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Background
Sepsis is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in hospitals. This study presents the evaluation of a quality collaborative, which aimed to decrease sepsis-related hospital mortality.
Methods
The German Quality Network Sepsis (GQNS) offers quality reporting based on claims data, peer reviews, and support for establishing continuous quality management and staff education. This study evaluates the effects of participating in the GQNS during the intervention period (April 2016–June 2018) in comparison to a retrospective baseline (January 2014–March 2016). The primary outcome was all-cause risk-adjusted hospital mortality among cases with sepsis. Sepsis was identified by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes in claims data. A controlled time series analysis was conducted to analyze changes from the baseline to the intervention period comparing GQNS hospitals with the population of all German hospitals assessed via the national diagnosis-related groups (DRGs)-statistics. Tests were conducted using piecewise hierarchical models. Implementation processes and barriers were assessed by surveys of local leaders of quality improvement teams.
Results
Seventy-four hospitals participated, of which 17 were university hospitals and 18 were tertiary care facilities. Observed mortality was 43.5% during baseline period and 42.7% during intervention period. Interrupted time-series analyses did not show effects on course or level of risk-adjusted mortality of cases with sepsis compared to the national DRG-statistics after the beginning of the intervention period (p = 0.632 and p = 0.512, respectively). There was no significant mortality decrease in the subgroups of patients with septic shock or ventilation >24 h or predefined subgroups of hospitals. A standardized survey among 49 local quality improvement leaders in autumn of 2018 revealed that most hospitals did not succeed in implementing a continuous quality management program or relevant measures to improve early recognition and treatment of sepsis. Barriers perceived most commonly were lack of time (77.6%), staff shortage (59.2%), and lack of participation of relevant departments (38.8%).
Conclusion
As long as hospital-wide sepsis quality improvement efforts will not become a high priority for the hospital leadership by assuring adequate resources and involvement of all pertinent stakeholders, voluntary initiatives to improve the quality of sepsis care will remain prone to failure.
Primary Pan-CT is associated with improved clinical course and outcome in polytrauma patients
(2012)
The early clinical management of patients with polytrauma remains challenging. Clinical examination is unreliable in identifying the presence and severity of injuries, and diagnostic imaging plays a central role in the evaluation of the injury pattern. In the last decade, whole body multi slice computed tomography (Pan-CT) performed immediately after admission gained recognition in Europe and United States. Its utility and value, given the lack of accuracy data and concerns about unnecessary exposure to radiation, is undefined. The primary objective of this retrospective cohort study was to compare survival of multiple trauma (polytrauma) patients (Injury Severity Score [ISS] ≥ 16) prior to (1999 - 2002) and after (2002 - 2004) the introduction of a Pan-CT-based trauma resuscitation algorithm at a maximum care university medical centre. Secondary objectives were to compare the complication rates and duration of intensive care treatment. The study included 123 patients (mean age 34.6 years [SD 16.8], mean ISS 26.7 [SD 8.7]) in the control and 104 (mean age 39.8 years [SD 20.0], mean ISS 28.6 [SD 10.5]) patients in the intervention period. Die Baseline criteria were well balanced amongst both cohorts except for age (34.6 versus 39.8 years, p = 0.034). Both cohorts had a similar predicted probability of survival using the TRISS method (77.5 versus 77.6%, p = 0.979). Raw mortality decreased markedly but not statistically significantly in Pan-CT cohort (17.9 versus 11.5%, risk ratio (RR) 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.34 - 1.24). However, after adjustment for injury severity, by mortality odds ratio of 0.40 (95% CI 0.17 – 0.95, p = 0.038) Pan-CT patients were 2.5 times more likely to survive. The mean difference in the duration of ICU treatment (5.1, 95% CI 1.2 – 9.0 days), days on respirator (5.3, 95% CI 2.0 - 8.6), and number of complications (0.4, 95% CI 0.2 – 0.8) was statistically significant and in favour of the Pan-CT-period.