Surgery (St Vincent's) - Research Publications

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    Which has more complications?-Shockwave lithotripsy versus endoscopic treatment of renal calculi with 1-year follow-up in an Australian population
    Farag, M ; Jack, GS ; Papa, N ; Wong, L-M ; Bolton, DM ; Lenaghan, D (WILEY, 2021-07)
    INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Renal calculi are a common medical problem with incidence rates calculated to be approximately 6%-9% in men & 3%-4% in women worldwide. Incidence appears to be increasing. This study compares emergency presentations and unplanned readmissions between extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) and pyeloscopic stone treatment in the population of Victoria, Australia after 1-year follow-up. METHODS: This is a population study comparing all patients with renal calculi electively treated with SWL to those initially treated with flexible ureteroscopy (URS) in Victoria, Australia. We used data linkage across the state of Victoria to follow patients treated with either modality in a 12 months period (with no urological surgery in the prior 12 months). Each patient's emergency presentations and subsequent re-admissions were followed up for 1 year after their index treatment to assess for stone complications. We assessed for selection bias between the two patient groups by comparing age, gender, insurance status, geographical location, and comorbidity scores. RESULTS: We report stone-related complications for 739 flexible URS and 1317 SWL procedures undertaken across public and private hospitals in Victoria over 12 months. Unplanned emergency presentations within 60-days of surgery were (22/739) 2.98% for flexible URS patients and (83/1317) 6.30% for SWL patients (P = .001); however, at 12 months, this became 16.23% (120/739) for flexible URS patients and 12.83% (169/1317) for SWL patients (P = .034). Flexible URS patients were more likely than SWL patients to be admitted with 71.76% of flexible URS versus 53.97% of SWL patients requiring an admission at any given emergency presentation (P ≤ .001) within 12 months. On multivariate analysis, both flexible URS ([OR] 1.67, CI 1.23-2.26, P = .001) and being a public patient ([OR] 3.06, CI 2.24-4.18, P < .001) significantly increased the likelihood that patients required an unplanned re-admission within 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: There is work needed to reduce emergency presentations and unplanned re-admissions after both SWL and flexible URS. At 12-months follow-up, unplanned emergency visits and re-admission rates were significantly more after flexible URS. Symptoms at emergency presentation indicate that better education regarding stent management is needed, especially in the public health care system.
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    What is the best way to manage ureteric calculi in the time of COVID‐19? A comparison of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) and ureteroscopy (URS) in an Australian health‐care setting
    Farag, M ; Jack, GS ; Wong, L ; Bolton, DM ; Lenaghan, D (Wiley, 2021-03)
    OBJECTIVES: To determine the best way to intervene for ureteric stones which still require treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, with respect to infection control. In this setting, in which resources are constrained, extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) has prima facie advantages over ureteroscopy (URS). It is also necessary to also consider posttreatment resource consumption in regards to complications and repeat procedures. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The ideal ureteric stone treatment during a pandemic such as COVID-19 would involve minimum resource consumption and a minimum number of patient attendances. We compared all patients initially treated with SWL to those initially treated with URS for acute ureteral colic within the state of Victoria, Australia in 2017. RESULTS: A total of 2724 ureteric stones were analyzed, a cumulative "3-month exposure and burden on the healthcare system" was calculated for each patient by their initial procedure type. The readmission rate for URS was significantly higher than for SWL, 0.92 readmissions/patient for URS versus 0.54 readmissions/patient for SWL (P < .001). The cumulative hospital stay per patient for these two procedures was 2.35 days for SWL versus 3.21 days for URS (P < .001). The number of procedures per patient was 1.52 for SWL versus 1.89 for URS (P = .0213). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ureteric stones treated initially by SWL have shorter length of stay with fewer overall attendances and procedures at 3 months than those treated with URS. During a pandemic such as COVID-19, SWL may have benefits in preserving hospital resources and limiting opportunity for virus transmission, compared to URS.
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    Comparing infective complications from transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy following transition to single dose oral ciprofloxacin prophylaxis
    Farag, M ; Riddell, S ; Daffy, J ; Wong, L-M (KOREAN UROLOGICAL ASSOC, 2019-01)
    PURPOSE: To examine the incidence of infective complications post Transrectal Ultrasound Guided Prostate Biopsy (TRUSPB), after transition to preoperative administration of single dose oral ciprofloxacin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of 766 consecutive patients undergoing TRUSPB at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne (2002-2016). Antibiotic prophylaxis between 2002-2014 consisted of 3 days of perioperative oral norfloxacin±intravenous (IV) antibiotics (Group A, n=687). From November 2014 patients received a single dose of oral 750 mg ciprofloxacin pre-biopsy (Group B, n=79), to align with the American Urological Association (AUA) and a Cochrane Database Systematic Review on Antibiotic Prophylaxis for TRUSPB. Groups were compared for all postoperative complications requiring representation and/or readmission within 30 days of biopsy. RESULTS: In Group A, 10 of 687 patients (1.5%) re-presented with post-procedural fever (temperature >38℃), requiring readmission and IV antibiotic treatment, compared to 4 of the 79 patients (5.1%) in Group B (p=0.02). Positive blood cultures were isolated in 0.9% (n=6, Group A) versus 3.8% (n=3, Group B) (p=0.02). The 4 infectious readmissions in Group B had no prior genitourinary infections, no recent travel and all had a Charlson Comorbidity Index scores <2. Two patients in Group B cultured Escherichia coli sensitive to ciprofloxacin despite receiving preoperative ciprofloxacin. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic prophylaxis using single dose ciprofloxacin is associated with higher infective complications post TRUSPB. The episodes of ciprofloxacin sensitive E. coli bacteraemia in Group B suggest consideration of a longer course of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis.