Despite the widespread implementation of the acute care surgery (ACS) model, limited access to operating room time represents a barrier to the optimal delivery of emergency general surgery (EGS) care. The objective of this study was to describe the effect of operative timing on outcomes in EGS in a network of teaching hospitals. We conducted a retrospective review of EGS operations performed at 3 teaching hospitals in a single academic network. Time of operation was categorized as daytime (8 am to 5 pm), after hours (5 pm to 11 pm) or overnight (11 pm to 8 am). Time to operation was calculated as the interval from admission to operative start time and categorized as less than 24 hours, 24-72 hours and greater than 72 hours. After we excluded nonindex cases, trauma cases and cases occurring more than 5 days after admission, 1505 EGS cases were included. We found that 39.0% of operations were performed in the daytime, 46.3% after hours and 14.8% overnight. In terms of time to operation, 52.3% of operations were performed within 24 hours of admission, 33.4% in 24-72 hours and 14.3% in more than 72 hours. The overall complication rate was 20.6% (310 patients) and the overall mortality rate was 3.8% (57 patients). After multivariable analysis, time to operation more than 72 hours after admission was independently associated with increased odds of morbidity (odds ratio [OR] 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-2.47), while overnight operating was associated with increased odds of death (OR 3.15, 95% CI 1.29-7.70). Increasing time from admission to operation and overnight operating were associated with greater morbidity and mortality, respectively, for EGS patients. Strategies to provide timely access to the operating room should be considered to optimize care in an ACS model.

The rise in popularity of hip arthroscopy has led to a renewed interest in mild hip dysplasia. There is a lack of clarity in the literature regarding both the diagnosis and management of such patients. The aim of this study was to analyse the relative importance of and the inter-relationship between the classically described anatomical indices of dysplasia. One hundred and fifty hips with varying degrees of hip dysplasia were studied. The following were measured: centre-edge (CE), Sharp's and Tönnis angles, acetabular head index (AHI), and acetabular index of depth to width (AIDW). Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated. Using the CE angle 82 hips were classified as normal and 68 dysplastic. Of the 82 patients with a normal CE angle, 20-39% were dysplastic on at least one other variable. The CE angle did not have a significant correlation to other variables. The remaining four variables showed inter-correlations between 0.26 and 0.54. Overall the Tönnis angle showed the strongest correlation with the other variables. In the patient group with CE angles 21^° to 25^° (minor dysplasia) 72% of hips had Tönnis angles greater than 10^° and 28% had angles greater than or equal to 15^° indicating the great variability in the level of dysplasia within this group. In patients with mild dysplasia we have shown that measurement of a single anatomical variable may lead to under-diagnosis. We recommend the measurement the CE angle combined with at least one other variable and suggest the use of the Tönnis angle.

Background: Patient navigation (P.N.) is designed to eliminate barriers to care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a novel P.N. program on timeliness of care in patients with esophageal cancer.Methods: This retrospective study compared the timeliness of care for esophageal cancer patients before (January 2014–March 2018) and after the implementation of a novel P.N. program (April 2018–March 2020), called EDAP, at a tertiary care center. The primary outcome was time from biopsy to first treatment; secondary outcomes included time from biopsy to complete staging, biopsy to complete preoperative workup, and referral to the first point of contact. The outcomes were evaluated in the entire cohort and then in a subgroup of patients undergoing curative multimodality therapy.Results: There were 96 patients in the pre‐EDAP group and 98 patients in the post‐EDAP group. There was no significant difference between pre‐ and post‐EDAP in the time from biopsy to first treatment and time from biopsy to staging in the overall cohort. In the subgroup of patients undergoing curative multimodality therapy, there was a significant decrease in time from biopsy to first treatment postnavigation (60–51 days, p = 0.02), in addition to a significant decrease in time from biopsy to preoperative workup and time from biopsy to staging.Conclusions: This is the first study demonstrating that a novel P.N. program for patients with esophageal cancer improved timeliness of care. The group of patients who benefited most were those undergoing curative multimodality therapy, likely given the extensive coordination of services required by this group.

A subclinical form of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) can lead to subtle morphologic abnormalities, such as cam-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Femoroacetabular impingement is a mechanical hip abnormality that typically affects young populations and leads to hip pain and premature osteoarthritis. Imaging is critical to diagnosis, whether by radiograph, magnetic resonance imaging, or computed tomography. The authors investigated the use of imaging to detect characteristics of subclinical SCFE and cam-type FAI in patients undergoing hip resurfacing. They retrospectively assessed computed tomography scans of 81 hips from 75 patients. Measurements were taken of the proximal femur and included the alpha angle, head-neck tilt, and anterior offset taken in both the conventional oblique axial plane and the radial plane. The cohort consisted of 68 men and 13 women with an average age of 52 years. Ninety percent of hips on the oblique axial view and 95% of hips on the radial view were found to have pathologically increased alpha angles. Negative correlations were found between the alpha angle and head-neck tilt and positive correlations between head-neck tilt and anterior offset ratio. Sixty percent and 68% of hips in the oblique axial and radial planes, respectively, were abnormal for the alpha angle, head-neck tilt, and anterior offset ratio, strongly suggesting SCFE morphology. This study’s results show similarity in morphology between cam-type FAI and SCFE, known precursors to osteoarthritis, in an early arthritic patient population.