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Background: Parenteral nutrition for intestinal failure (IF) often requires a tunneled central venous catheter (CVC). The purpose of this study was to characterize complications after CVC placement and contributors to line loss in pediatric IF patients., Methods: An institutional review board-approved retrospective review of pediatric (<18 y) IF patients who had a silicone tunneled CVC newly inserted or exchanged from 2012 to 2016 in an IF center was conducted. Patient demographics, procedure service (surgery versus interventional radiology), procedure type (new versus exchange), vessel, and complications related to CVCs were evaluated. Complications included dislodgement, infection, break, occlusion/malfunction, and others. An ethanol-lock protocol for silicone CVCs in IF patients was instituted in January 2012., Results: Twenty-nine IF patients with tunneled CVCs were identified with 182 lines and 18,534 line d. Median age at line insertion was 17.1 mo (interquartile range [IQR] 7.6-31.5) with a median of five catheters (IQR 2-8) per patient. There were 19.2 complications per 1000 line d. Occlusions/malfunctions were the most common complication (6.0/1000 line d) followed by breaks (5.6/1000 line d). Median life of catheters was 51.5 d (IQR 21-129). On regression, adjusting for age, insertion service, and procedure type, shorter line life was associated with younger age (P = 0.04) and placement by interventional radiology (P < 0.01). Dislodgement was associated with newly placed lines relative risk 6.5 (95% CI 2.2-28.8)., Conclusions: CVCs in pediatric IF patients have frequent complications and short line lifetimes. Dislodgement of CVC was an unexpectedly common complication with loss of access in newly placed lines. There may be modifiable processes to mitigate CVC complications., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic condition associated with multiple comorbidities. While physicians may perceive that DS patients have more postoperative complications, the literature remains unclear. This study compared postoperative complications for children with and without DS who underwent abdominal and thoracic procedures., Methods: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric was queried for patients aged <18 years, who underwent abdominal and noncardiac thoracic operations (by Current Procedural Terminology codes) from 2012 to 2015. The analysis compared patients based on the presence or absence of DS. The primary outcome was a composite of all postoperative complications as defined by the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric. The analysis utilized chi-square, Student's t-test, and univariate and multiple logistic regression., Results: There were 91,478 patients included, of which 1476 (1.6%) had a diagnosis of DS. Patients with DS had higher rates of preoperative nutritional support (38.8% versus 15.0%), developmental delay (61.9% versus 10.4%), and cardiac risk factors (76.5% versus 13.8%). The overall rate of postoperative complications was 11.1%, with a greater proportion in DS patients (16.2% versus 10.8%, P < 0.001). On univariate analysis, DS was associated with increased odds of postoperative complications (odds ratio 1.6 95% confidence interval 1.4-1.9) compared with the non-DS group; however, DS was not a risk factor after adjusting for other covariates (adjusted odds ratio 0.86 95% confidence interval 0.7-1.1)., Conclusions: A higher proportion of postoperative complications were observed in patients with DS. However, after adjusting for other risk factors, DS was not an independent risk factor. The increased rate of complications is likely related to the presence of multiple comorbidities in DS., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Institutional protocols for preincisional antibiotic prophylaxis can standardize care and improve outcomes. However, challenges remain in compliance with such protocols for urgent or emergent operations. We hypothesized that compliance with an institutional protocol for antibiotic prophylaxis for appendectomy for appendicitis in pediatric patients results in reduced surgical site infections (SSIs) after simple appendectomy., Methods: This retrospective study assessed all pediatric patients (≤18 y) who underwent appendectomy for confirmed simple appendicitis at a tertiary children's hospital between 2012 and 2015. Demographic, admission, and outcome data were recorded. Compliance with the protocol was assessed. Univariate analyses were performed to identify factors associated with any SSI and protocol noncompliance., Results: Overall compliance with antibiotic prophylaxis occurred in 590 of 697 patients (85%). Compliance was high with timing (91%), spectrum (95%), and protocol-recommended drug (87%). Admission antibiotics alone were administered in 65 patients (9%), preincisional antibiotics alone in 254 patients (36%), and both in 378 patients (55%). Patients included in the analysis received a median of 2 (range 1-6) doses of antibiotics preoperatively. Ten patients (1.4%) developed an SSI. Only receipt of any antibiotics within an hour of incision was associated with decreased odds of SSI (odds ratio 0.22, 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.87). No factors were associated with noncompliance., Conclusions: An institutional appendicitis protocol yields high compliance with prophylactic antibiotic administration and associated low SSI rates, but at a cost of antibiotic over-administration. Further efforts are necessary to sustain compliance while also practicing appropriate antibiotic stewardship., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The debriefing phase of the surgical safety checklist (SSC) provides the operative team an opportunity to share pertinent intraoperative information and communicate postoperative plans. Prior quality improvement initiatives at our institution focused on the preincision phase of the SSC; however, the debriefing phase has not been evaluated. We aimed to assess adherence to the debrief checklist at our institution and identify areas for improvement., Materials and Methods: An observational study was conducted from 2014 to 2016 with a convenience sample of pediatric surgery cases at an academic children's hospital over 8-wk periods annually to evaluate the debriefing checklist across 14 subspecialties. Intraoperative team members' adherence to eight prespecified checkpoints was assessed. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi square, Kruskal-Wallis rank test, and Cohen's kappa for interrater reliability were used (P < 0.05 was significant)., Results: A total of 603 cases were observed (2014 n = 191; 2015 n = 195; 2016 n = 217). The debriefing checklist was conducted in 90.6%, 90.3%, and 94.9% of observed cases each year respectively with the median number of checklist items completed relatively unchanged (8, 7, and 7, range 0-8). However, the checklist was only fully completed in 55%, 48%, and 50% of cases over the study period (P = 0.001) with no debriefing at all in approximately 9% of cases in 2014 and 2015 versus 5% in 2016 (P < 0.001). Interrater reliability annually was >0.65., Conclusions: Despite slight increases annually in overall compliance to the debriefing checklist, only half of all checklists were completed in full. Future efforts to augment adherence are needed and will include interventions targeting the debriefing phase and increasing operating room efficiency., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Intestinal malrotation can lead to volvulus resulting in necrosis, sepsis, and death. For symptomatic patients, treatment includes the Ladd procedure. However, debate remains regarding the timing and need for intervention for asymptomatic infants. We evaluated our experience with Ladd procedures including a clinical practice of prophylactic surgery for asymptomatic patients., Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of pediatric patients undergoing the Ladd procedure was performed. Prophylactic Ladd procedures were identified as those occurring before any malrotation-related symptoms. Results were analyzed with student t test, Mann-Whitney U, and chi-squared tests., Results: From 2011-2014, 42 patients (prophylactic = 19, symptomatic = 23) underwent the Ladd procedure. The median age (IQR, interquartile range) of patients was 9.6 (3.9-18) mo and 18 (2.4-52) mo for prophylactic and symptomatic patients, respectively (P = 0.38). In patients who underwent symptomatic Ladd procedures, nine (39%) had volvulus and one (4.3%) had bowel necrosis at time of surgery. No prophylactic Ladd procedure patients required reoperation, whereas six (26%) symptomatic patients required malrotation-related reoperations (P = 0.02). Median (IQR) days to full enteral feeds were 5.0 d (3.3-6.8) versus 7.4 (5.0-11; P = 0.11), whereas median days to discharge were 8.0 d (6.1-11) versus 11 d (7.5-32) until discharge (P = 0.09) for prophylactic and symptomatic patients, respectively., Conclusions: Although symptomatic patients represent sicker children, the postoperative complications appear to be higher. For infants with known malrotation, prophylactic operations may be beneficial and should be considered. A larger, prospective study to demonstrate effectiveness and generalizability for prophylactic Ladd procedure is warranted., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)