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Background: Hospital waste adds to the ecological footprint of the healthcare system, whereas inattention to recyclables may increase costs. The primary objective of this study was to assess the amount of recyclable and nonrecyclable intraoperative waste produced across representative otolaryngology surgical procedures. Methods: Representative surgical cases across four otolaryngology subspecialties at a tertiary care military medical institution were prospectively identified. Waste was collected, divided, and weighed across two categories: recyclable and nonrecyclable. This study was performed in conjunction with a hospital-approved quality improvement project. Results: The study included 22 otolaryngology surgeries performed across four otolaryngology subspecialties: facial plastics, pediatrics, otology, and head and neck oncology. Overall, 197.4 kg of waste was collected of which 40.2 kg (20%) was recyclable and 157.2 kg (80%) was nonrecyclable. An average of 1.8 kg of recyclable materials and 7.1 kg of nonrecyclable materials were collected per case. Conclusion: This study supports that otolaryngology surgical procedures generate a significant amount of waste, a large component of which is recyclable. It highlights the need for proper disposal of this waste and the implementation of a recycling program at our institution with the potential for both ecologic and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruptured aortic aneurysms carry a high risk of morbidity and mortality, particularly if not rapidly identified. We present an 87-year-old male, with a history of hypertension and prior endovascular aortic repair, who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with several days of epigastric abdominal pain radiating to his back and flanks. The patient acutely deteriorated in the ED, and point-of-care ultrasound rapidly identified active extravasation from an abdominal aortic aneurysm with visualization of prior endograft. Point-of-care ultrasound in this patient expedited the diagnosis, resuscitation, and transfer to the operating room with definitive repair by vascular surgery. The patient recovered and was discharged in stable condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Previous analyses of head, face, and neck (HFN) surgery in the deployed military setting have focused on the treatment of injuries using trauma databases. Little has been written on the burden of disease and the requirement for follow-up care. The aim of this analysis was to provide the most comprehensive overview of surgical workload in a contemporary role 3 MTF to facilitate future planning.Method: The operating room database and specialty surgical logbooks from a U.S.-led role 3 MTF in Afghanistan were analyzed over a 5-year period (2016-2020). These were then matched to the deployed surgical TC2 database to identify reasons for treatment and a return to theatre rate. Operative records were finally matched to the deployed Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application-Theater outpatient database to determine follow up frequency.Results: During this period, surgical treatment to the HFN represented 389/1989 (19.6%) of all operations performed. Surgery to the HFN was most commonly performed for battle injury (299/385, 77.6%) followed by disease (63/385, 16%). The incidence of battle injury-related HFN cases varied markedly across each year, with 117/299 (39.1%) being treated in the three summer months (June to August). The burden of disease, particularly to the facial region, remained constant throughout the period analyzed (mean of 1 case per month).Conclusions: Medical planning of the surgical requirements to treat HFN pathology is primarily focused on battle injury of coalition service personnel. This analysis has demonstrated that the treatment of disease represented 16% of all HFN surgical activities. The presence of multiple HFN sub-specialty surgeons prevented the requirement for multiple aeromedical evacuations of coalition service personnel which may have affected mission effectiveness as well as incurring a large financial burden. The very low volume of surgical activity demonstrated during certain periods of this analysis may have implications for the maintenance of surgical competencies for subspecialty surgeons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Scarcity of operating rooms and personal protective equipment in far-forward field settings make surgical infections a potential concern for combat mortality and morbidity. Surgical and transport personnel also face infectious risks from bodily fluid exposures. Our study aimed to describe the serial, proof-of-concept testing of the SurgiBox technology: an inflatable sterile environment that addresses the aforementioned problems, fits on gurneys and backpacks, and drapes over incisions.Materials and Methods: The SurgiBox environmental control unit and inflatable enclosure were optimized over five generations based on iterative feedback from stakeholders experienced in surgery in austere settings. The airflow system was developed by analytic modeling, verified through in silico modeling in SOLIDWORKS, and confirmed with prototype smoke-trail checking. Particulate counts evaluated the enclosure's ability to control and mitigate users' exposures to potentially infectious contaminants from the surgical field in various settings. SurgiBox enclosures were setup over a mannequin's torso, in a configuration and position for either thoracic or abdominal surgery. A particle counter was serially positioned in sternotomy and laparotomy positions, as well as bilateral flank positions. This setup was repeated with open ports exposing the enclosure to the external environment. To simulate stress scenarios, sampling was repeated with enclosure measurements during an increase in external particulate concentration.Results: The airflow technology effectively kept contaminants away from the incision and maintained a pressure differential to reduce particle entry. Benchtop testing demonstrated that even when ports were opened or the external environment had high contaminant burden, the enclosed surgical field consistently registered 0 particle count in all positions. Time from kit opening to incision averaged 54.5 seconds, with the rate-limiting step being connecting the environmental control unit to the enclosure. The portable kit weighted 5.9 lbs.Conclusions: Analytic, in silico, and mechanical airflow modeling and benchtop testing have helped to quantify the SurgiBox system's reliability in creating and maintaining an operating room-quality surgical field within the enclosure as well as protecting the surgical team outside the enclosure. More recent and ongoing work has focused on specifying optimal use settings in the casualty chain of care, expanding support for circumferential procedures, automating airflow control, and accelerating system setup. SurgiBox's ultimate goal is to take timely, safe surgery to patients in even the most austere of settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a case of a healthy male patient who was referred to Urology for recurrent persistent urinary tract infections. Investigation revealed a large intraabdominal inflammatory collection abutting the cecum and bladder suspicious for ruptured appendicitis and colovesical fistula. He was taken to the operating room for exploratory laparotomy with General Surgery and Urology and found to have a ruptured appendix secondary to mucinous appendiceal neoplasm with invasion into the cecum and the bladder wall. He then underwent systemic chemotherapy followed by hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. He is well with stable right lower quadrant inflammatory collection and without evidence of metastatic disease 22 months following initial surgery. This case presents a rare presentation of a rare disease process that is easy to misdiagnose or be delayed in diagnosis because of its vague and often varied presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: No published study has reported non-surgical interventions performed by forward surgical teams, and there are no current surgical benchmarks for forward surgical teams. The objective of the study was to describe operative procedures and non-operative interventions received by battlefield casualties and determine the operative procedural burden on the trauma system.Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of data from the Joint Trauma System Forward Surgical Team Database using battle and non-battle injured casualties treated in Afghanistan from 2008-2014. Overall procedure frequency, mortality outcome, and survivor morbidity outcome were calculated using operating room procedure codes grouped by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project classification. Cumulative attributable burden of procedures was calculated by frequency, mortality, and morbidity. Morbidity and mortality burden were used to rank procedures.Results: The study population was comprised of 10,992 casualties, primarily male (97.8%), with a median age interquartile range of 25.0 (22.0-30.0). Affiliations were non-U.S. military (40.0%), U.S. military (35.1%), and others (25.0%). Injuries were penetrating (65.2%), blunt (32.8), and burns (2.0%). Casualties included 4.4% who died and 14.9% who lived but had notable morbidity findings. After ranking by contribution to trauma system morbidity and mortality burden, the top 10 of 32 procedure groups accounted for 74.4% of operative care, 77.9% of mortality, and 73.1% of unexpected morbidity findings. These procedure groups included laparotomy, vascular procedures, thoracotomy, debridement, lower and upper gastrointestinal procedures, amputation, and therapeutic procedures on muscles and upper and lower extremity bones. Most common non-operative interventions included X-ray, ultrasound, wound care, catheterization, and intubation.Conclusions: Forward surgical team training and performance improvement metrics should focus on optimizing commonly performed operative procedures and non-operative interventions. Operative procedures that were commonly performed, and those associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality, can set surgical benchmarks and outline training and skillsets needed by forward surgical teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this Clinical Practice Guide is to provide details on the procedures to safely remove unexploded ordnance from combat patients, both loose and impaled, to minimize the risks to providers and the medical treatment facility while ensuring the best outcome for the patient. Military ordnance, to include bullets, grenades, flares, and explosive ordnance, retained by a patient can be a risk to all individuals and equipment along the continuum of care. This is especially true from the point of injury to the first treatment facility. Management of patients with unexploded ordnance either on or in their body is a rare event during combat surgery. Loose munitions are usually noted and easily removed prior to the patient receiving medical treatment. However, impaled munitions provide a significant challenge. These are usually caused by large caliber, high-velocity projectiles. Patients who survive to arrive at a treatment facility must be triaged safely and simultaneously treated appropriately to ensure both the survival of the patient and the treatment team. Between WWII and the Somalia conflict, there have been 36 reported cases of unexploded ordnance from U.S. soldiers. Since 2005, there have been six known cases during the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and one additional case in Pakistan. Optimal outcomes require a basic knowledge of explosives and triggering mechanisms, as well as adherence to basic principles of trauma resuscitation and surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Trauma Infectious Disease Outcomes Study began in June 2009 as combat operations were decreasing in Iraq and increasing in Afghanistan. Our analysis examines the rate of infections of wounded U.S. military personnel from operational theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan admitted to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center between June 2009 and December 2013 and transferred to a participating U.S. hospital. Infection risk factors were examined in a multivariate logistic regression analysis (expressed as odds ratios [OR]; 95% confidence intervals [CI]). The study population includes 524 wounded military personnel from Iraq and 4,766 from Afghanistan. The proportion of patients with at least one infection was 28% and 34% from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters, respectively. The incidence density rate was 2.0 (per 100 person-days) for Iraq and 2.7 infections for Afghanistan. Independent risk factors included large-volume blood product transfusions (OR: 10.68; CI: 6.73-16.95), high Injury Severity Score (OR: 2.48; CI: 1.81-3.41), and improvised explosive device injury mechanism (OR: 1.84; CI: 1.35-2.49). Operational theater (OR: 1.32; CI: 0.87-1.99) was not a risk factor. The difference in infection rates between operational theaters is primarily a result of increased injury severity in Afghanistan from a higher proportion of blast-related trauma during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 2000.30 for Global Health Eng agement (GHE) acti vities, we read that GHE might be used to "enhance the readiness" of military personnel and also should "sustainably impro v e the operational skills of PN personnel", eng aging in bidirect ional acti vities. L ETTER T O THE E DIT OR MILIT AR Y MEDICINE, 186, 3/4:89, 2021 Impor tant and Of t en F or got t en A spects of S ur gical GHE: A R esponse t o "G ynecologic SUR GRETE, Ne w Hor iz ons Gu y ana 20 1 9: An Exper ience of a Lif etime f or Global Health Enga g ement and Medical R eadiness" T o the editor, W e recently read "Gynecologic SURGRETE, Ne w Horizons Guyana 2019: An Experience of a Lifetime for Global Health Eng agement and Medical Readiness" by Charron et al. [Extracted from the article]

We report a case of acute urinary retention in an adolescent female secondary to hematocolpos. A 13-year-old female presented to the emergency department with acute urinary retention and suprapubic abdominal pain for 24 hours. She denied menstruation or sexual history. Bedside bladder ultrasound scan revealed 1.2 L of retained urine and a Foley catheter was placed. A formal renal ultrasound detected a debris-filled structure in the abdomino-pelvic cavity. Follow-up computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis revealed an 8.5 cm × 9.3 cm × 12.1 cm mass-like structure in the pelvis. No formal pelvic exam was completed and the patient was taken to the operating room for exploratory laparotomy due to concern for large pelvic mass versus tubo-ovarian abscess. However, upon entering the abdominal cavity, no mass was found. At that point, an external genital exam was performed, revealing an imperforate hymen. Hymenotomy resulted in the evacuation of 2.5 L of clotted blood from the vagina and uterus. Hematocolpos resulting in acute urinary retention is exceedingly rare; however, it is an important differential diagnosis that can be ruled in or out by physical exam findings. Although it may be uncomfortable for adolescent patients and physicians, external genital exams should be conducted in young females with acute urinary retention and amenorrhea to evaluate for imperforate hymen. This can ensure appropriate treatment and avoidance of unnecessary invasive procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]