007 at 15,689,779 prescriptions, and since 2012 has steadily decreased to 6,705,478 in 2018.

“Our study did show that there were declines, but opioids remain readily dispensed,” Dr. Renny said. “And I think it’s good that rates have gone down, but I think opioids are still commonly dispensed to children and adolescents and young adults and all of our age groups.”

Dr. Chua said that the study was important, but when it came to younger children, it didn’t account for the fact that “the underlying population of patients who were getting opioids changed because it’s not the same group of children.”

“Maybe at the beginning there were more surgical patients who are getting shorter duration, lower dosage opioids,” he added. “Now some of those surgical exceptions kind of went away and who’s left in the population of people who get opioids is a sicker population.”

“Who are the 0 to 5-year-olds who are getting opioids now?” Dr. Chua asked. “Well, some of them are going to be cancer or surgical patients. If you think about it, over time their surgeons may be more judicious and they stop prescribing opioids for some things like circumcision or something like that. So that means that who’s left in the population of children who get opiate prescriptions are the cancer patients. Cancer patients’ opioid dosages are going to be higher because they have chronic pain.”

Dr. Chua said it is important to remember that the number of children who are affected by those high-risk prescriptions are lower because the overall number of opioid prescriptions has gone down. He added that the key piece of missing information is the absolute number of prescriptions that were high risk.

Researchers of the current study suggested that, because of the differences between pediatric and adult pain and indications for opioid prescribing, there should be national guidelines on general opioid prescribing for children and adolescents.

Experts did not disclose relevant financial relationships.

The opioid prescription rates have significantly decreased for children, teens, and younger adults between 2006 and 2018, according to new research.

“What’s important about this new study is that it documented that these improvements were also occurring for children and young adults specifically,” said Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, primary care physician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the study. “The reason that’s important is that changes in medical practice for adults aren’t always reflected in pediatrics.”

The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that dispensed opioid prescriptions for this population have decreased by 15% annually since 2013. However, the study also examined specific prescribing variables, such as duration of opioid prescription and high-dosage prescriptions. Researchers found reduced rates of high-dosage and long-duration prescriptions for adolescents and younger adults. However, these types of prescription practices increased in children aged 0-5 years.

“I think [the findings are] promising, suggesting that opiate prescribing practices may be improving,” study author Madeline Renny, MD, pediatric emergency medicine doctor at New York University Langone Health, said in an interview. “But we did find that there were increases in the young children for the practice variables, which we didn’t expect. I think that was kind of one of the findings that we were a bit surprised about and want to explore further.”

Previous studies have linked prescription opioid use in children and teens to an increased risk of future opioid misuse. A 2015 study published in Pediatrics found that using prescribed opioids before the 12th grade is associated with a 33% increase in the risk of future opioid misuse by the age of 23. The study also found that for those with a low predicted risk of future opioid misuse, an opioid prescription increases the risk for misuse after high school threefold.

Furthermore, a 2018 study published in JAMA Network Open found that, between 1999 and 2016, the annual estimated mortality rate for all children and adolescents from prescription and illicit opioid use rose 268.2%.

In the new study, Dr. Renny and colleagues examined data from 2006 to 2018 from IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Data, which captured 74%-92% of U.S. retail outpatient opioid prescriptions dispensed to people up to the age of 24. Researchers also examined prescribing practice variables, which included opioid dispensing rates, average amount of opioid dispensed per prescription, duration of opioid prescription, high-dosage opioid prescription for individuals, and the rate in which extended-release or long-acting opioids are prescribed.

Researchers found that between 2006 and 2018, the total U.S. annual opioid prescriptions dispensed to patients younger than 25 years was highest in 2007 at 15,689,779 prescriptions, and since 2012 has steadily decreased to 6,705,478 in 2018.

“Our study did show that there were declines, but opioids remain readily dispensed,” Dr. Renny said. “And I think it’s good that rates have gone down, but I think opioids are still commonly dispensed to children and adolescents and young adults and all of our age groups.”

Dr. Chua said that the study was important, but when it came to younger children, it didn’t account for the fact that “the underlying population of patients who were getting opioids changed because it’s not the same group of children.”

“Maybe at the beginning there were more surgical patients who are getting shorter duration, lower dosage opioids,” he added. “Now some of those surgical exceptions kind of went away and who’s left in the population of people who get opioids is a sicker population.”

“Who are the 0 to 5-year-olds who are getting opioids now?” Dr. Chua asked. “Well, some of them are going to be cancer or surgical patients. If you think about it, over time their surgeons may be more judicious and they stop prescribing opioids for some things like circumcision or something like that. So that means that who’s left in the population of children who get opiate prescriptions are the cancer patients. Cancer patients’ opioid dosages are going to be higher because they have chronic pain.”

Dr. Chua said it is important to remember that the number of children who are affected by those high-risk prescriptions are lower because the overall number of opioid prescriptions has gone down. He added that the key piece of missing information is the absolute number of prescriptions that were high risk.

Researchers of the current study suggested that, because of the differences between pediatric and adult pain and indications for opioid prescribing, there should be national guidelines on general opioid prescribing for children and adolescents.

Experts did not disclose relevant financial relationships.

TUESDAY, 6/29/21. DAY 3 AT SGS

The third day of the annual SGS meeting started with several academic roundtables hosted by experts in the field. These authorities shared their knowledge on a range of topics including endometriosis, building an academic career, diversity and equity in the workplace, and scientific publishing. The general session got underway with additional oral and video presentations highlighting advancements in our field. This year’s SGS President Dr. Miles Murphy gave the annual presidential address. He spoke genuinely and humbly about our field. Whitney Ross, MD, (@WRossMD), referred to his speech on Twitter as “Best. Presidential. Address. Ever.” –a sentiment felt by many in the crowd!

This year’s Telinde Lecture was given by Janet Dombrowski, the first ever non-physician to present this lecture. She spoke on resiliency in a lecture titled, “Cultivating Resilience: The Power in Connection & Collaboration.” It was an insightful and wise presentation on the power of connection and how connection bolsters our resiliency. She challenged us to all break down “thinking habits” that isolate us into silos and get in the way of powerful connection and collaboration. She reminded us of the African greeting “Sawubona” (I see you) and “Sikhona” (Because you see me, I am here). A gentle reminder that we feel our existence most tangibly when we are seen by others—an idea consistent with other important themes of this conference, focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion of all.  The morning session was rounded out with a panel discussion on “Novel GYN Office Procedure,” featuring Drs. Cecile Ferrando (@CFerrandoMD), Abbas Shobeiri (@ShobeiriAbbas), Andrea Pezzela, and Eric Sokol.

The afternoon was filled with leisure activities in beautiful Palm Springs, including the SGS Golf Tournament, mountain biking, aerial tramway tour, and hike. The weather even cooperated with slightly cooler temperatures (think 100℉ instead of 120℉)! The evening was filled with food, drinks, and the excitement around the annual “SGS’ Got Talent” show! Everyone was able to let down, show off their dance moves, and enjoy some of that much needed connection time!

Tomorrow is the last day of #SGS2021! Excited to round out the conference with continued learning.

MONDAY, 6/28/21. DAY 2 AT SGS 

 The sun is up and working hard here in Palm Springs, and so are we!  
 
Welcome and introduction of new members 
 
The general session started with a warm welcome to the 12 new SGS members. A special shout out to Dr. Kelly Wright who is a new SGS Member and won the #SGS2021 tweetup! She ranked as a top influencer, prolific tweeter, and made more than 250K impressions leading up to SGS! Way to represent @MigsRunner.  
 
General scientific sessions 
 
There were several excellent oral and video presentations throughout the morning session. A range of topics were discussed, including postoperative pain management, strategies for cost-effective surgery, and how racial and ethnic disparities play into our medical education and patient outcomes. Dr. Eva Welch gave a stellar video presentation on straight-stick sacrocolpopexy techniques for the savvy surgeon. I personally will be incorporating some of her needle management tricks!  
 
After a brief break with some refreshments and a stroll around the exhibit hall, the second scientific session initiated with a transformative lecture. Dr. Mark Walters presented "Insights on Surgical Education: How Can I Help You Get Better" in the inaugural Mark D. Walters Lectureship. Dr. Walters shared his experience and insights on how to transform oneself from a good surgeon to an expert and from a teacher to a coach in the operating room. His dedication to our field, years of experience, and wisdom earned him a standing ovation! Additional oral and video presentations followed. Dr. J. Wong shared correlations between surgeon gender and ergonomic strain with laparoscopic devices. Female surgeons more often reported inappropriate fit and expressed physical discomfort compared with male surgeons. Injuries and ergonomic strain lead to less operating and even disability for some surgeons. It is past time for us to have better--we need instruments that fit our hands!  
 
The afternoon session started with a panel on "Perspectives on Race in GYN Surgery." It was another insightful discussion with thought- and action-provoking knowledge. The afternoon session included the SGS Prize Video by Dr. Angela DiCarlo-Meacham on excision of a vulvar cyst.  
 
Fellows' Pelvic Research Network 
 
After adjourning of the scientific sessions, the fellow-ran, multicenter research network (FPRN) met to give updates. This diverse group of both AUGS-SGS and FMIGS-SGS offers mentorship and relationships that are important for future careers and research. The collaboration allows the study of rare outcomes that may not be feasible at single sites. Dr. Amanda Yunker, fellowship director at Vanderbilt University, gave an amazing history lesson on the fields of OB and GYN, and the evolution of gynecologic surgery. We then had fun assigning a "report card grade" on how MIGS is doing comparatively with other subspecialties in the realms of academics and research.  
 
VideoFest 
 
The late afternoon was concluded with a surgical video session. What an amazing and talented group we are here at SGS!  
 
President's awards ceremony and reception 
The scientific focused day was rounded out with an evening of honors, awards, and social time as we celebrated all the achievements of our peers and colleagues. The president's reception was filled with food, laughter, networking, and reconnecting with friends and colleagues. We are looking forward to another day of education tomorrow! 
 
Follow @JennaRehmerMD, @GynSurgery, and #SGS2021 on Twitter for updates. 

SUNDAY, 6/27/21. DAY 1 AT SGS

Hello live from sunny Palm Spring, CA, and the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons (SGS)! This year’s conference balances the long-awaited return to in-person events while simultaneously embracing virtual learning with their hybrid meeting format. You can follow me, @JennaRehmerMD, and #SGS2021 in real-time on Twitter. 

Dismantling racism

We were incredibly fortunate to take a deep dive into dismantling racism in our personal and professional spheres. The postgraduate course was well researched and presented by Drs. Oluwateniola “Teni” Brown, Cassandra Carberry, Olivia Cardenas-Trowers (@otrowers_md), Annetta Madsen, Moiuri Siddique, and Blair Washington (@Dr_B_Washington). Each presentation provided a succinct and cohesive flow, taking us through what racism is, the historical and active structural racism in medicine, and the actions and steps of becoming anti-racist. 

Dr. Brown discussed critical race theory. We learned that the engineered system of oppression is so advanced that it is often hidden in plain sight, and that one’s conscious awareness is not necessary in order to uphold the system of oppression. It is reinforced and supported with minimal effort. This is why not being racist is not enough; active anti-racism is needed to bring about change. 

Fibroid management

Across the hall, Drs. Linda Bradley (@BradlelMD), Kimberly Kho (@KimberlyKho1), Cara King (@drcaraking), and Kelly Wright (@MigsRunner) broadened our armamentarium for uterine conservation in fibroid management. Dr. Bradley reviewed medical therapies, including novel treatments, as first-line or adjunct treatment options. Next, the course focused on surgical techniques for hysteroscopic myomectomies, optimization of minilaparotomy for myomectomy, and tissue extraction. Dr. King displayed true grit when giving her lecture from the airport after flight delays prevented her from being in person with us. 

Multidisciplinary care within gyn surgery

In this virtual only postgraduate course, Drs. Risal Djohan (@DjohanMD), Cecile Ferrando (@CFerrandoMD), Marie Fidela Paraiso, Sandip Vasavada (@SandipVasavada), and Sarah Vogler showed us the importance of multidisciplinary care within gynecologic surgery practices. They explored how to streamline the approach so it complements your practice, how to co-bill for shared patient care, and tips and tricks for optimizing the surgical experience for the patient. 

Industry presentations

Over lunch, Dr. Opoku-Akane presented on using ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) protocols for endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain and how to optimize the use of alternative surgical modalities for endometriosis. Following this, Drs. Albert Huany and Craig McCoy taught about a new technology using electrical stimulation to optimize visualization of the ureter. 

Harnessing the power of social media

This workshop, organized by SGS Social Media Committee Chair Dr. Amy Park (@dramypark) showed us the importance of having an online identity for the sharing of ideas, networking, professional development, and education. We learned how to optimize our online bios, proper use of GYN ontology for hashtags, and how to maintain professionalism on social media. We reviewed the data on how sharing publications on social media improves altmetric scores and discussed how our social media influence may be tied to performance in the future. 

Lessons in leadership

We rounded out the day with after-dinner dessert and drinks at the evening SGS Women’s Council presentation. We had the great honor of hearing from Lori Ryerker, CEO of Celanese Corporation, a Fortune 500 global company. She provided much wisdom on being a leader. She shared several keys to creating a successful work environment:

• being a leader that “provides an environment where people feel like they can bring their best selves every day” (and that being your best self is being your whole self, without reservations)
• allowing all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and ages to show up together without reservations (because only then can people feel safe to be their best, because their best self is their true self). 

It was a wonderful and successful kick-off to the meeting. I look forward to a full day tomorrow! Follow along as this year’s Fellow Scholars, Drs. Tara Brah (@TaraBrah), Amr El Haraki (@drharaki), Sheena Galhotra (@SheenaGalhotra), Meenal Misal (@meenalmisalMD), and yours truly, post live updates daily.

TUESDAY, 6/29/21. DAY 3 AT SGS

The third day of the annual SGS meeting started with several academic roundtables hosted by experts in the field. These authorities shared their knowledge on a range of topics including endometriosis, building an academic career, diversity and equity in the workplace, and scientific publishing. The general session got underway with additional oral and video presentations highlighting advancements in our field. This year’s SGS President Dr. Miles Murphy gave the annual presidential address. He spoke genuinely and humbly about our field. Whitney Ross, MD, (@WRossMD), referred to his speech on Twitter as “Best. Presidential. Address. Ever.” –a sentiment felt by many in the crowd!

This year’s Telinde Lecture was given by Janet Dombrowski, the first ever non-physician to present this lecture. She spoke on resiliency in a lecture titled, “Cultivating Resilience: The Power in Connection & Collaboration.” It was an insightful and wise presentation on the power of connection and how connection bolsters our resiliency. She challenged us to all break down “thinking habits” that isolate us into silos and get in the way of powerful connection and collaboration. She reminded us of the African greeting “Sawubona” (I see you) and “Sikhona” (Because you see me, I am here). A gentle reminder that we feel our existence most tangibly when we are seen by others—an idea consistent with other important themes of this conference, focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion of all.  The morning session was rounded out with a panel discussion on “Novel GYN Office Procedure,” featuring Drs. Cecile Ferrando (@CFerrandoMD), Abbas Shobeiri (@ShobeiriAbbas), Andrea Pezzela, and Eric Sokol.

The afternoon was filled with leisure activities in beautiful Palm Springs, including the SGS Golf Tournament, mountain biking, aerial tramway tour, and hike. The weather even cooperated with slightly cooler temperatures (think 100℉ instead of 120℉)! The evening was filled with food, drinks, and the excitement around the annual “SGS’ Got Talent” show! Everyone was able to let down, show off their dance moves, and enjoy some of that much needed connection time!

Tomorrow is the last day of #SGS2021! Excited to round out the conference with continued learning.

MONDAY, 6/28/21. DAY 2 AT SGS 

 The sun is up and working hard here in Palm Springs, and so are we!  
 
Welcome and introduction of new members 
 
The general session started with a warm welcome to the 12 new SGS members. A special shout out to Dr. Kelly Wright who is a new SGS Member and won the #SGS2021 tweetup! She ranked as a top influencer, prolific tweeter, and made more than 250K impressions leading up to SGS! Way to represent @MigsRunner.  
 
General scientific sessions 
 
There were several excellent oral and video presentations throughout the morning session. A range of topics were discussed, including postoperative pain management, strategies for cost-effective surgery, and how racial and ethnic disparities play into our medical education and patient outcomes. Dr. Eva Welch gave a stellar video presentation on straight-stick sacrocolpopexy techniques for the savvy surgeon. I personally will be incorporating some of her needle management tricks!  
 
After a brief break with some refreshments and a stroll around the exhibit hall, the second scientific session initiated with a transformative lecture. Dr. Mark Walters presented "Insights on Surgical Education: How Can I Help You Get Better" in the inaugural Mark D. Walters Lectureship. Dr. Walters shared his experience and insights on how to transform oneself from a good surgeon to an expert and from a teacher to a coach in the operating room. His dedication to our field, years of experience, and wisdom earned him a standing ovation! Additional oral and video presentations followed. Dr. J. Wong shared correlations between surgeon gender and ergonomic strain with laparoscopic devices. Female surgeons more often reported inappropriate fit and expressed physical discomfort compared with male surgeons. Injuries and ergonomic strain lead to less operating and even disability for some surgeons. It is past time for us to have better--we need instruments that fit our hands!  
 
The afternoon session started with a panel on "Perspectives on Race in GYN Surgery." It was another insightful discussion with thought- and action-provoking knowledge. The afternoon session included the SGS Prize Video by Dr. Angela DiCarlo-Meacham on excision of a vulvar cyst.  
 
Fellows' Pelvic Research Network 
 
After adjourning of the scientific sessions, the fellow-ran, multicenter research network (FPRN) met to give updates. This diverse group of both AUGS-SGS and FMIGS-SGS offers mentorship and relationships that are important for future careers and research. The collaboration allows the study of rare outcomes that may not be feasible at single sites. Dr. Amanda Yunker, fellowship director at Vanderbilt University, gave an amazing history lesson on the fields of OB and GYN, and the evolution of gynecologic surgery. We then had fun assigning a "report card grade" on how MIGS is doing comparatively with other subspecialties in the realms of academics and research.  
 
VideoFest 
 
The late afternoon was concluded with a surgical video session. What an amazing and talented group we are here at SGS!  
 
President's awards ceremony and reception 
The scientific focused day was rounded out with an evening of honors, awards, and social time as we celebrated all the achievements of our peers and colleagues. The president's reception was filled with food, laughter, networking, and reconnecting with friends and colleagues. We are looking forward to another day of education tomorrow! 
 
Follow @JennaRehmerMD, @GynSurgery, and #SGS2021 on Twitter for updates. 

SUNDAY, 6/27/21. DAY 1 AT SGS

Hello live from sunny Palm Spring, CA, and the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons (SGS)! This year’s conference balances the long-awaited return to in-person events while simultaneously embracing virtual learning with their hybrid meeting format. You can follow me, @JennaRehmerMD, and #SGS2021 in real-time on Twitter. 

Dismantling racism

We were incredibly fortunate to take a deep dive into dismantling racism in our personal and professional spheres. The postgraduate course was well researched and presented by Drs. Oluwateniola “Teni” Brown, Cassandra Carberry, Olivia Cardenas-Trowers (@otrowers_md), Annetta Madsen, Moiuri Siddique, and Blair Washington (@Dr_B_Washington). Each presentation provided a succinct and cohesive flow, taking us through what racism is, the historical and active structural racism in medicine, and the actions and steps of becoming anti-racist. 

Dr. Brown discussed critical race theory. We learned that the engineered system of oppression is so advanced that it is often hidden in plain sight, and that one’s conscious awareness is not necessary in order to uphold the system of oppression. It is reinforced and supported with minimal effort. This is why not being racist is not enough; active anti-racism is needed to bring about change. 

Fibroid management

Across the hall, Drs. Linda Bradley (@BradlelMD), Kimberly Kho (@KimberlyKho1), Cara King (@drcaraking), and Kelly Wright (@MigsRunner) broadened our armamentarium for uterine conservation in fibroid management. Dr. Bradley reviewed medical therapies, including novel treatments, as first-line or adjunct treatment options. Next, the course focused on surgical techniques for hysteroscopic myomectomies, optimization of minilaparotomy for myomectomy, and tissue extraction. Dr. King displayed true grit when giving her lecture from the airport after flight delays prevented her from being in person with us. 

Multidisciplinary care within gyn surgery

In this virtual only postgraduate course, Drs. Risal Djohan (@DjohanMD), Cecile Ferrando (@CFerrandoMD), Marie Fidela Paraiso, Sandip Vasavada (@SandipVasavada), and Sarah Vogler showed us the importance of multidisciplinary care within gynecologic surgery practices. They explored how to streamline the approach so it complements your practice, how to co-bill for shared patient care, and tips and tricks for optimizing the surgical experience for the patient. 

Industry presentations

Over lunch, Dr. Opoku-Akane presented on using ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) protocols for endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain and how to optimize the use of alternative surgical modalities for endometriosis. Following this, Drs. Albert Huany and Craig McCoy taught about a new technology using electrical stimulation to optimize visualization of the ureter. 

Harnessing the power of social media

This workshop, organized by SGS Social Media Committee Chair Dr. Amy Park (@dramypark) showed us the importance of having an online identity for the sharing of ideas, networking, professional development, and education. We learned how to optimize our online bios, proper use of GYN ontology for hashtags, and how to maintain professionalism on social media. We reviewed the data on how sharing publications on social media improves altmetric scores and discussed how our social media influence may be tied to performance in the future. 

Lessons in leadership

We rounded out the day with after-dinner dessert and drinks at the evening SGS Women’s Council presentation. We had the great honor of hearing from Lori Ryerker, CEO of Celanese Corporation, a Fortune 500 global company. She provided much wisdom on being a leader. She shared several keys to creating a successful work environment:

• being a leader that “provides an environment where people feel like they can bring their best selves every day” (and that being your best self is being your whole self, without reservations)
• allowing all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and ages to show up together without reservations (because only then can people feel safe to be their best, because their best self is their true self). 

It was a wonderful and successful kick-off to the meeting. I look forward to a full day tomorrow! Follow along as this year’s Fellow Scholars, Drs. Tara Brah (@TaraBrah), Amr El Haraki (@drharaki), Sheena Galhotra (@SheenaGalhotra), Meenal Misal (@meenalmisalMD), and yours truly, post live updates daily.

TUESDAY, 6/29/21. DAY 3 AT SGS

The third day of the annual SGS meeting started with several academic roundtables hosted by experts in the field. These authorities shared their knowledge on a range of topics including endometriosis, building an academic career, diversity and equity in the workplace, and scientific publishing. The general session got underway with additional oral and video presentations highlighting advancements in our field. This year’s SGS President Dr. Miles Murphy gave the annual presidential address. He spoke genuinely and humbly about our field. Whitney Ross, MD, (@WRossMD), referred to his speech on Twitter as “Best. Presidential. Address. Ever.” –a sentiment felt by many in the crowd!

This year’s Telinde Lecture was given by Janet Dombrowski, the first ever non-physician to present this lecture. She spoke on resiliency in a lecture titled, “Cultivating Resilience: The Power in Connection & Collaboration.” It was an insightful and wise presentation on the power of connection and how connection bolsters our resiliency. She challenged us to all break down “thinking habits” that isolate us into silos and get in the way of powerful connection and collaboration. She reminded us of the African greeting “Sawubona” (I see you) and “Sikhona” (Because you see me, I am here). A gentle reminder that we feel our existence most tangibly when we are seen by others—an idea consistent with other important themes of this conference, focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion of all.  The morning session was rounded out with a panel discussion on “Novel GYN Office Procedure,” featuring Drs. Cecile Ferrando (@CFerrandoMD), Abbas Shobeiri (@ShobeiriAbbas), Andrea Pezzela, and Eric Sokol.

The afternoon was filled with leisure activities in beautiful Palm Springs, including the SGS Golf Tournament, mountain biking, aerial tramway tour, and hike. The weather even cooperated with slightly cooler temperatures (think 100℉ instead of 120℉)! The evening was filled with food, drinks, and the excitement around the annual “SGS’ Got Talent” show! Everyone was able to let down, show off their dance moves, and enjoy some of that much needed connection time!

Tomorrow is the last day of #SGS2021! Excited to round out the conference with continued learning.

MONDAY, 6/28/21. DAY 2 AT SGS 

 The sun is up and working hard here in Palm Springs, and so are we!  
 
Welcome and introduction of new members 
 
The general session started with a warm welcome to the 12 new SGS members. A special shout out to Dr. Kelly Wright who is a new SGS Member and won the #SGS2021 tweetup! She ranked as a top influencer, prolific tweeter, and made more than 250K impressions leading up to SGS! Way to represent @MigsRunner.  
 
General scientific sessions 
 
There were several excellent oral and video presentations throughout the morning session. A range of topics were discussed, including postoperative pain management, strategies for cost-effective surgery, and how racial and ethnic disparities play into our medical education and patient outcomes. Dr. Eva Welch gave a stellar video presentation on straight-stick sacrocolpopexy techniques for the savvy surgeon. I personally will be incorporating some of her needle management tricks!  
 
After a brief break with some refreshments and a stroll around the exhibit hall, the second scientific session initiated with a transformative lecture. Dr. Mark Walters presented "Insights on Surgical Education: How Can I Help You Get Better" in the inaugural Mark D. Walters Lectureship. Dr. Walters shared his experience and insights on how to transform oneself from a good surgeon to an expert and from a teacher to a coach in the operating room. His dedication to our field, years of experience, and wisdom earned him a standing ovation! Additional oral and video presentations followed. Dr. J. Wong shared correlations between surgeon gender and ergonomic strain with laparoscopic devices. Female surgeons more often reported inappropriate fit and expressed physical discomfort compared with male surgeons. Injuries and ergonomic strain lead to less operating and even disability for some surgeons. It is past time for us to have better--we need instruments that fit our hands!  
 
The afternoon session started with a panel on "Perspectives on Race in GYN Surgery." It was another insightful discussion with thought- and action-provoking knowledge. The afternoon session included the SGS Prize Video by Dr. Angela DiCarlo-Meacham on excision of a vulvar cyst.  
 
Fellows' Pelvic Research Network 
 
After adjourning of the scientific sessions, the fellow-ran, multicenter research network (FPRN) met to give updates. This diverse group of both AUGS-SGS and FMIGS-SGS offers mentorship and relationships that are important for future careers and research. The collaboration allows the study of rare outcomes that may not be feasible at single sites. Dr. Amanda Yunker, fellowship director at Vanderbilt University, gave an amazing history lesson on the fields of OB and GYN, and the evolution of gynecologic surgery. We then had fun assigning a "report card grade" on how MIGS is doing comparatively with other subspecialties in the realms of academics and research.  
 
VideoFest 
 
The late afternoon was concluded with a surgical video session. What an amazing and talented group we are here at SGS!  
 
President's awards ceremony and reception 
The scientific focused day was rounded out with an evening of honors, awards, and social time as we celebrated all the achievements of our peers and colleagues. The president's reception was filled with food, laughter, networking, and reconnecting with friends and colleagues. We are looking forward to another day of education tomorrow! 
 
Follow @JennaRehmerMD, @GynSurgery, and #SGS2021 on Twitter for updates. 

SUNDAY, 6/27/21. DAY 1 AT SGS

Hello live from sunny Palm Spring, CA, and the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons (SGS)! This year’s conference balances the long-awaited return to in-person events while simultaneously embracing virtual learning with their hybrid meeting format. You can follow me, @JennaRehmerMD, and #SGS2021 in real-time on Twitter. 

Dismantling racism

We were incredibly fortunate to take a deep dive into dismantling racism in our personal and professional spheres. The postgraduate course was well researched and presented by Drs. Oluwateniola “Teni” Brown, Cassandra Carberry, Olivia Cardenas-Trowers (@otrowers_md), Annetta Madsen, Moiuri Siddique, and Blair Washington (@Dr_B_Washington). Each presentation provided a succinct and cohesive flow, taking us through what racism is, the historical and active structural racism in medicine, and the actions and steps of becoming anti-racist. 

Dr. Brown discussed critical race theory. We learned that the engineered system of oppression is so advanced that it is often hidden in plain sight, and that one’s conscious awareness is not necessary in order to uphold the system of oppression. It is reinforced and supported with minimal effort. This is why not being racist is not enough; active anti-racism is needed to bring about change. 

Fibroid management

Across the hall, Drs. Linda Bradley (@BradlelMD), Kimberly Kho (@KimberlyKho1), Cara King (@drcaraking), and Kelly Wright (@MigsRunner) broadened our armamentarium for uterine conservation in fibroid management. Dr. Bradley reviewed medical therapies, including novel treatments, as first-line or adjunct treatment options. Next, the course focused on surgical techniques for hysteroscopic myomectomies, optimization of minilaparotomy for myomectomy, and tissue extraction. Dr. King displayed true grit when giving her lecture from the airport after flight delays prevented her from being in person with us. 

Multidisciplinary care within gyn surgery

In this virtual only postgraduate course, Drs. Risal Djohan (@DjohanMD), Cecile Ferrando (@CFerrandoMD), Marie Fidela Paraiso, Sandip Vasavada (@SandipVasavada), and Sarah Vogler showed us the importance of multidisciplinary care within gynecologic surgery practices. They explored how to streamline the approach so it complements your practice, how to co-bill for shared patient care, and tips and tricks for optimizing the surgical experience for the patient. 

Industry presentations

Over lunch, Dr. Opoku-Akane presented on using ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) protocols for endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain and how to optimize the use of alternative surgical modalities for endometriosis. Following this, Drs. Albert Huany and Craig McCoy taught about a new technology using electrical stimulation to optimize visualization of the ureter. 

Harnessing the power of social media

This workshop, organized by SGS Social Media Committee Chair Dr. Amy Park (@dramypark) showed us the importance of having an online identity for the sharing of ideas, networking, professional development, and education. We learned how to optimize our online bios, proper use of GYN ontology for hashtags, and how to maintain professionalism on social media. We reviewed the data on how sharing publications on social media improves altmetric scores and discussed how our social media influence may be tied to performance in the future. 

Lessons in leadership

We rounded out the day with after-dinner dessert and drinks at the evening SGS Women’s Council presentation. We had the great honor of hearing from Lori Ryerker, CEO of Celanese Corporation, a Fortune 500 global company. She provided much wisdom on being a leader. She shared several keys to creating a successful work environment:

• being a leader that “provides an environment where people feel like they can bring their best selves every day” (and that being your best self is being your whole self, without reservations)
• allowing all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and ages to show up together without reservations (because only then can people feel safe to be their best, because their best self is their true self). 

It was a wonderful and successful kick-off to the meeting. I look forward to a full day tomorrow! Follow along as this year’s Fellow Scholars, Drs. Tara Brah (@TaraBrah), Amr El Haraki (@drharaki), Sheena Galhotra (@SheenaGalhotra), Meenal Misal (@meenalmisalMD), and yours truly, post live updates daily.

Pregnant women with a history of bariatric surgery have better cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy compared with women who have similar early-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) but no history of weight loss surgery, new data suggest.

“Pregnant women who have had bariatric surgery demonstrate better cardiovascular adaptation through lower blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output, more favorable diastolic indices, and better systolic function,” reported Deesha Patel, MBBS MRCOG, specialist registrar, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

“Because the groups were matched for early pregnancy BMI, it’s unlikely that the results are due to weight loss alone but indicate that the metabolic alterations as a result of the surgery, via the enterocardiac axis, play an important role,” Dr. Patel continued.

The findings were presented at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2021 Virtual World Congress.

Although obesity is known for its inflammatory and toxic effects on the cardiovascular system, it is not clear to what extent the various treatment options for obesity modify these risks in the long term, said Hutan Ashrafian, MD, clinical lecturer in surgery, Imperial College London.

“It is even less clear how anti-obesity interventions affect the cardiovascular system in pregnancy,” Dr. Ashrafian told this news organization.

“This very novel study in pregnant mothers having undergone the most successful and consistent intervention for severe obesity – bariatric or metabolic surgery – gives new clues as to the extent that bariatric procedures can alter cardiovascular risk in pregnant mothers,” continued Dr. Ashrafian, who was not involved in the study.

The results show how bariatric surgery has favorable effects on cardiac adaptation in pregnancy and in turn “might offer protection from pregnancy-related cardiovascular pathology such as preeclampsia,” explained Dr. Ashrafian. “This adds to the known effects of cardiovascular protection of bariatric surgery through the enterocardiac axis, which may explain a wider range of effects that can be translated within pregnancy and possibly following pregnancy in the postpartum era and beyond.”
 

A history of bariatric surgery versus no surgery

The prospective, longitudinal study compared 41 women who had a history of bariatric surgery with 41 women who had not undergone surgery. Patients’ characteristics were closely matched for age, BMI (34.5 kg/m2 and 34.3 kg/m2 in the surgery and bariatric surgery groups, respectively) and race. Hypertensive disorders in the post-surgery group were significantly less common compared with the no-surgery group (0% vs. 9.8%).

During the study, participants underwent cardiovascular assessment at 12-14 weeks, 20-24 weeks, and 30-32 weeks of gestation. The assessment included measurement of blood pressure and heart rate, transthoracic echocardiography, and 2D speckle tracking, performed offline to assess global longitudinal and circumferential strain.

Blood pressure readings across the three trimesters were consistently lower in the women who had undergone bariatric surgery compared with those in the no-surgery group, and all differences were statistically significant. Likewise, heart rate and cardiac output across the three trimesters were lower in the post-surgery cohort. However, there was no difference in stroke volume between the two groups.

As for diastolic function, there were more favorable indices in the post-surgery group with a higher E/A ratio, a marker of left ventricle filling (P < .001), and lower left atrial volume (P < .05), Dr. Patel reported.

With respect to systolic function, there was no difference in ejection fraction, but there was lower global longitudinal strain (P < .01) and global circumferential strain in the post-bariatric group (P = .02), suggesting better systolic function.

“Strain is a measure of differences in motion and velocity between regions of the myocardium through the cardiac cycle and can detect subclinical changes when ejection fraction is normal,” she added.

“This is a fascinating piece of work. The author should be congratulated on gathering so many [pregnant] women who had had bariatric surgery. The work gives a unique glimpse into metabolic syndrome,” said Philip Toozs-Hobson, MD, who moderated the session.

“We are increasingly recognizing the impact [of bariatric surgery] on metabolic syndrome, and the fact that this study demonstrates that there is more to it than just weight is important,” continued Dr. Toosz-Hobson, who is a consultant gynecologist at Birmingham Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.
 

Cardiovascular benefits of bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery has been associated with loss of excess body weight of up to 55% and with approximately 40% reduction in all-cause mortality in the general population. The procedure also reduces the risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

The cardiovascular benefits of bariatric surgery include reduced hypertension, remodeling of the heart with a reduction in left ventricular mass, and an improvement in diastolic and systolic function.

“Traditionally, the cardiac changes were thought to be due to weight loss and blood pressure reduction, but it is now conceivable that the metabolic components contribute to the reverse modeling via changes to the enterocardiac axis involving changes to gut hormones,” said Dr. Patel. These hormones include secretin, glucagon, and vasoactive intestinal peptide, which are known to have inotropic effects, as well as adiponectin and leptin, which are known to have cardiac effects, she added.

“Pregnancy following bariatric surgery is associated with a reduced risk of hypertensive disorders, as well as a reduced risk of gestational diabetes, large-for-gestational-age neonates, and a small increased risk of small-for-gestational-age neonates,” said Dr. Patel.

Dr. Patel and Dr. Toosz-Hobson have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Pregnant women with a history of bariatric surgery have better cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy compared with women who have similar early-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) but no history of weight loss surgery, new data suggest.

“Pregnant women who have had bariatric surgery demonstrate better cardiovascular adaptation through lower blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output, more favorable diastolic indices, and better systolic function,” reported Deesha Patel, MBBS MRCOG, specialist registrar, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

“Because the groups were matched for early pregnancy BMI, it’s unlikely that the results are due to weight loss alone but indicate that the metabolic alterations as a result of the surgery, via the enterocardiac axis, play an important role,” Dr. Patel continued.

The findings were presented at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2021 Virtual World Congress.

Although obesity is known for its inflammatory and toxic effects on the cardiovascular system, it is not clear to what extent the various treatment options for obesity modify these risks in the long term, said Hutan Ashrafian, MD, clinical lecturer in surgery, Imperial College London.

“It is even less clear how anti-obesity interventions affect the cardiovascular system in pregnancy,” Dr. Ashrafian told this news organization.

“This very novel study in pregnant mothers having undergone the most successful and consistent intervention for severe obesity – bariatric or metabolic surgery – gives new clues as to the extent that bariatric procedures can alter cardiovascular risk in pregnant mothers,” continued Dr. Ashrafian, who was not involved in the study.

The results show how bariatric surgery has favorable effects on cardiac adaptation in pregnancy and in turn “might offer protection from pregnancy-related cardiovascular pathology such as preeclampsia,” explained Dr. Ashrafian. “This adds to the known effects of cardiovascular protection of bariatric surgery through the enterocardiac axis, which may explain a wider range of effects that can be translated within pregnancy and possibly following pregnancy in the postpartum era and beyond.”
 

A history of bariatric surgery versus no surgery

The prospective, longitudinal study compared 41 women who had a history of bariatric surgery with 41 women who had not undergone surgery. Patients’ characteristics were closely matched for age, BMI (34.5 kg/m2 and 34.3 kg/m2 in the surgery and bariatric surgery groups, respectively) and race. Hypertensive disorders in the post-surgery group were significantly less common compared with the no-surgery group (0% vs. 9.8%).

During the study, participants underwent cardiovascular assessment at 12-14 weeks, 20-24 weeks, and 30-32 weeks of gestation. The assessment included measurement of blood pressure and heart rate, transthoracic echocardiography, and 2D speckle tracking, performed offline to assess global longitudinal and circumferential strain.

Blood pressure readings across the three trimesters were consistently lower in the women who had undergone bariatric surgery compared with those in the no-surgery group, and all differences were statistically significant. Likewise, heart rate and cardiac output across the three trimesters were lower in the post-surgery cohort. However, there was no difference in stroke volume between the two groups.

As for diastolic function, there were more favorable indices in the post-surgery group with a higher E/A ratio, a marker of left ventricle filling (P < .001), and lower left atrial volume (P < .05), Dr. Patel reported.

With respect to systolic function, there was no difference in ejection fraction, but there was lower global longitudinal strain (P < .01) and global circumferential strain in the post-bariatric group (P = .02), suggesting better systolic function.

“Strain is a measure of differences in motion and velocity between regions of the myocardium through the cardiac cycle and can detect subclinical changes when ejection fraction is normal,” she added.

“This is a fascinating piece of work. The author should be congratulated on gathering so many [pregnant] women who had had bariatric surgery. The work gives a unique glimpse into metabolic syndrome,” said Philip Toozs-Hobson, MD, who moderated the session.

“We are increasingly recognizing the impact [of bariatric surgery] on metabolic syndrome, and the fact that this study demonstrates that there is more to it than just weight is important,” continued Dr. Toosz-Hobson, who is a consultant gynecologist at Birmingham Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.
 

Cardiovascular benefits of bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery has been associated with loss of excess body weight of up to 55% and with approximately 40% reduction in all-cause mortality in the general population. The procedure also reduces the risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

The cardiovascular benefits of bariatric surgery include reduced hypertension, remodeling of the heart with a reduction in left ventricular mass, and an improvement in diastolic and systolic function.

“Traditionally, the cardiac changes were thought to be due to weight loss and blood pressure reduction, but it is now conceivable that the metabolic components contribute to the reverse modeling via changes to the enterocardiac axis involving changes to gut hormones,” said Dr. Patel. These hormones include secretin, glucagon, and vasoactive intestinal peptide, which are known to have inotropic effects, as well as adiponectin and leptin, which are known to have cardiac effects, she added.

“Pregnancy following bariatric surgery is associated with a reduced risk of hypertensive disorders, as well as a reduced risk of gestational diabetes, large-for-gestational-age neonates, and a small increased risk of small-for-gestational-age neonates,” said Dr. Patel.

Dr. Patel and Dr. Toosz-Hobson have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Pregnant women with a history of bariatric surgery have better cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy compared with women who have similar early-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) but no history of weight loss surgery, new data suggest.

“Pregnant women who have had bariatric surgery demonstrate better cardiovascular adaptation through lower blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output, more favorable diastolic indices, and better systolic function,” reported Deesha Patel, MBBS MRCOG, specialist registrar, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

“Because the groups were matched for early pregnancy BMI, it’s unlikely that the results are due to weight loss alone but indicate that the metabolic alterations as a result of the surgery, via the enterocardiac axis, play an important role,” Dr. Patel continued.

The findings were presented at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2021 Virtual World Congress.

Although obesity is known for its inflammatory and toxic effects on the cardiovascular system, it is not clear to what extent the various treatment options for obesity modify these risks in the long term, said Hutan Ashrafian, MD, clinical lecturer in surgery, Imperial College London.

“It is even less clear how anti-obesity interventions affect the cardiovascular system in pregnancy,” Dr. Ashrafian told this news organization.

“This very novel study in pregnant mothers having undergone the most successful and consistent intervention for severe obesity – bariatric or metabolic surgery – gives new clues as to the extent that bariatric procedures can alter cardiovascular risk in pregnant mothers,” continued Dr. Ashrafian, who was not involved in the study.

The results show how bariatric surgery has favorable effects on cardiac adaptation in pregnancy and in turn “might offer protection from pregnancy-related cardiovascular pathology such as preeclampsia,” explained Dr. Ashrafian. “This adds to the known effects of cardiovascular protection of bariatric surgery through the enterocardiac axis, which may explain a wider range of effects that can be translated within pregnancy and possibly following pregnancy in the postpartum era and beyond.”
 

A history of bariatric surgery versus no surgery

The prospective, longitudinal study compared 41 women who had a history of bariatric surgery with 41 women who had not undergone surgery. Patients’ characteristics were closely matched for age, BMI (34.5 kg/m2 and 34.3 kg/m2 in the surgery and bariatric surgery groups, respectively) and race. Hypertensive disorders in the post-surgery group were significantly less common compared with the no-surgery group (0% vs. 9.8%).

During the study, participants underwent cardiovascular assessment at 12-14 weeks, 20-24 weeks, and 30-32 weeks of gestation. The assessment included measurement of blood pressure and heart rate, transthoracic echocardiography, and 2D speckle tracking, performed offline to assess global longitudinal and circumferential strain.

Blood pressure readings across the three trimesters were consistently lower in the women who had undergone bariatric surgery compared with those in the no-surgery group, and all differences were statistically significant. Likewise, heart rate and cardiac output across the three trimesters were lower in the post-surgery cohort. However, there was no difference in stroke volume between the two groups.

As for diastolic function, there were more favorable indices in the post-surgery group with a higher E/A ratio, a marker of left ventricle filling (P < .001), and lower left atrial volume (P < .05), Dr. Patel reported.

With respect to systolic function, there was no difference in ejection fraction, but there was lower global longitudinal strain (P < .01) and global circumferential strain in the post-bariatric group (P = .02), suggesting better systolic function.

“Strain is a measure of differences in motion and velocity between regions of the myocardium through the cardiac cycle and can detect subclinical changes when ejection fraction is normal,” she added.

“This is a fascinating piece of work. The author should be congratulated on gathering so many [pregnant] women who had had bariatric surgery. The work gives a unique glimpse into metabolic syndrome,” said Philip Toozs-Hobson, MD, who moderated the session.

“We are increasingly recognizing the impact [of bariatric surgery] on metabolic syndrome, and the fact that this study demonstrates that there is more to it than just weight is important,” continued Dr. Toosz-Hobson, who is a consultant gynecologist at Birmingham Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.
 

Cardiovascular benefits of bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery has been associated with loss of excess body weight of up to 55% and with approximately 40% reduction in all-cause mortality in the general population. The procedure also reduces the risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

The cardiovascular benefits of bariatric surgery include reduced hypertension, remodeling of the heart with a reduction in left ventricular mass, and an improvement in diastolic and systolic function.

“Traditionally, the cardiac changes were thought to be due to weight loss and blood pressure reduction, but it is now conceivable that the metabolic components contribute to the reverse modeling via changes to the enterocardiac axis involving changes to gut hormones,” said Dr. Patel. These hormones include secretin, glucagon, and vasoactive intestinal peptide, which are known to have inotropic effects, as well as adiponectin and leptin, which are known to have cardiac effects, she added.

“Pregnancy following bariatric surgery is associated with a reduced risk of hypertensive disorders, as well as a reduced risk of gestational diabetes, large-for-gestational-age neonates, and a small increased risk of small-for-gestational-age neonates,” said Dr. Patel.

Dr. Patel and Dr. Toosz-Hobson have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Diaphragmatic endometriosis is often diagnosed several years after the start of symptoms – mainly moderate to severe pain – and this is potentially because of general lack of awareness of diaphragmatic endometriosis among the general population and medical professionals.

Findings of the international survey that explored the diagnosis and treatment of diaphragmatic endometriosis were presented at this year’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2021 Virtual World Congress by medical student Rachel Piccus, MSc, based at the University of Birmingham (England). Robert Sutcliffe, MD, consultant in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham was senior author. Results were also published in the May 2021 issue of the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology.

The study found that it took an average of five visits to a primary physician before referral to a gynecologist.

“Late diagnosis could also be due to the idea that diaphragmatic endometriosis symptoms often present before pelvic symptoms and therefore the site of pain is considered atypical for pelvic endometriosis,” Ms. Piccus said, adding that “clinicians are screening for cyclical pain, which is typical of endometriosis, but our study has shown that pain can in fact be more frequent – daily and weekly.”

These significant diagnostic delays, seen from the time of the initial primary care and gynecology consultation has the potential to significantly affect quality of life as seen in pelvic endometriosis, said Ms. Piccus. “These delays are partly due to a lack of awareness among gynecologists, but could also be due to pelvic laparoscopy being insufficient to examine the diaphragm behind the liver.”

Justin Clark, MD, consultant gynaecologist, Birmingham (England) Women’s and Children Hospital, moderated the session and agreed that the study highlights the need for greater awareness of this variant of endometriosis. “Whilst endometriosis affecting the diaphragm, subdiaphragm, and thorax is rare, the condition causes substantial morbidity.”

“Greater knowledge of thoracic endometriosis amongst clinicians in both primary and secondary care is needed to ensure accurate and timely diagnosis,” he added.

Diaphragmatic endometriosis is estimated to affect 1%-1.5% of all endometriosis patients and presents as cyclical pain in the chest, abdomen, and shoulder tip, as well as other respiratory symptoms such as catamenial pneumothorax and difficulty breathing.

“Cross-sectional imaging has shown low sensitivity so upper abdominal laparoscopy is the gold standard; however, this has implications for diagnostic delay because a strong clinical suspicion is required to refer for this invasive procedure,” explained Ms. Piccus referring to one of the reasons underpinning the need for the study.

When successfully diagnosed, treatment requires excision or ablation surgery and studies show symptomatic relief in 75%-100% of cases.

To gauge the extent of delayed diagnosis as well as treatment outcomes from a patient perspective, Ms. Piccus circulated an anonymous online survey among women with a previous history of surgery for diaphragmatic endometriosis.
 

Diaphragmatic endometriosis pain – daily and weekly as well as cyclical

A total of 137 participants responded to the survey, with a median age of 34 years (range, 19-53). Median age of diaphragmatic endometriosis onset was 27 years (range, 11-50), and importantly, diaphragmatic endometriosis symptoms started before pelvic symptoms in 90 respondents (66%).

The dominant symptom was pain. A total of 38% reported cyclical pain (related to endometrial shedding during menstruation), 15% weekly pain, and 47% daily pain, both of which were worse during the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, 14% reported other symptoms including catamenial pneumothorax, difficulty breathing, and hemoptysis.

“Whilst this cyclical pain is typical of endometriosis, we see that diagnostic delays may be due to misdiagnosis because clinicians are screening for this cyclical pain whilst our study has shown that pain can in fact be more frequent, being daily and weekly,” noted Ms. Piccus. Moderate to severe pain was reported in 67% of respondents and moderate in 31%, only 2% reported pain as mild.

Location of pain comprised moderate to severe pain in the upper abdomen (68%), chest (64%) and shoulder (54%). Pain was right-sided in 54%, left-sided in 11% and bilateral in 35%. Upper back and neck were also reported as sites of pain.

Indirectly providing a measure of the lack of awareness of diaphragmatic endometriosis on behalf of primary care, 122 participants reported initially visiting their primary care physician for help and 65 were given a diagnosis – in only 14 cases was that diaphragmatic endometriosis. There were a range of other gynecologic (e.g. ovarian cyst, two), respiratory (spontaneous pneumothorax, seven), gastrointestinal (gastritis/reflux, eight), musculoskeletal (six), and psychological (anxiety/stress, four) diagnoses.

A median of 5 primary care consultations (range, 1-100) were required before referral to a gynecologist, with 30% seeing a primary care physician over 10 times. A further 14 patients self-referred to gynecologist.

“These findings have implications for diagnostic delay, added Ms. Piccus. “While the majority of respondents were diagnosed less than a year from the first GP visit, the median delay was 2 years, with 31% diagnosed after 5 or more years. One took 23 years for an initial diagnosis.”

Most cases were diagnosed at the time of surgery – 93%, with 52% at pelvic laparoscopy, 35% upper abdominal laparoscopy, with 30% requiring two or more laparoscopies before they were diagnosed with diaphragmatic endometriosis. A total of 7% were diagnosed via cross-sectional imaging prior to surgery.
 

Treatment outcomes for diaphragmatic endometriosis

Reflecting the literature, surgery to remove the endometriosis lesions was mainly laparoscopic with 47% abdominal excisions, and 29% abdominal ablations; 6% received open abdominal procedures, and 18% received open thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

The survey asked about postoperative symptoms 6 months after surgery and at the time of survey. Symptoms at 6 months post surgery had completely resolved in 18%, shown significant improvement in 48%, and no improvement in 20%. Worsening of symptoms was seen in 14%. Long-term pain was reported by 21% as severe, 27% as moderate, 35% as mild, and 17% had no symptoms.

Further findings included that 23% underwent additional procedures to treat their diaphragmatic endometriosis, and that there was no significant difference between excision and ablation, nor between age of onset of symptoms or length of diagnostic delay.

“Surgical treatment to remove these extra pelvic deposits of endometriosis will depend upon the type and distribution of thoracic endometriosis and a variety of surgical specialties may need to be involved including gynecologists, cardiothoracic, and upper gastrointestinal/liver surgeons,” Dr. Clark said.

He added that familiar hormonal medical treatments for more typical pelvic endometriosis should also be considered for primary and maintenance treatment. “These data suggest a high symptomatic recurrence rate after surgical treatment and so medical treatments should be considered to try and minimize the risks of endometriosis symptoms returning.”

Dr. Clark also pointed out that multidisciplinary clinical teams should be established in specialized centers to plan surgical and medical management to enhance clinical outcomes and collect data to better understand this enigmatic condition.

Ms. Piccus and Dr. Clark have no relevant conflicts of interest.

Diaphragmatic endometriosis is often diagnosed several years after the start of symptoms – mainly moderate to severe pain – and this is potentially because of general lack of awareness of diaphragmatic endometriosis among the general population and medical professionals.

Findings of the international survey that explored the diagnosis and treatment of diaphragmatic endometriosis were presented at this year’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2021 Virtual World Congress by medical student Rachel Piccus, MSc, based at the University of Birmingham (England). Robert Sutcliffe, MD, consultant in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham was senior author. Results were also published in the May 2021 issue of the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology.

The study found that it took an average of five visits to a primary physician before referral to a gynecologist.

“Late diagnosis could also be due to the idea that diaphragmatic endometriosis symptoms often present before pelvic symptoms and therefore the site of pain is considered atypical for pelvic endometriosis,” Ms. Piccus said, adding that “clinicians are screening for cyclical pain, which is typical of endometriosis, but our study has shown that pain can in fact be more frequent – daily and weekly.”

These significant diagnostic delays, seen from the time of the initial primary care and gynecology consultation has the potential to significantly affect quality of life as seen in pelvic endometriosis, said Ms. Piccus. “These delays are partly due to a lack of awareness among gynecologists, but could also be due to pelvic laparoscopy being insufficient to examine the diaphragm behind the liver.”

Justin Clark, MD, consultant gynaecologist, Birmingham (England) Women’s and Children Hospital, moderated the session and agreed that the study highlights the need for greater awareness of this variant of endometriosis. “Whilst endometriosis affecting the diaphragm, subdiaphragm, and thorax is rare, the condition causes substantial morbidity.”

“Greater knowledge of thoracic endometriosis amongst clinicians in both primary and secondary care is needed to ensure accurate and timely diagnosis,” he added.

Diaphragmatic endometriosis is estimated to affect 1%-1.5% of all endometriosis patients and presents as cyclical pain in the chest, abdomen, and shoulder tip, as well as other respiratory symptoms such as catamenial pneumothorax and difficulty breathing.

“Cross-sectional imaging has shown low sensitivity so upper abdominal laparoscopy is the gold standard; however, this has implications for diagnostic delay because a strong clinical suspicion is required to refer for this invasive procedure,” explained Ms. Piccus referring to one of the reasons underpinning the need for the study.

When successfully diagnosed, treatment requires excision or ablation surgery and studies show symptomatic relief in 75%-100% of cases.

To gauge the extent of delayed diagnosis as well as treatment outcomes from a patient perspective, Ms. Piccus circulated an anonymous online survey among women with a previous history of surgery for diaphragmatic endometriosis.
 

Diaphragmatic endometriosis pain – daily and weekly as well as cyclical

A total of 137 participants responded to the survey, with a median age of 34 years (range, 19-53). Median age of diaphragmatic endometriosis onset was 27 years (range, 11-50), and importantly, diaphragmatic endometriosis symptoms started before pelvic symptoms in 90 respondents (66%).

The dominant symptom was pain. A total of 38% reported cyclical pain (related to endometrial shedding during menstruation), 15% weekly pain, and 47% daily pain, both of which were worse during the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, 14% reported other symptoms including catamenial pneumothorax, difficulty breathing, and hemoptysis.

“Whilst this cyclical pain is typical of endometriosis, we see that diagnostic delays may be due to misdiagnosis because clinicians are screening for this cyclical pain whilst our study has shown that pain can in fact be more frequent, being daily and weekly,” noted Ms. Piccus. Moderate to severe pain was reported in 67% of respondents and moderate in 31%, only 2% reported pain as mild.

Location of pain comprised moderate to severe pain in the upper abdomen (68%), chest (64%) and shoulder (54%). Pain was right-sided in 54%, left-sided in 11% and bilateral in 35%. Upper back and neck were also reported as sites of pain.

Indirectly providing a measure of the lack of awareness of diaphragmatic endometriosis on behalf of primary care, 122 participants reported initially visiting their primary care physician for help and 65 were given a diagnosis – in only 14 cases was that diaphragmatic endometriosis. There were a range of other gynecologic (e.g. ovarian cyst, two), respiratory (spontaneous pneumothorax, seven), gastrointestinal (gastritis/reflux, eight), musculoskeletal (six), and psychological (anxiety/stress, four) diagnoses.

A median of 5 primary care consultations (range, 1-100) were required before referral to a gynecologist, with 30% seeing a primary care physician over 10 times. A further 14 patients self-referred to gynecologist.

“These findings have implications for diagnostic delay, added Ms. Piccus. “While the majority of respondents were diagnosed less than a year from the first GP visit, the median delay was 2 years, with 31% diagnosed after 5 or more years. One took 23 years for an initial diagnosis.”

Most cases were diagnosed at the time of surgery – 93%, with 52% at pelvic laparoscopy, 35% upper abdominal laparoscopy, with 30% requiring two or more laparoscopies before they were diagnosed with diaphragmatic endometriosis. A total of 7% were diagnosed via cross-sectional imaging prior to surgery.
 

Treatment outcomes for diaphragmatic endometriosis

Reflecting the literature, surgery to remove the endometriosis lesions was mainly laparoscopic with 47% abdominal excisions, and 29% abdominal ablations; 6% received open abdominal procedures, and 18% received open thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

The survey asked about postoperative symptoms 6 months after surgery and at the time of survey. Symptoms at 6 months post surgery had completely resolved in 18%, shown significant improvement in 48%, and no improvement in 20%. Worsening of symptoms was seen in 14%. Long-term pain was reported by 21% as severe, 27% as moderate, 35% as mild, and 17% had no symptoms.

Further findings included that 23% underwent additional procedures to treat their diaphragmatic endometriosis, and that there was no significant difference between excision and ablation, nor between age of onset of symptoms or length of diagnostic delay.

“Surgical treatment to remove these extra pelvic deposits of endometriosis will depend upon the type and distribution of thoracic endometriosis and a variety of surgical specialties may need to be involved including gynecologists, cardiothoracic, and upper gastrointestinal/liver surgeons,” Dr. Clark said.

He added that familiar hormonal medical treatments for more typical pelvic endometriosis should also be considered for primary and maintenance treatment. “These data suggest a high symptomatic recurrence rate after surgical treatment and so medical treatments should be considered to try and minimize the risks of endometriosis symptoms returning.”

Dr. Clark also pointed out that multidisciplinary clinical teams should be established in specialized centers to plan surgical and medical management to enhance clinical outcomes and collect data to better understand this enigmatic condition.

Ms. Piccus and Dr. Clark have no relevant conflicts of interest.

Diaphragmatic endometriosis is often diagnosed several years after the start of symptoms – mainly moderate to severe pain – and this is potentially because of general lack of awareness of diaphragmatic endometriosis among the general population and medical professionals.

Findings of the international survey that explored the diagnosis and treatment of diaphragmatic endometriosis were presented at this year’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2021 Virtual World Congress by medical student Rachel Piccus, MSc, based at the University of Birmingham (England). Robert Sutcliffe, MD, consultant in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham was senior author. Results were also published in the May 2021 issue of the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology.

The study found that it took an average of five visits to a primary physician before referral to a gynecologist.

“Late diagnosis could also be due to the idea that diaphragmatic endometriosis symptoms often present before pelvic symptoms and therefore the site of pain is considered atypical for pelvic endometriosis,” Ms. Piccus said, adding that “clinicians are screening for cyclical pain, which is typical of endometriosis, but our study has shown that pain can in fact be more frequent – daily and weekly.”

These significant diagnostic delays, seen from the time of the initial primary care and gynecology consultation has the potential to significantly affect quality of life as seen in pelvic endometriosis, said Ms. Piccus. “These delays are partly due to a lack of awareness among gynecologists, but could also be due to pelvic laparoscopy being insufficient to examine the diaphragm behind the liver.”

Justin Clark, MD, consultant gynaecologist, Birmingham (England) Women’s and Children Hospital, moderated the session and agreed that the study highlights the need for greater awareness of this variant of endometriosis. “Whilst endometriosis affecting the diaphragm, subdiaphragm, and thorax is rare, the condition causes substantial morbidity.”

“Greater knowledge of thoracic endometriosis amongst clinicians in both primary and secondary care is needed to ensure accurate and timely diagnosis,” he added.

Diaphragmatic endometriosis is estimated to affect 1%-1.5% of all endometriosis patients and presents as cyclical pain in the chest, abdomen, and shoulder tip, as well as other respiratory symptoms such as catamenial pneumothorax and difficulty breathing.

“Cross-sectional imaging has shown low sensitivity so upper abdominal laparoscopy is the gold standard; however, this has implications for diagnostic delay because a strong clinical suspicion is required to refer for this invasive procedure,” explained Ms. Piccus referring to one of the reasons underpinning the need for the study.

When successfully diagnosed, treatment requires excision or ablation surgery and studies show symptomatic relief in 75%-100% of cases.

To gauge the extent of delayed diagnosis as well as treatment outcomes from a patient perspective, Ms. Piccus circulated an anonymous online survey among women with a previous history of surgery for diaphragmatic endometriosis.
 

Diaphragmatic endometriosis pain – daily and weekly as well as cyclical

A total of 137 participants responded to the survey, with a median age of 34 years (range, 19-53). Median age of diaphragmatic endometriosis onset was 27 years (range, 11-50), and importantly, diaphragmatic endometriosis symptoms started before pelvic symptoms in 90 respondents (66%).

The dominant symptom was pain. A total of 38% reported cyclical pain (related to endometrial shedding during menstruation), 15% weekly pain, and 47% daily pain, both of which were worse during the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, 14% reported other symptoms including catamenial pneumothorax, difficulty breathing, and hemoptysis.

“Whilst this cyclical pain is typical of endometriosis, we see that diagnostic delays may be due to misdiagnosis because clinicians are screening for this cyclical pain whilst our study has shown that pain can in fact be more frequent, being daily and weekly,” noted Ms. Piccus. Moderate to severe pain was reported in 67% of respondents and moderate in 31%, only 2% reported pain as mild.

Location of pain comprised moderate to severe pain in the upper abdomen (68%), chest (64%) and shoulder (54%). Pain was right-sided in 54%, left-sided in 11% and bilateral in 35%. Upper back and neck were also reported as sites of pain.

Indirectly providing a measure of the lack of awareness of diaphragmatic endometriosis on behalf of primary care, 122 participants reported initially visiting their primary care physician for help and 65 were given a diagnosis – in only 14 cases was that diaphragmatic endometriosis. There were a range of other gynecologic (e.g. ovarian cyst, two), respiratory (spontaneous pneumothorax, seven), gastrointestinal (gastritis/reflux, eight), musculoskeletal (six), and psychological (anxiety/stress, four) diagnoses.

A median of 5 primary care consultations (range, 1-100) were required before referral to a gynecologist, with 30% seeing a primary care physician over 10 times. A further 14 patients self-referred to gynecologist.

“These findings have implications for diagnostic delay, added Ms. Piccus. “While the majority of respondents were diagnosed less than a year from the first GP visit, the median delay was 2 years, with 31% diagnosed after 5 or more years. One took 23 years for an initial diagnosis.”

Most cases were diagnosed at the time of surgery – 93%, with 52% at pelvic laparoscopy, 35% upper abdominal laparoscopy, with 30% requiring two or more laparoscopies before they were diagnosed with diaphragmatic endometriosis. A total of 7% were diagnosed via cross-sectional imaging prior to surgery.
 

Treatment outcomes for diaphragmatic endometriosis

Reflecting the literature, surgery to remove the endometriosis lesions was mainly laparoscopic with 47% abdominal excisions, and 29% abdominal ablations; 6% received open abdominal procedures, and 18% received open thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

The survey asked about postoperative symptoms 6 months after surgery and at the time of survey. Symptoms at 6 months post surgery had completely resolved in 18%, shown significant improvement in 48%, and no improvement in 20%. Worsening of symptoms was seen in 14%. Long-term pain was reported by 21% as severe, 27% as moderate, 35% as mild, and 17% had no symptoms.

Further findings included that 23% underwent additional procedures to treat their diaphragmatic endometriosis, and that there was no significant difference between excision and ablation, nor between age of onset of symptoms or length of diagnostic delay.

“Surgical treatment to remove these extra pelvic deposits of endometriosis will depend upon the type and distribution of thoracic endometriosis and a variety of surgical specialties may need to be involved including gynecologists, cardiothoracic, and upper gastrointestinal/liver surgeons,” Dr. Clark said.

He added that familiar hormonal medical treatments for more typical pelvic endometriosis should also be considered for primary and maintenance treatment. “These data suggest a high symptomatic recurrence rate after surgical treatment and so medical treatments should be considered to try and minimize the risks of endometriosis symptoms returning.”

Dr. Clark also pointed out that multidisciplinary clinical teams should be established in specialized centers to plan surgical and medical management to enhance clinical outcomes and collect data to better understand this enigmatic condition.

Ms. Piccus and Dr. Clark have no relevant conflicts of interest.

Busting the myth of skipping breakfast

Your mother told you that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Cereal marketing teams banked on that, selling breakfast to millions of people based on a common turn of phrase like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Well, what if the notion of breakfast’s importance isn’t just marketing BS?

NorthStar203/iStock/Getty Images Plus

A new study suggests that adults who don’t eat breakfast are setting themselves up for a nutritional gap. Common breakfast foods pack a ton of calcium, fiber, and vitamin C from milk, cereals, and fruit. Christopher Taylor, PhD, senior author of the study and professor of dietetics at the Ohio State University, Columbus, said that if you’re not getting those nutrients from foods at breakfast, there’s a tendency to skip them throughout the rest of your day.

Data from a sample of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey – 30,889 adults aged 19 and older who participated between 2005 and 2016 – showed that 15.2% of participants reported skipping breakfast.

The research team then estimated nutrient consumption using federal dietary studies and guidelines and compared it to Food and Nutrition Board of National Academies nutrient recommendations. The breakfast skippers, they determined, were missing out on pronounced levels of fiber, magnesium, iron, calcium, and vitamins A, B₁, B₂, B₃, C, and D and were more likely to fall prey to lower-quality snacking. Cue those Oreos at 3 pm.

You may get more total calories within the day by eating breakfast, but your lunch, dinner, and snacks are much larger when you skip it. So the case of breakfast being the most important meal of the day checks out. Who knew that Tony the Tiger – and Mom – were actually on to something?
 

The bitter taste of a healthy liver

Alcohol and liver disease. They go together like, well, alcohol and liver disease. But alcohol isn’t the only reason people get liver disease, and now there’s a potential new treatment for people with hepatic steatosis on the way to becoming nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: beer.

Okay, not literally beer, but a pair of compounds derived from hops, the plant that gives beer its color and bitter flavor. In a study published in eLife, researchers from Oregon State University fed mice either a low-fat diet or a high-fat diet to induce hepatic steatosis, with some on the high-fat diet receiving either xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid from the hop plant, or tetrahydroxanthohumol, a hydrogenated derivative of xanthohumol.

Courtesy Oregon State University

Life’s great mysteries, from A to zinc

Thanks to science, we now have answers to what were once unanswerable questions: Is Jello a solid or a liquid? If someone leads but no one follows, are they just out for a walk? Does zinc inhibit or promote the growth of kidney stones? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? (Turns out science really did answer this one.)

If you’re anything like us, then you’ve been following the big debate on the two competing theories involving the role of zinc in kidney stone formation for years. One theory says that zinc stops the growth of calcium oxalate crystals that make up stones. The other says that zinc alters the surfaces of crystals, which encourages growth.

We can’t stand the suspense any longer, so here goes: The answer to “does zinc inhibit or promote the growth of kidney stones?” is … yes.

decade3d/Thinkstock

Babies’ ‘gut instinct’ to cry

At some point or another, you’ve probably been told not to “be such a baby” when you were scared of something. If you’ve been called a crybaby, it may be an indicator that you had a different gut microbiome as an infant.

Investigators from Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina say that babies who react more strongly to scary situations have different gut microbiomes compared with babies who don’t have such a strong reaction. The way babies react to scary situations can say a lot about their future, and there is even some evidence that gut microbiomes may have something to do with mental health.

©a-fitz/iStockphoto.com

Busting the myth of skipping breakfast

Your mother told you that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Cereal marketing teams banked on that, selling breakfast to millions of people based on a common turn of phrase like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Well, what if the notion of breakfast’s importance isn’t just marketing BS?

NorthStar203/iStock/Getty Images Plus

A new study suggests that adults who don’t eat breakfast are setting themselves up for a nutritional gap. Common breakfast foods pack a ton of calcium, fiber, and vitamin C from milk, cereals, and fruit. Christopher Taylor, PhD, senior author of the study and professor of dietetics at the Ohio State University, Columbus, said that if you’re not getting those nutrients from foods at breakfast, there’s a tendency to skip them throughout the rest of your day.

Data from a sample of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey – 30,889 adults aged 19 and older who participated between 2005 and 2016 – showed that 15.2% of participants reported skipping breakfast.

The research team then estimated nutrient consumption using federal dietary studies and guidelines and compared it to Food and Nutrition Board of National Academies nutrient recommendations. The breakfast skippers, they determined, were missing out on pronounced levels of fiber, magnesium, iron, calcium, and vitamins A, B₁, B₂, B₃, C, and D and were more likely to fall prey to lower-quality snacking. Cue those Oreos at 3 pm.

You may get more total calories within the day by eating breakfast, but your lunch, dinner, and snacks are much larger when you skip it. So the case of breakfast being the most important meal of the day checks out. Who knew that Tony the Tiger – and Mom – were actually on to something?
 

The bitter taste of a healthy liver

Alcohol and liver disease. They go together like, well, alcohol and liver disease. But alcohol isn’t the only reason people get liver disease, and now there’s a potential new treatment for people with hepatic steatosis on the way to becoming nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: beer.

Okay, not literally beer, but a pair of compounds derived from hops, the plant that gives beer its color and bitter flavor. In a study published in eLife, researchers from Oregon State University fed mice either a low-fat diet or a high-fat diet to induce hepatic steatosis, with some on the high-fat diet receiving either xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid from the hop plant, or tetrahydroxanthohumol, a hydrogenated derivative of xanthohumol.

Courtesy Oregon State University

Life’s great mysteries, from A to zinc

Thanks to science, we now have answers to what were once unanswerable questions: Is Jello a solid or a liquid? If someone leads but no one follows, are they just out for a walk? Does zinc inhibit or promote the growth of kidney stones? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? (Turns out science really did answer this one.)

If you’re anything like us, then you’ve been following the big debate on the two competing theories involving the role of zinc in kidney stone formation for years. One theory says that zinc stops the growth of calcium oxalate crystals that make up stones. The other says that zinc alters the surfaces of crystals, which encourages growth.

We can’t stand the suspense any longer, so here goes: The answer to “does zinc inhibit or promote the growth of kidney stones?” is … yes.

decade3d/Thinkstock

Babies’ ‘gut instinct’ to cry

At some point or another, you’ve probably been told not to “be such a baby” when you were scared of something. If you’ve been called a crybaby, it may be an indicator that you had a different gut microbiome as an infant.

Investigators from Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina say that babies who react more strongly to scary situations have different gut microbiomes compared with babies who don’t have such a strong reaction. The way babies react to scary situations can say a lot about their future, and there is even some evidence that gut microbiomes may have something to do with mental health.

©a-fitz/iStockphoto.com

Busting the myth of skipping breakfast

Your mother told you that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Cereal marketing teams banked on that, selling breakfast to millions of people based on a common turn of phrase like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Well, what if the notion of breakfast’s importance isn’t just marketing BS?

NorthStar203/iStock/Getty Images Plus

A new study suggests that adults who don’t eat breakfast are setting themselves up for a nutritional gap. Common breakfast foods pack a ton of calcium, fiber, and vitamin C from milk, cereals, and fruit. Christopher Taylor, PhD, senior author of the study and professor of dietetics at the Ohio State University, Columbus, said that if you’re not getting those nutrients from foods at breakfast, there’s a tendency to skip them throughout the rest of your day.

Data from a sample of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey – 30,889 adults aged 19 and older who participated between 2005 and 2016 – showed that 15.2% of participants reported skipping breakfast.

The research team then estimated nutrient consumption using federal dietary studies and guidelines and compared it to Food and Nutrition Board of National Academies nutrient recommendations. The breakfast skippers, they determined, were missing out on pronounced levels of fiber, magnesium, iron, calcium, and vitamins A, B₁, B₂, B₃, C, and D and were more likely to fall prey to lower-quality snacking. Cue those Oreos at 3 pm.

You may get more total calories within the day by eating breakfast, but your lunch, dinner, and snacks are much larger when you skip it. So the case of breakfast being the most important meal of the day checks out. Who knew that Tony the Tiger – and Mom – were actually on to something?
 

The bitter taste of a healthy liver

Alcohol and liver disease. They go together like, well, alcohol and liver disease. But alcohol isn’t the only reason people get liver disease, and now there’s a potential new treatment for people with hepatic steatosis on the way to becoming nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: beer.

Okay, not literally beer, but a pair of compounds derived from hops, the plant that gives beer its color and bitter flavor. In a study published in eLife, researchers from Oregon State University fed mice either a low-fat diet or a high-fat diet to induce hepatic steatosis, with some on the high-fat diet receiving either xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid from the hop plant, or tetrahydroxanthohumol, a hydrogenated derivative of xanthohumol.

Courtesy Oregon State University

Life’s great mysteries, from A to zinc

Thanks to science, we now have answers to what were once unanswerable questions: Is Jello a solid or a liquid? If someone leads but no one follows, are they just out for a walk? Does zinc inhibit or promote the growth of kidney stones? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? (Turns out science really did answer this one.)

If you’re anything like us, then you’ve been following the big debate on the two competing theories involving the role of zinc in kidney stone formation for years. One theory says that zinc stops the growth of calcium oxalate crystals that make up stones. The other says that zinc alters the surfaces of crystals, which encourages growth.

We can’t stand the suspense any longer, so here goes: The answer to “does zinc inhibit or promote the growth of kidney stones?” is … yes.

decade3d/Thinkstock

Babies’ ‘gut instinct’ to cry

At some point or another, you’ve probably been told not to “be such a baby” when you were scared of something. If you’ve been called a crybaby, it may be an indicator that you had a different gut microbiome as an infant.

Investigators from Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina say that babies who react more strongly to scary situations have different gut microbiomes compared with babies who don’t have such a strong reaction. The way babies react to scary situations can say a lot about their future, and there is even some evidence that gut microbiomes may have something to do with mental health.

©a-fitz/iStockphoto.com

A patient’s risk for ischemic events, but not bleeding, after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can be predicted simply based on whether they have one or more guideline-based standardized risk criteria, a large-scale real-world analysis suggests.

Haoyu Wang, MD, and colleagues showed that having at least one high-risk feature, as outlined in the 2018 European Society of Cardiology and European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (ESC/EACTS) Guidelines on Myocardial Revascularization, was associated with an increased risk for target vessel failure by 48% and for a patient-oriented composite outcome by 44%.

Moreover, they showed that implantation of at least three stents and the presence of diabetes and diffuse multivessel disease were the only high-risk features from the guidelines that were independent predictors of the two outcomes.

The study of more than 10,000 PCI patients also showed that determining whether patients were at high bleeding risk (HBR) did not modify their ischemic risk.

This, said Dr. Wang, from the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Hospital, Beijing, underscores the importance of applying the high ischemic risk (HIR) criteria from the ESC/EACTS guidelines when tailoring dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT).

The research was presented at the European Atherosclerosis Society 2021 Virtual Congress on June 2, and published online in the Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis.

Dr. Wang told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology that they conducted the study to determine which – HIR or HBR – is “most important to balance when treating patients undergoing PCI and then having dual antiplatelet therapy.”

The results showed that when patients have both a HIR and HBR, it is the ESC/EACTS guideline HIR criteria that have “a higher impact” than the bleeding risk, and that this can be “used to guide our choice of the duration of dual anti-platelet therapy.”

“Maybe we can extend, or use more potent, P2Y12 inhibitors” in those situations, he said.

S. Lale Tokgözoglu, MD, PhD, professor of cardiology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, who was not involved in the study, said the HIR assessment “performed well,” adding that the HBR score might have been expected to attenuate its “prognostic advantage.”

She told this news organization that the results “are interesting since previous observations have suggested that Asian patients may be more prone to medication side effects and bleeding.”

These findings emphasize the importance of assessing HIR in daily PCI practice and confirm that it “performs well in different populations in real life,” added Dr. Tokgözoglu, a former president of the EAS.

The ESC/EACTS guidelines aimed to standardize the definition of HIR, Dr. Wang said during the presentation.

They set out 10 high-risk features for ischemic events for patients undergoing revascularization, which included patient medical history, comorbid conditions, and the characteristics of the PCI procedure.

Although the goals of the criteria are to inform decision-making and stimulate research, Dr. Wang said that their “prevalence and prognostic association with clinical outcomes are yet to be established in real-world PCI practice.”

Alongside, the Predicting Bleeding Complication in Patients Undergoing Stent Implantation and Subsequent Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (PRECISE-DAPT) score was developed to predict out-of-hospital bleeding in patients receiving DAPT after stent implantation.

Although a PRECISE-DAPT score of at least 25 constitutes a patient at high bleeding risk, Dr. Wang pointed out that such patients are typically also at risk for ischemic events after PCI, and it is “unclear” whether being at HBR modifies this risk.

To investigate further, they used the prospective, real-world Fuwai PCI registry to collate an all-comer patient population with unselected use of drug-eluting stents at the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases at Fuwai Hospital.

They excluded individuals who were treated with balloon angioplasty alone, bioresorbable scaffolds, or bare metal stents, leaving a total population of 10,167 patients who were treated in 2013.

In that cohort, 5,149 patients (50.6%) met at least one risk criterion from the ESC/EACTS guidelines (HIR patients) and 5,018 (49.4%) met none of the risk criteria (non-HIR patients).

The most common criteria were implantation of at least three stents (23.5%); total stent length greater than 60 mm (20.2%); diffuse multivessel disease, especially in diabetic patients (18.5%); and a history of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (13.9%).

HIR patients were significantly older than non-HIR patients (average age, 58.86 vs. 57.77 years; P < .001), were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (42.6% vs. 16.9%; P < .001); and were more likely to have already had a myocardial infarction (32.2% vs. 5.2%; P < .001).

HIR patients also had higher average PRECISE-ADAPT scores than those without HIR (11.22 vs. 9.94; P < .001), and were conversely less likely to have the left anterior descending artery as the target vessel than non-HIR patients (86.0% vs. 94.6%; P < .001).

Cox regression analysis taking into account a range of patient and clinical factors revealed that HIR patients were significantly more likely than their non-HIR counterparts to experience target vessel failure (hazard ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-1.74; P < .001).

They were also significantly more likely to have a patient-oriented composite outcome, defined as all-cause death, any myocardial infarction, or any revascularization (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.28-1.63; P < .001).

There was also a significantly higher risk for cardiac death in HIR than in non-HIR patients (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.16-3.29; P = .012).

However, there was no significant association between HIR status and clinically relevant bleeding (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.66-1.06; P = .143).

When the researchers looked at individual ischemic risk features, they found that, on fully adjusted analyses, only two were independent predictors of target vessel failure and the patient-oriented composite outcome.

Having at least three stents implanted was significantly associated with target vessel failure (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.80; P = .038), and borderline significantly associated with the patient oriented composite outcome (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.00-1.53; P = .056).

Diffuse multivessel disease, especially in diabetic patients, was significantly associated with both target vessel failure (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.02-1.51; P = .035) and with the patient-oriented composite outcome (HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.39; P = .012).

Neither risk feature was significantly associated with clinically relevant bleeding, Dr. Wang noted.

Stratifying the patients by HBR status, the team found that rates of target vessel failure, the patient-oriented composite outcome, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and definite/probable stent thrombosis were higher in patients with both HIR and HBR than those with neither HIR nor HBR (P < .001).

Further stratifying patients by PRECISE-ADAPT scores – 10 or less indicating very low risk, 11-17 indicating low risk, 18-24 indicating moderate risk, and at least 25 indicating high risk – showed that HIR features had a consistent effect on ischemic and bleeding outcomes, regardless of bleeding risk.

No funding declared. No relevant financial relationships declared.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A patient’s risk for ischemic events, but not bleeding, after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can be predicted simply based on whether they have one or more guideline-based standardized risk criteria, a large-scale real-world analysis suggests.

Haoyu Wang, MD, and colleagues showed that having at least one high-risk feature, as outlined in the 2018 European Society of Cardiology and European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (ESC/EACTS) Guidelines on Myocardial Revascularization, was associated with an increased risk for target vessel failure by 48% and for a patient-oriented composite outcome by 44%.

Moreover, they showed that implantation of at least three stents and the presence of diabetes and diffuse multivessel disease were the only high-risk features from the guidelines that were independent predictors of the two outcomes.

The study of more than 10,000 PCI patients also showed that determining whether patients were at high bleeding risk (HBR) did not modify their ischemic risk.

This, said Dr. Wang, from the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Hospital, Beijing, underscores the importance of applying the high ischemic risk (HIR) criteria from the ESC/EACTS guidelines when tailoring dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT).

The research was presented at the European Atherosclerosis Society 2021 Virtual Congress on June 2, and published online in the Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis.

Dr. Wang told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology that they conducted the study to determine which – HIR or HBR – is “most important to balance when treating patients undergoing PCI and then having dual antiplatelet therapy.”

The results showed that when patients have both a HIR and HBR, it is the ESC/EACTS guideline HIR criteria that have “a higher impact” than the bleeding risk, and that this can be “used to guide our choice of the duration of dual anti-platelet therapy.”

“Maybe we can extend, or use more potent, P2Y12 inhibitors” in those situations, he said.

S. Lale Tokgözoglu, MD, PhD, professor of cardiology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, who was not involved in the study, said the HIR assessment “performed well,” adding that the HBR score might have been expected to attenuate its “prognostic advantage.”

She told this news organization that the results “are interesting since previous observations have suggested that Asian patients may be more prone to medication side effects and bleeding.”

These findings emphasize the importance of assessing HIR in daily PCI practice and confirm that it “performs well in different populations in real life,” added Dr. Tokgözoglu, a former president of the EAS.

The ESC/EACTS guidelines aimed to standardize the definition of HIR, Dr. Wang said during the presentation.

They set out 10 high-risk features for ischemic events for patients undergoing revascularization, which included patient medical history, comorbid conditions, and the characteristics of the PCI procedure.

Although the goals of the criteria are to inform decision-making and stimulate research, Dr. Wang said that their “prevalence and prognostic association with clinical outcomes are yet to be established in real-world PCI practice.”

Alongside, the Predicting Bleeding Complication in Patients Undergoing Stent Implantation and Subsequent Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (PRECISE-DAPT) score was developed to predict out-of-hospital bleeding in patients receiving DAPT after stent implantation.

Although a PRECISE-DAPT score of at least 25 constitutes a patient at high bleeding risk, Dr. Wang pointed out that such patients are typically also at risk for ischemic events after PCI, and it is “unclear” whether being at HBR modifies this risk.

To investigate further, they used the prospective, real-world Fuwai PCI registry to collate an all-comer patient population with unselected use of drug-eluting stents at the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases at Fuwai Hospital.

They excluded individuals who were treated with balloon angioplasty alone, bioresorbable scaffolds, or bare metal stents, leaving a total population of 10,167 patients who were treated in 2013.

In that cohort, 5,149 patients (50.6%) met at least one risk criterion from the ESC/EACTS guidelines (HIR patients) and 5,018 (49.4%) met none of the risk criteria (non-HIR patients).

The most common criteria were implantation of at least three stents (23.5%); total stent length greater than 60 mm (20.2%); diffuse multivessel disease, especially in diabetic patients (18.5%); and a history of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (13.9%).

HIR patients were significantly older than non-HIR patients (average age, 58.86 vs. 57.77 years; P < .001), were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (42.6% vs. 16.9%; P < .001); and were more likely to have already had a myocardial infarction (32.2% vs. 5.2%; P < .001).

HIR patients also had higher average PRECISE-ADAPT scores than those without HIR (11.22 vs. 9.94; P < .001), and were conversely less likely to have the left anterior descending artery as the target vessel than non-HIR patients (86.0% vs. 94.6%; P < .001).

Cox regression analysis taking into account a range of patient and clinical factors revealed that HIR patients were significantly more likely than their non-HIR counterparts to experience target vessel failure (hazard ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-1.74; P < .001).

They were also significantly more likely to have a patient-oriented composite outcome, defined as all-cause death, any myocardial infarction, or any revascularization (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.28-1.63; P < .001).

There was also a significantly higher risk for cardiac death in HIR than in non-HIR patients (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.16-3.29; P = .012).

However, there was no significant association between HIR status and clinically relevant bleeding (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.66-1.06; P = .143).

When the researchers looked at individual ischemic risk features, they found that, on fully adjusted analyses, only two were independent predictors of target vessel failure and the patient-oriented composite outcome.

Having at least three stents implanted was significantly associated with target vessel failure (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.80; P = .038), and borderline significantly associated with the patient oriented composite outcome (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.00-1.53; P = .056).

Diffuse multivessel disease, especially in diabetic patients, was significantly associated with both target vessel failure (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.02-1.51; P = .035) and with the patient-oriented composite outcome (HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.39; P = .012).

Neither risk feature was significantly associated with clinically relevant bleeding, Dr. Wang noted.

Stratifying the patients by HBR status, the team found that rates of target vessel failure, the patient-oriented composite outcome, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and definite/probable stent thrombosis were higher in patients with both HIR and HBR than those with neither HIR nor HBR (P < .001).

Further stratifying patients by PRECISE-ADAPT scores – 10 or less indicating very low risk, 11-17 indicating low risk, 18-24 indicating moderate risk, and at least 25 indicating high risk – showed that HIR features had a consistent effect on ischemic and bleeding outcomes, regardless of bleeding risk.

No funding declared. No relevant financial relationships declared.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A patient’s risk for ischemic events, but not bleeding, after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can be predicted simply based on whether they have one or more guideline-based standardized risk criteria, a large-scale real-world analysis suggests.

Haoyu Wang, MD, and colleagues showed that having at least one high-risk feature, as outlined in the 2018 European Society of Cardiology and European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (ESC/EACTS) Guidelines on Myocardial Revascularization, was associated with an increased risk for target vessel failure by 48% and for a patient-oriented composite outcome by 44%.

Moreover, they showed that implantation of at least three stents and the presence of diabetes and diffuse multivessel disease were the only high-risk features from the guidelines that were independent predictors of the two outcomes.

The study of more than 10,000 PCI patients also showed that determining whether patients were at high bleeding risk (HBR) did not modify their ischemic risk.

This, said Dr. Wang, from the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Hospital, Beijing, underscores the importance of applying the high ischemic risk (HIR) criteria from the ESC/EACTS guidelines when tailoring dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT).

The research was presented at the European Atherosclerosis Society 2021 Virtual Congress on June 2, and published online in the Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis.

Dr. Wang told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology that they conducted the study to determine which – HIR or HBR – is “most important to balance when treating patients undergoing PCI and then having dual antiplatelet therapy.”

The results showed that when patients have both a HIR and HBR, it is the ESC/EACTS guideline HIR criteria that have “a higher impact” than the bleeding risk, and that this can be “used to guide our choice of the duration of dual anti-platelet therapy.”

“Maybe we can extend, or use more potent, P2Y12 inhibitors” in those situations, he said.

S. Lale Tokgözoglu, MD, PhD, professor of cardiology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, who was not involved in the study, said the HIR assessment “performed well,” adding that the HBR score might have been expected to attenuate its “prognostic advantage.”

She told this news organization that the results “are interesting since previous observations have suggested that Asian patients may be more prone to medication side effects and bleeding.”

These findings emphasize the importance of assessing HIR in daily PCI practice and confirm that it “performs well in different populations in real life,” added Dr. Tokgözoglu, a former president of the EAS.

The ESC/EACTS guidelines aimed to standardize the definition of HIR, Dr. Wang said during the presentation.

They set out 10 high-risk features for ischemic events for patients undergoing revascularization, which included patient medical history, comorbid conditions, and the characteristics of the PCI procedure.

Although the goals of the criteria are to inform decision-making and stimulate research, Dr. Wang said that their “prevalence and prognostic association with clinical outcomes are yet to be established in real-world PCI practice.”

Alongside, the Predicting Bleeding Complication in Patients Undergoing Stent Implantation and Subsequent Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (PRECISE-DAPT) score was developed to predict out-of-hospital bleeding in patients receiving DAPT after stent implantation.

Although a PRECISE-DAPT score of at least 25 constitutes a patient at high bleeding risk, Dr. Wang pointed out that such patients are typically also at risk for ischemic events after PCI, and it is “unclear” whether being at HBR modifies this risk.

To investigate further, they used the prospective, real-world Fuwai PCI registry to collate an all-comer patient population with unselected use of drug-eluting stents at the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases at Fuwai Hospital.

They excluded individuals who were treated with balloon angioplasty alone, bioresorbable scaffolds, or bare metal stents, leaving a total population of 10,167 patients who were treated in 2013.

In that cohort, 5,149 patients (50.6%) met at least one risk criterion from the ESC/EACTS guidelines (HIR patients) and 5,018 (49.4%) met none of the risk criteria (non-HIR patients).

The most common criteria were implantation of at least three stents (23.5%); total stent length greater than 60 mm (20.2%); diffuse multivessel disease, especially in diabetic patients (18.5%); and a history of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (13.9%).

HIR patients were significantly older than non-HIR patients (average age, 58.86 vs. 57.77 years; P < .001), were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (42.6% vs. 16.9%; P < .001); and were more likely to have already had a myocardial infarction (32.2% vs. 5.2%; P < .001).

HIR patients also had higher average PRECISE-ADAPT scores than those without HIR (11.22 vs. 9.94; P < .001), and were conversely less likely to have the left anterior descending artery as the target vessel than non-HIR patients (86.0% vs. 94.6%; P < .001).

Cox regression analysis taking into account a range of patient and clinical factors revealed that HIR patients were significantly more likely than their non-HIR counterparts to experience target vessel failure (hazard ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-1.74; P < .001).

They were also significantly more likely to have a patient-oriented composite outcome, defined as all-cause death, any myocardial infarction, or any revascularization (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.28-1.63; P < .001).

There was also a significantly higher risk for cardiac death in HIR than in non-HIR patients (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.16-3.29; P = .012).

However, there was no significant association between HIR status and clinically relevant bleeding (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.66-1.06; P = .143).

When the researchers looked at individual ischemic risk features, they found that, on fully adjusted analyses, only two were independent predictors of target vessel failure and the patient-oriented composite outcome.

Having at least three stents implanted was significantly associated with target vessel failure (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.80; P = .038), and borderline significantly associated with the patient oriented composite outcome (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.00-1.53; P = .056).

Diffuse multivessel disease, especially in diabetic patients, was significantly associated with both target vessel failure (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.02-1.51; P = .035) and with the patient-oriented composite outcome (HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.39; P = .012).

Neither risk feature was significantly associated with clinically relevant bleeding, Dr. Wang noted.

Stratifying the patients by HBR status, the team found that rates of target vessel failure, the patient-oriented composite outcome, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and definite/probable stent thrombosis were higher in patients with both HIR and HBR than those with neither HIR nor HBR (P < .001).

Further stratifying patients by PRECISE-ADAPT scores – 10 or less indicating very low risk, 11-17 indicating low risk, 18-24 indicating moderate risk, and at least 25 indicating high risk – showed that HIR features had a consistent effect on ischemic and bleeding outcomes, regardless of bleeding risk.

No funding declared. No relevant financial relationships declared.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Background: In the final year before death, surgery is common for many patients. Prior studies have shown that fewer than 38% of surgical patients receive palliative care services before death. Palliative care involvement has been shown to improve quality of life and coordination of care in surgical patients.

Dr. Halford is a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and instructor in medicine, Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.

Background: In the final year before death, surgery is common for many patients. Prior studies have shown that fewer than 38% of surgical patients receive palliative care services before death. Palliative care involvement has been shown to improve quality of life and coordination of care in surgical patients.

Dr. Halford is a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and instructor in medicine, Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.

Background: In the final year before death, surgery is common for many patients. Prior studies have shown that fewer than 38% of surgical patients receive palliative care services before death. Palliative care involvement has been shown to improve quality of life and coordination of care in surgical patients.

Dr. Halford is a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and instructor in medicine, Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.

Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) or cold knife conization of the cervix (CKC) is the standard of care approach for women with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN 3) because it achieves both disease control and diagnostic evaluation to rule out invasive carcinoma. While both techniques are associated with equivalent efficacy in disease control, each has its virtues and advantages, and clinical judgment is necessary when choosing a technique.¹

LEEP, or large loop electrosurgical excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) involves use of electrosurgical current directed through wire loops to excise pieces of cervical tissue. The equipment for this technique is widely available and this procedure can most often be performed safely and comfortably in an outpatient office setting, making it a cost-effective strategy. Its ease of access means that it can be employed in “see-and-treat” programs where there is concern regarding follow-up. The loop from the device has a tendency to take more shallow pieces of tissue, preserving more cervical stroma. This may be why LEEP has been associated with decreased risk for obstetric complications associated with cervical insufficiency when compared with CKC.^2,3

The shallowness and standardized, preset shapes of the loops present challenges with this technique. It can be more difficult to tailor the shape of the excision for particular lesions, and surgeons may need to add a second “top hat” endocervical LEEP after the first ectocervical excision to adequately excise the endocervical canal. If the “coagulation” setting is used instead of “blend” or “cut,” excessive drag and resistance can develop during the procedure, which can result in the specimen’s being amputated, fragmented, or interrupted mid-sweep. This can severely limit pathologic interpretation of the specimen. Orienting these multiple fragments for pathology to specify margin status can be limited or impossible. Electrosurgical effect (“thermal effect”) at the margins of the specimen can limit accurate interpretation of adequacy of the excision.

CKC of the cervix is a procedure in which a narrow scalpel (typically an 11-blade) is used to excise the ecto- and endocervical tissues in a cone-shaped specimen that ensures maximal inclusion of ectocervical and endocervical mucosa but minimization of stromal excision. Absence of electrosurgery in the primary excision means that pathologists have clean edges to evaluate for margin status. Because the shape of the incision is unique for each patient, the surgeon can tailor the shape and extent of the cone to focus on known or suspected areas of disease. It is particularly useful when there is an endocervical lesion, such as in cases of adenocarcinoma in situ and in postmenopausal women whose transformation zone is frequently within the canal. In cases of a distorted, atrophic cervix, or one that is flush with the vagina, a conization procedure in the operating room affords surgeons greater control and precision. Major limitations of this procedure are that it is typically performed in an operating room setting because of the potential for intraoperative bleeding, and its increased risk for early and late complications. The conization procedure is associated with increased obstetric risk in later pregnancies, possibly because of more significant disturbance of cervical stroma.^2,3

As mentioned earlier, both procedures are associated with equivalent outcomes with respect to control of disease.¹ CKC procedures are associated with more complications, including bleeding (intraoperatively and postoperatively) than are LEEPs. Traditionally, adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) has been preferentially treated with CKC because of the propensity of this lesion to reside within the endocervical canal, a region more readily and extensively sampled with the CKC. However, provided that the LEEP specimen achieves negative margin status, there is no specific benefit of CKC over LEEP. Guidelines recommend that AIS is excised as a single specimen (without a “top hat”) to achieve accurate pathology regarding margins in the endocervical canal.⁴ Considering that a specimen depth between 10 and 20 mm is ideal in the setting of AIS, it may be difficult to achieve this depth with a single-pass LEEP depending upon the dimensions of the cervix. It is due to these technical challenges associated with LEEP that CKC is typically preferred in the treatment of AIS.

Ultimately, the decision regarding when to choose LEEP versus CKC is nuanced and should be tailored for each patient. Factors to consider include the patient’s ease of follow-up, financial limitations, preexisting distortion of anatomy, and the need to minimize obstetrics risks or achieve wider margins. For example, a young, nulliparous patient with an ectocervical lesion of squamous dysplasia would likely best be served by a LEEP, which preserves her cervical stroma and affords her easy access and affordability of the procedure. A patient with a bleeding diathesis including iatrogenic anticoagulant therapy may also benefit from a LEEP to achieve better hemostasis and lower risk of bleeding complications.

A postmenopausal woman with a narrow upper vagina and cervix flush with the vagina from prior excisional procedures may benefit from a conization in the operating room where adequate retraction and exposure can minimize the risk of damage to adjacent structures, and the shape and size of the excision can be tailored to the long, narrow segment that is indicated. The table highlights some of the factors to consider when choosing these options.

Dr. Rossi is assistant professor in the division of gynecologic oncology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has no conflicts of interest. Contact her at [email protected].

References

1. Martin-Hirsch PL et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2000;(2):CD001318.

2. Arbyn M et al. BMJ. 2008;337:a1284.

3. Jin G et al. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2014 Jan;289(1):85-99.

4. Perkins RB et al. J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2020;24(2):102.

Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) or cold knife conization of the cervix (CKC) is the standard of care approach for women with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN 3) because it achieves both disease control and diagnostic evaluation to rule out invasive carcinoma. While both techniques are associated with equivalent efficacy in disease control, each has its virtues and advantages, and clinical judgment is necessary when choosing a technique.¹

LEEP, or large loop electrosurgical excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) involves use of electrosurgical current directed through wire loops to excise pieces of cervical tissue. The equipment for this technique is widely available and this procedure can most often be performed safely and comfortably in an outpatient office setting, making it a cost-effective strategy. Its ease of access means that it can be employed in “see-and-treat” programs where there is concern regarding follow-up. The loop from the device has a tendency to take more shallow pieces of tissue, preserving more cervical stroma. This may be why LEEP has been associated with decreased risk for obstetric complications associated with cervical insufficiency when compared with CKC.^2,3

The shallowness and standardized, preset shapes of the loops present challenges with this technique. It can be more difficult to tailor the shape of the excision for particular lesions, and surgeons may need to add a second “top hat” endocervical LEEP after the first ectocervical excision to adequately excise the endocervical canal. If the “coagulation” setting is used instead of “blend” or “cut,” excessive drag and resistance can develop during the procedure, which can result in the specimen’s being amputated, fragmented, or interrupted mid-sweep. This can severely limit pathologic interpretation of the specimen. Orienting these multiple fragments for pathology to specify margin status can be limited or impossible. Electrosurgical effect (“thermal effect”) at the margins of the specimen can limit accurate interpretation of adequacy of the excision.

CKC of the cervix is a procedure in which a narrow scalpel (typically an 11-blade) is used to excise the ecto- and endocervical tissues in a cone-shaped specimen that ensures maximal inclusion of ectocervical and endocervical mucosa but minimization of stromal excision. Absence of electrosurgery in the primary excision means that pathologists have clean edges to evaluate for margin status. Because the shape of the incision is unique for each patient, the surgeon can tailor the shape and extent of the cone to focus on known or suspected areas of disease. It is particularly useful when there is an endocervical lesion, such as in cases of adenocarcinoma in situ and in postmenopausal women whose transformation zone is frequently within the canal. In cases of a distorted, atrophic cervix, or one that is flush with the vagina, a conization procedure in the operating room affords surgeons greater control and precision. Major limitations of this procedure are that it is typically performed in an operating room setting because of the potential for intraoperative bleeding, and its increased risk for early and late complications. The conization procedure is associated with increased obstetric risk in later pregnancies, possibly because of more significant disturbance of cervical stroma.^2,3

As mentioned earlier, both procedures are associated with equivalent outcomes with respect to control of disease.¹ CKC procedures are associated with more complications, including bleeding (intraoperatively and postoperatively) than are LEEPs. Traditionally, adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) has been preferentially treated with CKC because of the propensity of this lesion to reside within the endocervical canal, a region more readily and extensively sampled with the CKC. However, provided that the LEEP specimen achieves negative margin status, there is no specific benefit of CKC over LEEP. Guidelines recommend that AIS is excised as a single specimen (without a “top hat”) to achieve accurate pathology regarding margins in the endocervical canal.⁴ Considering that a specimen depth between 10 and 20 mm is ideal in the setting of AIS, it may be difficult to achieve this depth with a single-pass LEEP depending upon the dimensions of the cervix. It is due to these technical challenges associated with LEEP that CKC is typically preferred in the treatment of AIS.

Ultimately, the decision regarding when to choose LEEP versus CKC is nuanced and should be tailored for each patient. Factors to consider include the patient’s ease of follow-up, financial limitations, preexisting distortion of anatomy, and the need to minimize obstetrics risks or achieve wider margins. For example, a young, nulliparous patient with an ectocervical lesion of squamous dysplasia would likely best be served by a LEEP, which preserves her cervical stroma and affords her easy access and affordability of the procedure. A patient with a bleeding diathesis including iatrogenic anticoagulant therapy may also benefit from a LEEP to achieve better hemostasis and lower risk of bleeding complications.

A postmenopausal woman with a narrow upper vagina and cervix flush with the vagina from prior excisional procedures may benefit from a conization in the operating room where adequate retraction and exposure can minimize the risk of damage to adjacent structures, and the shape and size of the excision can be tailored to the long, narrow segment that is indicated. The table highlights some of the factors to consider when choosing these options.

Dr. Rossi is assistant professor in the division of gynecologic oncology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has no conflicts of interest. Contact her at [email protected].

References

1. Martin-Hirsch PL et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2000;(2):CD001318.

2. Arbyn M et al. BMJ. 2008;337:a1284.

3. Jin G et al. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2014 Jan;289(1):85-99.

4. Perkins RB et al. J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2020;24(2):102.

Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) or cold knife conization of the cervix (CKC) is the standard of care approach for women with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN 3) because it achieves both disease control and diagnostic evaluation to rule out invasive carcinoma. While both techniques are associated with equivalent efficacy in disease control, each has its virtues and advantages, and clinical judgment is necessary when choosing a technique.¹

LEEP, or large loop electrosurgical excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) involves use of electrosurgical current directed through wire loops to excise pieces of cervical tissue. The equipment for this technique is widely available and this procedure can most often be performed safely and comfortably in an outpatient office setting, making it a cost-effective strategy. Its ease of access means that it can be employed in “see-and-treat” programs where there is concern regarding follow-up. The loop from the device has a tendency to take more shallow pieces of tissue, preserving more cervical stroma. This may be why LEEP has been associated with decreased risk for obstetric complications associated with cervical insufficiency when compared with CKC.^2,3

The shallowness and standardized, preset shapes of the loops present challenges with this technique. It can be more difficult to tailor the shape of the excision for particular lesions, and surgeons may need to add a second “top hat” endocervical LEEP after the first ectocervical excision to adequately excise the endocervical canal. If the “coagulation” setting is used instead of “blend” or “cut,” excessive drag and resistance can develop during the procedure, which can result in the specimen’s being amputated, fragmented, or interrupted mid-sweep. This can severely limit pathologic interpretation of the specimen. Orienting these multiple fragments for pathology to specify margin status can be limited or impossible. Electrosurgical effect (“thermal effect”) at the margins of the specimen can limit accurate interpretation of adequacy of the excision.

CKC of the cervix is a procedure in which a narrow scalpel (typically an 11-blade) is used to excise the ecto- and endocervical tissues in a cone-shaped specimen that ensures maximal inclusion of ectocervical and endocervical mucosa but minimization of stromal excision. Absence of electrosurgery in the primary excision means that pathologists have clean edges to evaluate for margin status. Because the shape of the incision is unique for each patient, the surgeon can tailor the shape and extent of the cone to focus on known or suspected areas of disease. It is particularly useful when there is an endocervical lesion, such as in cases of adenocarcinoma in situ and in postmenopausal women whose transformation zone is frequently within the canal. In cases of a distorted, atrophic cervix, or one that is flush with the vagina, a conization procedure in the operating room affords surgeons greater control and precision. Major limitations of this procedure are that it is typically performed in an operating room setting because of the potential for intraoperative bleeding, and its increased risk for early and late complications. The conization procedure is associated with increased obstetric risk in later pregnancies, possibly because of more significant disturbance of cervical stroma.^2,3

As mentioned earlier, both procedures are associated with equivalent outcomes with respect to control of disease.¹ CKC procedures are associated with more complications, including bleeding (intraoperatively and postoperatively) than are LEEPs. Traditionally, adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) has been preferentially treated with CKC because of the propensity of this lesion to reside within the endocervical canal, a region more readily and extensively sampled with the CKC. However, provided that the LEEP specimen achieves negative margin status, there is no specific benefit of CKC over LEEP. Guidelines recommend that AIS is excised as a single specimen (without a “top hat”) to achieve accurate pathology regarding margins in the endocervical canal.⁴ Considering that a specimen depth between 10 and 20 mm is ideal in the setting of AIS, it may be difficult to achieve this depth with a single-pass LEEP depending upon the dimensions of the cervix. It is due to these technical challenges associated with LEEP that CKC is typically preferred in the treatment of AIS.

Ultimately, the decision regarding when to choose LEEP versus CKC is nuanced and should be tailored for each patient. Factors to consider include the patient’s ease of follow-up, financial limitations, preexisting distortion of anatomy, and the need to minimize obstetrics risks or achieve wider margins. For example, a young, nulliparous patient with an ectocervical lesion of squamous dysplasia would likely best be served by a LEEP, which preserves her cervical stroma and affords her easy access and affordability of the procedure. A patient with a bleeding diathesis including iatrogenic anticoagulant therapy may also benefit from a LEEP to achieve better hemostasis and lower risk of bleeding complications.

A postmenopausal woman with a narrow upper vagina and cervix flush with the vagina from prior excisional procedures may benefit from a conization in the operating room where adequate retraction and exposure can minimize the risk of damage to adjacent structures, and the shape and size of the excision can be tailored to the long, narrow segment that is indicated. The table highlights some of the factors to consider when choosing these options.

Dr. Rossi is assistant professor in the division of gynecologic oncology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has no conflicts of interest. Contact her at [email protected].

References

1. Martin-Hirsch PL et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2000;(2):CD001318.

2. Arbyn M et al. BMJ. 2008;337:a1284.

3. Jin G et al. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2014 Jan;289(1):85-99.

4. Perkins RB et al. J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2020;24(2):102.

The rate of obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASIS) is approximately 4.4% of vaginal deliveries, with 3.3% 3rd-degree tears and 1.1% 4th-degree tears.¹ In the United States in 2019 there were 3,745,540 births—a 31.7% rate of cesarean delivery (CD) and a 68.3% rate of vaginal delivery—resulting in approximately 112,600 births with OASIS.² A meta-analysis reported that, among 716,031 vaginal births, the risk factors for OASIS included: forceps delivery (relative risk [RR], 3.15), midline episiotomy (RR, 2.88), occiput posterior fetal position (RR, 2.73), vacuum delivery (RR, 2.60), Asian race (RR, 1.87), primiparity (RR, 1.59), mediolateral episiotomy (RR, 1.55), augmentation of labor (RR, 1.46), and epidural anesthesia (RR, 1.21).³ OASIS is associated with an increased risk for developing postpartum perineal pain, anal incontinence, dyspareunia, and wound breakdown.⁴ Complications following OASIS repair can trigger many follow-up appointments to assess wound healing and provide physical therapy.

This editorial review focuses on evolving recommendations for preventing and repairing OASIS.

The optimal cutting angle for a mediolateral episiotomy is 60 degrees from the midline

For spontaneous vaginal delivery, a policy of restricted episiotomy reduces the risk of OASIS by approximately 30%.⁵ With an operative vaginal delivery, especially forceps delivery of a large fetus in the occiput posterior position, a mediolateral episiotomy may help to reduce the risk of OASIS, although there are minimal data from clinical trials to support this practice. In one clinical trial, 407 women were randomly assigned to either a mediolateral or midline episiotomy.⁶ Approximately 25% of the births in both groups were operative deliveries. The mediolateral episiotomy began in the posterior midline of the vaginal introitus and was carried to the right side of the anal sphincter for 3 cm to 4 cm. The midline episiotomy began in the posterior midline of the vagina and was carried 2 cm to 3 cm into the midline perineal tissue. In the women having a midline or mediolateral episiotomy, a 4th-degree tear occurred in 5.5% and 0.4% of births, respectively. For the midline or mediolateral episiotomy, a third-degree tear occurred in 18.4% and 8.6%, respectively. In a prospective cohort study of 1,302 women with an episiotomy and vaginal birth, the rate of OASIS associated with midline or mediolateral episiotomy was 14.8% and 7%, respectively (P<.05).⁷ In this study, the operative vaginal delivery rate was 11.6% and 15.2% for the women in the midline and mediolateral groups, respectively.

The angle of the mediolateral episiotomy may influence the rate of OASIS and persistent postpartum perineal pain. In one study, 330 nulliparous women who were assessed to need a mediolateral episiotomy at delivery were randomized to an incision with a 40- or 60-degree angle from the midline.⁸ Prior to incision, a line was drawn on the skin to mark the course of the incision and then infiltrated with 10 mL of lignocaine. The fetal head was delivered with a Ritgen maneuver. The length of the episiotomy averaged 4 cm in both groups. After delivery, the angle of the episiotomy incision was reassessed. The episiotomy incision cut 60 degrees from the midline was measured on average to be 44 degrees from the midline after delivery of the newborn. Similarly, the incision cut at a 40-degree angle was measured to be 24 degrees from the midline after delivery. The rates of OASIS in the women who had a 40- and 60-degree angle incision were 5.5% and 2.4%, respectively (P = .16).

Continue to: Use a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage for anaerobes prior to or during your anal sphincter repair...

Use a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage for anaerobes prior to or during your anal sphincter repair

Many experts recommend one dose of a prophylactic antibiotic prior to, or during, OASIS repair in order to reduce the risk of wound complications. In a trial 147 women with OASIS were randomly assigned to receive one dose of a second-generation cephalosporin (cefotetan or cefoxitin) with extended anaerobic coverage or a placebo just before repair of the laceration.⁹ At 2 weeks postpartum, perineal wound complications were significantly lower in women receiving one dose of prophylactic antibiotic with extended anaerobe coverage compared with placebo—8.2% and 24.1%, respectively (P = .037). Additionally, at 2 weeks postpartum, purulent wound discharge was significantly lower in women receiving antibiotic versus placebo, 4% and 17%, respectively (P = .036). Experts writing for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada also recommend one dose of cefotetan or cefoxitin.¹⁰ Extended anaerobic coverage also can be achieved by administering a single dose of BOTH cefazolin 2 g by intravenous (IV) infusion PLUS metronidazole 500 mg by IV infusion or oral medication.¹¹ For women with severe penicillin allergy, a recommended regimen is gentamicin 5 mg/kg plus clindamycin 900 mg by IV infusion.¹¹ There is evidence that for colorectal or hysterectomy surgery, expanding prophylactic antibiotic coverage of anaerobes with cefazolin PLUS metronidazole significantly reduces postoperative surgical site infection.^12,13 Following an OASIS repair, wound breakdown is a catastrophic problem that may take many months to resolve. Administration of a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage of anaerobes may help to prevent wound breakdown.

Prioritize identifying and separately repairing the internal anal sphincter

The internal anal sphincter is a smooth muscle that runs along the outside of the rectal wall and thickens into a sphincter toward the anal canal. The internal anal sphincter is thin and grey-white in appearance, like a veil. By contrast, the external anal sphincter is a thick band of red striated muscle tissue. In one study of 3,333 primiparous women with OASIS, an internal anal sphincter injury was detected in 33% of cases.¹⁴ In this large cohort, the rate of internal anal sphincter injury with a 3A tear, a 3B tear, a complete tear of the external sphincter and a 4th-degree perineal tear was 22%, 23%, 42%, and 71%, respectively. The internal anal sphincter is important for maintaining rectal continence and is estimated to contribute 50% to 85% of resting anal tone.¹⁵ If injury to the internal anal sphincter is detected at a birth with an OASIS, it is important to separately repair the internal anal sphincter to reduce the risk of postpartum rectal incontinence.¹⁶

Polyglactin 910 vs Polydioxanone (PDS) Suture—Is PDS the winner?

Polyglactin 910 (Vicryl) is a braided suture that is absorbed within 56 to 70 days. Polydioxanone suture is a long-lasting monofilament suture that is absorbed within 200 days. Many colorectal surgeons and urogynecologists prefer PDS suture for the repair of both the internal and external anal sphincters.¹⁶ Authors of one randomized trial of OASIS repair with Vicryl or PDS suture did not report significant differences in most clinical outcomes.¹⁷ However, in this study, anal endosonographic imaging of the internal and external anal sphincter demonstrated more internal sphincter defects but not external sphincter defects when the repair was performed with Vicryl rather than PDS. The investigators concluded that comprehensive training of the surgeon, not choice of suture, is probably the most important factor in achieving a good OASIS repair. However, because many subspecialists favor PDS suture for sphincter repair, specialists in obstetrics and gynecology should consider this option.

Continue to: Can your patient access early secondary repair if they develop a perineal laceration wound breakdown?

Can your patient access early secondary repair if they develop a perineal laceration wound breakdown?

The breakdown of an OASIS repair is an obstetric catastrophe with complications that can last many months and sometimes stretch into years. The best approach to a perineal laceration wound breakdown remains controversial. It is optimal if all patients with a wound breakdown can be offered an early secondary repair or healing by secondary intention, permitting the patient to select the best approach for their specific situation.

As noted by the pioneers of early repair of episiotomy dehiscence, Drs. Hankins, Haugh, Gilstrap, Ramin, and others,^18-20 conventional doctrine is that an episiotomy repair dehiscence should be managed expectantly, allowing healing by secondary intention and delaying repair of the sphincters for a minimum of 3 to 4 months.²¹ However, many small case-series report that early secondary repair of a perineal laceration wound breakdown is possible following multiple days of wound preparation prior to the repair, good surgical technique and diligent postoperative follow-up care. One large case series reported on 72 women with complete perineal wound dehiscence who had early secondary repair.²² The median time to complete wound healing following early repair was 28 days. About 36% of the patients had one or more complications, including skin dehiscence, granuloma formation, perineal pain, and sinus formation. A pilot randomized trial reported that, compared with expectant management of a wound breakdown, early repair resulted in a shorter time to wound healing.²³

Early repair of perineal wound dehiscence often involves a course of care that extends over multiple weeks. As an example, following a vaginal birth with OASIS and immediate repair, the patient is often discharged from the hospital to home on postpartum day 3. The wound breakdown often is detected between postpartum days 6 to 10. If early secondary repair is selected as the best treatment, 1 to 6 days of daily debridement of the wound is needed to prepare the wound for early secondary repair. The daily debridement required to prepare the wound for early repair is often performed in the hospital, potentially disrupting early mother-newborn bonding. Following the repair, the patient is observed in the hospital for 1 to 3 days and then discharged home with daily wound care and multiple follow-up visits to monitor wound healing. Pelvic floor physical therapy may be initiated when the wound is healed. The prolonged process required for early secondary repair may be best undertaken by a subspecialty practice.²⁴

The surgical repair and postpartum care of OASIS continues to evolve. In your practice you should consider:

• performing a mediolateral episiotomy at a 60-degree angle to reduce the risk of OASIS in situations where there is a high risk of anal sphincter injury, such as in forceps delivery
• using one dose of a prophylactic antibiotic with extended anaerobic coverage, such as cefotetan or cefoxitin
• focus on identifying and separately repairing an internal anal sphincter injury
• using a long-lasting absorbable suture, such as PDS, to repair the internal and external anal sphincters
• ensuring that the patient with a dehiscence following an episiotomy or anal sphincter injury has access to early secondary repair. Standardizing your approach to the prevention and repair of anal sphincter injury will benefit the approximately 112,600 US women who experience OASIS each year. ●

The rate of obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASIS) is approximately 4.4% of vaginal deliveries, with 3.3% 3rd-degree tears and 1.1% 4th-degree tears.¹ In the United States in 2019 there were 3,745,540 births—a 31.7% rate of cesarean delivery (CD) and a 68.3% rate of vaginal delivery—resulting in approximately 112,600 births with OASIS.² A meta-analysis reported that, among 716,031 vaginal births, the risk factors for OASIS included: forceps delivery (relative risk [RR], 3.15), midline episiotomy (RR, 2.88), occiput posterior fetal position (RR, 2.73), vacuum delivery (RR, 2.60), Asian race (RR, 1.87), primiparity (RR, 1.59), mediolateral episiotomy (RR, 1.55), augmentation of labor (RR, 1.46), and epidural anesthesia (RR, 1.21).³ OASIS is associated with an increased risk for developing postpartum perineal pain, anal incontinence, dyspareunia, and wound breakdown.⁴ Complications following OASIS repair can trigger many follow-up appointments to assess wound healing and provide physical therapy.

This editorial review focuses on evolving recommendations for preventing and repairing OASIS.

The optimal cutting angle for a mediolateral episiotomy is 60 degrees from the midline

For spontaneous vaginal delivery, a policy of restricted episiotomy reduces the risk of OASIS by approximately 30%.⁵ With an operative vaginal delivery, especially forceps delivery of a large fetus in the occiput posterior position, a mediolateral episiotomy may help to reduce the risk of OASIS, although there are minimal data from clinical trials to support this practice. In one clinical trial, 407 women were randomly assigned to either a mediolateral or midline episiotomy.⁶ Approximately 25% of the births in both groups were operative deliveries. The mediolateral episiotomy began in the posterior midline of the vaginal introitus and was carried to the right side of the anal sphincter for 3 cm to 4 cm. The midline episiotomy began in the posterior midline of the vagina and was carried 2 cm to 3 cm into the midline perineal tissue. In the women having a midline or mediolateral episiotomy, a 4th-degree tear occurred in 5.5% and 0.4% of births, respectively. For the midline or mediolateral episiotomy, a third-degree tear occurred in 18.4% and 8.6%, respectively. In a prospective cohort study of 1,302 women with an episiotomy and vaginal birth, the rate of OASIS associated with midline or mediolateral episiotomy was 14.8% and 7%, respectively (P<.05).⁷ In this study, the operative vaginal delivery rate was 11.6% and 15.2% for the women in the midline and mediolateral groups, respectively.

The angle of the mediolateral episiotomy may influence the rate of OASIS and persistent postpartum perineal pain. In one study, 330 nulliparous women who were assessed to need a mediolateral episiotomy at delivery were randomized to an incision with a 40- or 60-degree angle from the midline.⁸ Prior to incision, a line was drawn on the skin to mark the course of the incision and then infiltrated with 10 mL of lignocaine. The fetal head was delivered with a Ritgen maneuver. The length of the episiotomy averaged 4 cm in both groups. After delivery, the angle of the episiotomy incision was reassessed. The episiotomy incision cut 60 degrees from the midline was measured on average to be 44 degrees from the midline after delivery of the newborn. Similarly, the incision cut at a 40-degree angle was measured to be 24 degrees from the midline after delivery. The rates of OASIS in the women who had a 40- and 60-degree angle incision were 5.5% and 2.4%, respectively (P = .16).

Continue to: Use a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage for anaerobes prior to or during your anal sphincter repair...

Use a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage for anaerobes prior to or during your anal sphincter repair

Many experts recommend one dose of a prophylactic antibiotic prior to, or during, OASIS repair in order to reduce the risk of wound complications. In a trial 147 women with OASIS were randomly assigned to receive one dose of a second-generation cephalosporin (cefotetan or cefoxitin) with extended anaerobic coverage or a placebo just before repair of the laceration.⁹ At 2 weeks postpartum, perineal wound complications were significantly lower in women receiving one dose of prophylactic antibiotic with extended anaerobe coverage compared with placebo—8.2% and 24.1%, respectively (P = .037). Additionally, at 2 weeks postpartum, purulent wound discharge was significantly lower in women receiving antibiotic versus placebo, 4% and 17%, respectively (P = .036). Experts writing for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada also recommend one dose of cefotetan or cefoxitin.¹⁰ Extended anaerobic coverage also can be achieved by administering a single dose of BOTH cefazolin 2 g by intravenous (IV) infusion PLUS metronidazole 500 mg by IV infusion or oral medication.¹¹ For women with severe penicillin allergy, a recommended regimen is gentamicin 5 mg/kg plus clindamycin 900 mg by IV infusion.¹¹ There is evidence that for colorectal or hysterectomy surgery, expanding prophylactic antibiotic coverage of anaerobes with cefazolin PLUS metronidazole significantly reduces postoperative surgical site infection.^12,13 Following an OASIS repair, wound breakdown is a catastrophic problem that may take many months to resolve. Administration of a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage of anaerobes may help to prevent wound breakdown.

Prioritize identifying and separately repairing the internal anal sphincter

The internal anal sphincter is a smooth muscle that runs along the outside of the rectal wall and thickens into a sphincter toward the anal canal. The internal anal sphincter is thin and grey-white in appearance, like a veil. By contrast, the external anal sphincter is a thick band of red striated muscle tissue. In one study of 3,333 primiparous women with OASIS, an internal anal sphincter injury was detected in 33% of cases.¹⁴ In this large cohort, the rate of internal anal sphincter injury with a 3A tear, a 3B tear, a complete tear of the external sphincter and a 4th-degree perineal tear was 22%, 23%, 42%, and 71%, respectively. The internal anal sphincter is important for maintaining rectal continence and is estimated to contribute 50% to 85% of resting anal tone.¹⁵ If injury to the internal anal sphincter is detected at a birth with an OASIS, it is important to separately repair the internal anal sphincter to reduce the risk of postpartum rectal incontinence.¹⁶

Polyglactin 910 vs Polydioxanone (PDS) Suture—Is PDS the winner?

Polyglactin 910 (Vicryl) is a braided suture that is absorbed within 56 to 70 days. Polydioxanone suture is a long-lasting monofilament suture that is absorbed within 200 days. Many colorectal surgeons and urogynecologists prefer PDS suture for the repair of both the internal and external anal sphincters.¹⁶ Authors of one randomized trial of OASIS repair with Vicryl or PDS suture did not report significant differences in most clinical outcomes.¹⁷ However, in this study, anal endosonographic imaging of the internal and external anal sphincter demonstrated more internal sphincter defects but not external sphincter defects when the repair was performed with Vicryl rather than PDS. The investigators concluded that comprehensive training of the surgeon, not choice of suture, is probably the most important factor in achieving a good OASIS repair. However, because many subspecialists favor PDS suture for sphincter repair, specialists in obstetrics and gynecology should consider this option.

Continue to: Can your patient access early secondary repair if they develop a perineal laceration wound breakdown?

Can your patient access early secondary repair if they develop a perineal laceration wound breakdown?

The breakdown of an OASIS repair is an obstetric catastrophe with complications that can last many months and sometimes stretch into years. The best approach to a perineal laceration wound breakdown remains controversial. It is optimal if all patients with a wound breakdown can be offered an early secondary repair or healing by secondary intention, permitting the patient to select the best approach for their specific situation.

As noted by the pioneers of early repair of episiotomy dehiscence, Drs. Hankins, Haugh, Gilstrap, Ramin, and others,^18-20 conventional doctrine is that an episiotomy repair dehiscence should be managed expectantly, allowing healing by secondary intention and delaying repair of the sphincters for a minimum of 3 to 4 months.²¹ However, many small case-series report that early secondary repair of a perineal laceration wound breakdown is possible following multiple days of wound preparation prior to the repair, good surgical technique and diligent postoperative follow-up care. One large case series reported on 72 women with complete perineal wound dehiscence who had early secondary repair.²² The median time to complete wound healing following early repair was 28 days. About 36% of the patients had one or more complications, including skin dehiscence, granuloma formation, perineal pain, and sinus formation. A pilot randomized trial reported that, compared with expectant management of a wound breakdown, early repair resulted in a shorter time to wound healing.²³

Early repair of perineal wound dehiscence often involves a course of care that extends over multiple weeks. As an example, following a vaginal birth with OASIS and immediate repair, the patient is often discharged from the hospital to home on postpartum day 3. The wound breakdown often is detected between postpartum days 6 to 10. If early secondary repair is selected as the best treatment, 1 to 6 days of daily debridement of the wound is needed to prepare the wound for early secondary repair. The daily debridement required to prepare the wound for early repair is often performed in the hospital, potentially disrupting early mother-newborn bonding. Following the repair, the patient is observed in the hospital for 1 to 3 days and then discharged home with daily wound care and multiple follow-up visits to monitor wound healing. Pelvic floor physical therapy may be initiated when the wound is healed. The prolonged process required for early secondary repair may be best undertaken by a subspecialty practice.²⁴

The surgical repair and postpartum care of OASIS continues to evolve. In your practice you should consider:

• performing a mediolateral episiotomy at a 60-degree angle to reduce the risk of OASIS in situations where there is a high risk of anal sphincter injury, such as in forceps delivery
• using one dose of a prophylactic antibiotic with extended anaerobic coverage, such as cefotetan or cefoxitin
• focus on identifying and separately repairing an internal anal sphincter injury
• using a long-lasting absorbable suture, such as PDS, to repair the internal and external anal sphincters
• ensuring that the patient with a dehiscence following an episiotomy or anal sphincter injury has access to early secondary repair. Standardizing your approach to the prevention and repair of anal sphincter injury will benefit the approximately 112,600 US women who experience OASIS each year. ●

The rate of obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASIS) is approximately 4.4% of vaginal deliveries, with 3.3% 3rd-degree tears and 1.1% 4th-degree tears.¹ In the United States in 2019 there were 3,745,540 births—a 31.7% rate of cesarean delivery (CD) and a 68.3% rate of vaginal delivery—resulting in approximately 112,600 births with OASIS.² A meta-analysis reported that, among 716,031 vaginal births, the risk factors for OASIS included: forceps delivery (relative risk [RR], 3.15), midline episiotomy (RR, 2.88), occiput posterior fetal position (RR, 2.73), vacuum delivery (RR, 2.60), Asian race (RR, 1.87), primiparity (RR, 1.59), mediolateral episiotomy (RR, 1.55), augmentation of labor (RR, 1.46), and epidural anesthesia (RR, 1.21).³ OASIS is associated with an increased risk for developing postpartum perineal pain, anal incontinence, dyspareunia, and wound breakdown.⁴ Complications following OASIS repair can trigger many follow-up appointments to assess wound healing and provide physical therapy.

This editorial review focuses on evolving recommendations for preventing and repairing OASIS.

The optimal cutting angle for a mediolateral episiotomy is 60 degrees from the midline

For spontaneous vaginal delivery, a policy of restricted episiotomy reduces the risk of OASIS by approximately 30%.⁵ With an operative vaginal delivery, especially forceps delivery of a large fetus in the occiput posterior position, a mediolateral episiotomy may help to reduce the risk of OASIS, although there are minimal data from clinical trials to support this practice. In one clinical trial, 407 women were randomly assigned to either a mediolateral or midline episiotomy.⁶ Approximately 25% of the births in both groups were operative deliveries. The mediolateral episiotomy began in the posterior midline of the vaginal introitus and was carried to the right side of the anal sphincter for 3 cm to 4 cm. The midline episiotomy began in the posterior midline of the vagina and was carried 2 cm to 3 cm into the midline perineal tissue. In the women having a midline or mediolateral episiotomy, a 4th-degree tear occurred in 5.5% and 0.4% of births, respectively. For the midline or mediolateral episiotomy, a third-degree tear occurred in 18.4% and 8.6%, respectively. In a prospective cohort study of 1,302 women with an episiotomy and vaginal birth, the rate of OASIS associated with midline or mediolateral episiotomy was 14.8% and 7%, respectively (P<.05).⁷ In this study, the operative vaginal delivery rate was 11.6% and 15.2% for the women in the midline and mediolateral groups, respectively.

The angle of the mediolateral episiotomy may influence the rate of OASIS and persistent postpartum perineal pain. In one study, 330 nulliparous women who were assessed to need a mediolateral episiotomy at delivery were randomized to an incision with a 40- or 60-degree angle from the midline.⁸ Prior to incision, a line was drawn on the skin to mark the course of the incision and then infiltrated with 10 mL of lignocaine. The fetal head was delivered with a Ritgen maneuver. The length of the episiotomy averaged 4 cm in both groups. After delivery, the angle of the episiotomy incision was reassessed. The episiotomy incision cut 60 degrees from the midline was measured on average to be 44 degrees from the midline after delivery of the newborn. Similarly, the incision cut at a 40-degree angle was measured to be 24 degrees from the midline after delivery. The rates of OASIS in the women who had a 40- and 60-degree angle incision were 5.5% and 2.4%, respectively (P = .16).

Continue to: Use a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage for anaerobes prior to or during your anal sphincter repair...

Use a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage for anaerobes prior to or during your anal sphincter repair

Many experts recommend one dose of a prophylactic antibiotic prior to, or during, OASIS repair in order to reduce the risk of wound complications. In a trial 147 women with OASIS were randomly assigned to receive one dose of a second-generation cephalosporin (cefotetan or cefoxitin) with extended anaerobic coverage or a placebo just before repair of the laceration.⁹ At 2 weeks postpartum, perineal wound complications were significantly lower in women receiving one dose of prophylactic antibiotic with extended anaerobe coverage compared with placebo—8.2% and 24.1%, respectively (P = .037). Additionally, at 2 weeks postpartum, purulent wound discharge was significantly lower in women receiving antibiotic versus placebo, 4% and 17%, respectively (P = .036). Experts writing for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada also recommend one dose of cefotetan or cefoxitin.¹⁰ Extended anaerobic coverage also can be achieved by administering a single dose of BOTH cefazolin 2 g by intravenous (IV) infusion PLUS metronidazole 500 mg by IV infusion or oral medication.¹¹ For women with severe penicillin allergy, a recommended regimen is gentamicin 5 mg/kg plus clindamycin 900 mg by IV infusion.¹¹ There is evidence that for colorectal or hysterectomy surgery, expanding prophylactic antibiotic coverage of anaerobes with cefazolin PLUS metronidazole significantly reduces postoperative surgical site infection.^12,13 Following an OASIS repair, wound breakdown is a catastrophic problem that may take many months to resolve. Administration of a prophylactic antibiotic with extended coverage of anaerobes may help to prevent wound breakdown.

Prioritize identifying and separately repairing the internal anal sphincter

The internal anal sphincter is a smooth muscle that runs along the outside of the rectal wall and thickens into a sphincter toward the anal canal. The internal anal sphincter is thin and grey-white in appearance, like a veil. By contrast, the external anal sphincter is a thick band of red striated muscle tissue. In one study of 3,333 primiparous women with OASIS, an internal anal sphincter injury was detected in 33% of cases.¹⁴ In this large cohort, the rate of internal anal sphincter injury with a 3A tear, a 3B tear, a complete tear of the external sphincter and a 4th-degree perineal tear was 22%, 23%, 42%, and 71%, respectively. The internal anal sphincter is important for maintaining rectal continence and is estimated to contribute 50% to 85% of resting anal tone.¹⁵ If injury to the internal anal sphincter is detected at a birth with an OASIS, it is important to separately repair the internal anal sphincter to reduce the risk of postpartum rectal incontinence.¹⁶

Polyglactin 910 vs Polydioxanone (PDS) Suture—Is PDS the winner?

Polyglactin 910 (Vicryl) is a braided suture that is absorbed within 56 to 70 days. Polydioxanone suture is a long-lasting monofilament suture that is absorbed within 200 days. Many colorectal surgeons and urogynecologists prefer PDS suture for the repair of both the internal and external anal sphincters.¹⁶ Authors of one randomized trial of OASIS repair with Vicryl or PDS suture did not report significant differences in most clinical outcomes.¹⁷ However, in this study, anal endosonographic imaging of the internal and external anal sphincter demonstrated more internal sphincter defects but not external sphincter defects when the repair was performed with Vicryl rather than PDS. The investigators concluded that comprehensive training of the surgeon, not choice of suture, is probably the most important factor in achieving a good OASIS repair. However, because many subspecialists favor PDS suture for sphincter repair, specialists in obstetrics and gynecology should consider this option.

Continue to: Can your patient access early secondary repair if they develop a perineal laceration wound breakdown?

Can your patient access early secondary repair if they develop a perineal laceration wound breakdown?

The breakdown of an OASIS repair is an obstetric catastrophe with complications that can last many months and sometimes stretch into years. The best approach to a perineal laceration wound breakdown remains controversial. It is optimal if all patients with a wound breakdown can be offered an early secondary repair or healing by secondary intention, permitting the patient to select the best approach for their specific situation.

As noted by the pioneers of early repair of episiotomy dehiscence, Drs. Hankins, Haugh, Gilstrap, Ramin, and others,^18-20 conventional doctrine is that an episiotomy repair dehiscence should be managed expectantly, allowing healing by secondary intention and delaying repair of the sphincters for a minimum of 3 to 4 months.²¹ However, many small case-series report that early secondary repair of a perineal laceration wound breakdown is possible following multiple days of wound preparation prior to the repair, good surgical technique and diligent postoperative follow-up care. One large case series reported on 72 women with complete perineal wound dehiscence who had early secondary repair.²² The median time to complete wound healing following early repair was 28 days. About 36% of the patients had one or more complications, including skin dehiscence, granuloma formation, perineal pain, and sinus formation. A pilot randomized trial reported that, compared with expectant management of a wound breakdown, early repair resulted in a shorter time to wound healing.²³

Early repair of perineal wound dehiscence often involves a course of care that extends over multiple weeks. As an example, following a vaginal birth with OASIS and immediate repair, the patient is often discharged from the hospital to home on postpartum day 3. The wound breakdown often is detected between postpartum days 6 to 10. If early secondary repair is selected as the best treatment, 1 to 6 days of daily debridement of the wound is needed to prepare the wound for early secondary repair. The daily debridement required to prepare the wound for early repair is often performed in the hospital, potentially disrupting early mother-newborn bonding. Following the repair, the patient is observed in the hospital for 1 to 3 days and then discharged home with daily wound care and multiple follow-up visits to monitor wound healing. Pelvic floor physical therapy may be initiated when the wound is healed. The prolonged process required for early secondary repair may be best undertaken by a subspecialty practice.²⁴

The surgical repair and postpartum care of OASIS continues to evolve. In your practice you should consider:

• performing a mediolateral episiotomy at a 60-degree angle to reduce the risk of OASIS in situations where there is a high risk of anal sphincter injury, such as in forceps delivery
• using one dose of a prophylactic antibiotic with extended anaerobic coverage, such as cefotetan or cefoxitin
• focus on identifying and separately repairing an internal anal sphincter injury
• using a long-lasting absorbable suture, such as PDS, to repair the internal and external anal sphincters
• ensuring that the patient with a dehiscence following an episiotomy or anal sphincter injury has access to early secondary repair. Standardizing your approach to the prevention and repair of anal sphincter injury will benefit the approximately 112,600 US women who experience OASIS each year. ●

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director Rochelle Walensky, MD, signed off on an advisory panel’s recommendation May 12 endorsing the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12-15 years.

Earlier in the day the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 14-0 in favor of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in younger teens.

“CDC now recommends that this vaccine be used among this population, and providers may begin vaccinating them right away,” Dr. Walensky said in an official statement.

The Food and Drug Administration on May 10 issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 12-15 years old. The FDA first cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine through an EUA in December 2020 for those ages 16 and older. Pfizer this month also initiated steps with the FDA toward a full approval of its vaccine.

Dr. Walenksy urged parents to seriously consider vaccinating their children.

“Understandably, some parents want more information before their children receive a vaccine,” she said. “I encourage parents with questions to talk to your child’s healthcare provider or your family doctor to learn more about the vaccine.”
 

Vaccine “safe and effective”

Separately, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement May 12 in support of vaccinating all children ages 12 and older who are eligible for the federally authorized COVID-19 vaccine.

“As a pediatrician and a parent, I have looked forward to getting my own children and patients vaccinated, and I am thrilled that those ages 12 and older can now be protected,” said AAP President Lee Savio Beers, MD, in a statement. “The data continue to show that this vaccine is safe and effective. I urge all parents to call their pediatrician to learn more about how to get their children and teens vaccinated.”

The expanded clearance for the Pfizer vaccine is seen as a critical step for allowing teens to resume activities on which they missed out during the pandemic.

“We’ve seen the harm done to children’s mental and emotional health as they’ve missed out on so many experiences during the pandemic,” Dr. Beers said. “Vaccinating children will protect them and allow them to fully engage in all of the activities – school, sports, socializing with friends and family – that are so important to their health and development.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director Rochelle Walensky, MD, signed off on an advisory panel’s recommendation May 12 endorsing the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12-15 years.

Earlier in the day the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 14-0 in favor of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in younger teens.

“CDC now recommends that this vaccine be used among this population, and providers may begin vaccinating them right away,” Dr. Walensky said in an official statement.

The Food and Drug Administration on May 10 issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 12-15 years old. The FDA first cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine through an EUA in December 2020 for those ages 16 and older. Pfizer this month also initiated steps with the FDA toward a full approval of its vaccine.

Dr. Walenksy urged parents to seriously consider vaccinating their children.

“Understandably, some parents want more information before their children receive a vaccine,” she said. “I encourage parents with questions to talk to your child’s healthcare provider or your family doctor to learn more about the vaccine.”
 

Vaccine “safe and effective”

Separately, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement May 12 in support of vaccinating all children ages 12 and older who are eligible for the federally authorized COVID-19 vaccine.

“As a pediatrician and a parent, I have looked forward to getting my own children and patients vaccinated, and I am thrilled that those ages 12 and older can now be protected,” said AAP President Lee Savio Beers, MD, in a statement. “The data continue to show that this vaccine is safe and effective. I urge all parents to call their pediatrician to learn more about how to get their children and teens vaccinated.”

The expanded clearance for the Pfizer vaccine is seen as a critical step for allowing teens to resume activities on which they missed out during the pandemic.

“We’ve seen the harm done to children’s mental and emotional health as they’ve missed out on so many experiences during the pandemic,” Dr. Beers said. “Vaccinating children will protect them and allow them to fully engage in all of the activities – school, sports, socializing with friends and family – that are so important to their health and development.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director Rochelle Walensky, MD, signed off on an advisory panel’s recommendation May 12 endorsing the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12-15 years.

Earlier in the day the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 14-0 in favor of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in younger teens.

“CDC now recommends that this vaccine be used among this population, and providers may begin vaccinating them right away,” Dr. Walensky said in an official statement.

The Food and Drug Administration on May 10 issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 12-15 years old. The FDA first cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine through an EUA in December 2020 for those ages 16 and older. Pfizer this month also initiated steps with the FDA toward a full approval of its vaccine.

Dr. Walenksy urged parents to seriously consider vaccinating their children.

“Understandably, some parents want more information before their children receive a vaccine,” she said. “I encourage parents with questions to talk to your child’s healthcare provider or your family doctor to learn more about the vaccine.”
 

Vaccine “safe and effective”

Separately, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement May 12 in support of vaccinating all children ages 12 and older who are eligible for the federally authorized COVID-19 vaccine.

“As a pediatrician and a parent, I have looked forward to getting my own children and patients vaccinated, and I am thrilled that those ages 12 and older can now be protected,” said AAP President Lee Savio Beers, MD, in a statement. “The data continue to show that this vaccine is safe and effective. I urge all parents to call their pediatrician to learn more about how to get their children and teens vaccinated.”

The expanded clearance for the Pfizer vaccine is seen as a critical step for allowing teens to resume activities on which they missed out during the pandemic.

“We’ve seen the harm done to children’s mental and emotional health as they’ve missed out on so many experiences during the pandemic,” Dr. Beers said. “Vaccinating children will protect them and allow them to fully engage in all of the activities – school, sports, socializing with friends and family – that are so important to their health and development.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.