Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

The landscape of surgery is shifting, reflecting the diverse composition of graduating medical students and the efforts to recruit the most talented people into the field.  It is one thing to have a diverse group of people within surgery, but it is an entirely different thing to ensure a welcoming, supportive environment for them.  In this Journal Club episode, we review these topics from the perspective of eminent surgeons Drs. Caprice and Jake Greenberg, who share with us their insights on recent articles examining the experience of women surgeons and trainees.  We’re joined by Dr. Cary Schlick, who authored one of these articles, to shed light on a key issue for the field.  Learning Objectives: ·       Identify some of the challenges for women in surgical training programs ·       Discuss how stereotype threat can impact performance ·       Suggest ways to advocate for equity in surgery References: Experiences of Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Among Residents in General Surgery Programs Across the US - https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2021.3195 Effects of Gender Bias and Stereotypes in Surgical Training: A Randomized Clinical Trial - https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2020.1127 Gender Bias and Stereotypes in Surgical Training: Is It Really Women Residents We Need to Worry About? - https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2020.1561 The effect of gender on operative autonomy in general surgery residents - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2019.06.006 Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

Mattox Vegas TCCACS 2022: Ep. 2  The Trauma, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery conference (aka the MATTOX conference, named after trauma surgery legend Kenneth L Mattox) is the longest running show in Las Vegas at 55 consecutive years.  The MATTOX conference is unique in its focus on clinical topics.  Every talk, every panel, and every case discussion is relevant and practical.  Join Behind the Knife as we use case-based discussions to hammer home key points from lectures given by some of the biggest names in trauma, critical care, and acute care surgery.  This is episode 2 of 2.   The lineup:   Hasan Alam, MD (@DrHasanAlam)  Scott Steele, MD (@ScottRSteeleMD)  Joseph Dubose, MD (check out his exceptional podcast here: https://www.tiger-country.org/)  Mathew Martin, MD (@docmartin22)  Red Hoffman, MD (@redMDND, check out her amazing podcast here: https://thesurgicalpalliativecarepodcast.buzzsprout.com/)  Bellal Joseph, MD (@TopKnife_B)  Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

The Trauma, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery conference (aka the MATTOX conference, named after trauma surgery legend Kenneth L Mattox) is the longest running show in Las Vegas at 55 consecutive years.  The MATTOX conference is unique in its focus on clinical topics.  Every talk, every panel, and every case discussion is relevant and practical.  Join Behind the Knife as we use case-based discussions to hammer home key points from lectures given by some of the biggest names in trauma, critical care, and acute care surgery.  This is episode 1 of 2.   The lineup:   Dennis Kim, MD (@traumaicurounds, check out his amazing podcast here: https://www.traumaicurounds.ca/)  Ali Salim, MD (@alisalimMD)  Jason Smith, MD (@DrJTrauma)  Andre Campbell, MD (@TraumaDocSF) Meghan Lewis, MD   Demetrios Demetriades, MD  Alexander Eastman, MD (@PMHTrauma_ALE)  Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

The mortality rate for unstable pelvic hemorrhage due to blunt trauma remains around 30 percent. However, technological advances promise to finally make a dent. But on the cutting edge, it’s not clear which treatments should be used when to maximize lives saved. With life-threatening pelvic exsanguination, time is critical. Do you know when to rush to pack the pelvis? Do you know when to deploy a REBOA instead? Are there scenarios where you should do both? Join Drs. Urréchaga, Neeman, and Rattan from Ryder Trauma Center in Miami as they try to tease out answers using two studies hot off the presses with seemingly contradictory results. Learning Objectives: Blunt Pelvic Hemorrhage ·       Expanding knowledge of management strategies for blunt pelvic hemorrhage ·       Describe propensity score matching and its use in non-randomized studies ·       Compare outcomes of REBOA and preperitoneal pelvic packing (PPP) ·       Critically appraise study design and methods of studies References 1.     S. Mikdad, I.A.M. van Erp, M.E. Moheb, et al. Pre-peritoneal pelvic packing for early hemorrhage control reduces mortality compared to resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta in severe blunt pelvic trauma patients: A nationwide analysis. Injury. 2020; 51:1834–1839. doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2020.06.003 2.     S. Asmar, L. Bible, M. Chehab, et al. Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta vs Pre-Peritoneal Packing in Patients with Pelvic Fracture. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2021; 232(1):17-26. doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.08.763 3.     B. Joseph, M. Zeeshan, J.V. Sakran, et al. Nationwide Analysis of Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta in Civilian Trauma. JAMA Surg. 2019;154(6):500-508. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2019.0096 Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

EPAs are coming in 2023. This isn’t about your carbon emissions, but it will dramatically impact surgery training programs. Join Drs. Karen Brasel, Jeremy Lipman, Judith French, and Amy Han as they discuss Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) and how they will change the way we assess trainees. Learning Objectives 1.     Listeners will be able to define entrustable professional activities (EPAs) within the context of competency-based education during General Surgery residency training 2.     Listeners will be able to understand the impetus behind adopting EPA assessments for surgical trainees.  3.     Listeners will be able to interpret and apply EPA assessment data based on the discussion of the example scenarios. References: Brasel KJ, Klingensmith ME, Englander R, Grambau M, Buyske J, Sarosi G, Minter R. Entrustable professional activities in general surgery: development and implementation. Journal of surgical education. 2019 Sep 1;76(5):1174-86. Lindeman B, Brasel K, Minter RM, Buyske J, Grambau M, Sarosi G. A Phased Approach: The General Surgery Experience Adopting Entrustable Professional Activities in the United States. Acad Med. 2021;96(7S):S9-S13. Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

Dr. Michael Rosen returns to Behind the Knife – this time to discuss his RCT investigating biologic vs. synthetic mesh for single-stage repair of contaminated ventral hernias. Read the full article here in JAMA Surgery: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/2788222 Dr. Rosen is the director for the Center of Abdominal Core Health at the Cleveland Clinic and has written the “Atlas of Abdominal Wall Reconstruction”. Want to learn more about his work and the Hernia Quality Collaborative? Catch up on Dr. Rosen’s previous episode on Behind the Knife:  Episode #21 (August 15, 2015): Hernias, Abdominal Wall Reconstruction, and Quality Collaboratives https://behindtheknife.org/podcast/21-hernias-abdominal-wall-recon-and-quality-collaboratives-dr-michael-rosen/ Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

Welcome to the third of a six-part series focused on the integration of palliative care into the practice of surgery.  Malignant bowel obstructions occur in 5-43 percent of patients with a diagnosis of advanced primary or metastatic intra-abdominal malignancy and both acute care surgeons and surgical oncologists are called upon to manage this condition. Using the case of an elderly gentleman with gastric outlet obstruction secondary to gastric cancer, in this episode we discuss how to approach a patient with a malignant bowel obstruction, review the medical and surgical options for management, discuss the importance of primary palliative care, define palliative surgery and conclude with a short rant about the necessity of being cognizant of one’s feelings and of taking the time and creating the space to discuss them.  Fast Fact #45:  Medical Management of Bowel Obstructions https://www.mypcnow.org/fast-fact/medical-management-of-bowel-obstructions/ Chapter 8, Malignant Bowel Obstruction in Surgical Palliative Care: A Resident’s Guide https://www.facs.org/~/media/files/education/palliativecare/surgicalpalliativecareresidents.ashx Palliative surgery and the surgeon’s role in the palliative care team: a review. https://apm.amegroups.com/article/download/72758/pdf Dr. Red Hoffman (@redmdnd) is an acute care surgeon and associate hospice medical director in Asheville, North Carolina, host of the Surgical Palliative Care Podcast (@surgpallcare) and co-founder of the recently launched Surgical Palliative Care Society (www.spcsociety.org).  Dr. Fabian Johnston (@fabianjohnston) is Associate Professor of Surgery and Oncology and Chief, Division of GI Surgical Oncology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Amanda Stastny (@manda_plez) is a PGY-2 in the General Surgery program at Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville, NC.   Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

Umbilical hernias a common diagnoses that general surgeons must manage. Though these hernias are considered relatively simple problems to resolve, certain populations of patients are prone to higher rates of complications. As abdominal wall surgery has advanced, so to have the options that exist in management of primary umbilical hernias. The session will review common clinical circumstances and high-risk patient presentations. We will generally review the approaches to repair and the thought processing and data driving decision making.   ·       Dr. Vahagn Nikolian is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University, focused on abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repair.  ·       Dr. Sean Orenstein is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University, focused on abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repair. ·       Dr. Shahrose Rahman is a resident in General Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University.  Seminal Papers in Umbilical Hernia Management Guidelines for treatment of umbilical and epigastric hernias (Henriksen et al. Br J Surg. 2020.): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31916607/ Hernia-Neck Ratio: Predicting Factors for Complications of Umbilical Hernias (Fueter et al. WJS. 2016.): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27194561/ Safety and effectiveness of umbilical hernia repair in patients with cirrhosis (Hew et al. Hernia. 2018.):https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29589135/ Fix it while you can...Mortality after umbilical hernia repair in cirrhotic patients (Hill et al. Amer Journal of Surgery. 2020.): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32988606/ Postoperative complications with retromuscular mesh placement in emergency incisional hernia repair (Juul et al. Scand J Surg. 2021.): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33092472/ Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

Warning!  There is magic contained in this podcast.  Real magic.  The kind of magic that allows you to understand how to manage the axilla in breast cancer patients.    The standard of care approach to management of the axilla in patients with breast cancer has evolved rapidly. While a complete axillary dissection was historically indicated following identification of any positive nodes, that is no longer the case; indeed, axillary dissections are now uncommonly performed. Join Drs. Michael Alvarado, Rita Mukhtar, and Alexa Glencer as they discuss the impact of the ACOSOG Z0011, AMAROS, and ACOSOG Z1071 trials in defining the role of sentinel lymph node dissection and radiotherapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer with limited lymph node involvement as well as the approach when neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been received. Learning Objectives: ·       Describe the study design and results of the ACOSOG Z0011 trial and its impact on the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy as an alternative to complete axillary lymph node dissection in clinically node-negative patients with T1 or T2 breast cancer ·       Describe the study design and results of the AMAROS trial and its implications for use of axillary radiation as an alternative to axillary lymph node dissection for patients with clinically node-negative T1 or T2 breast cancer ·       Understand the risk of lymphedema related to complete axillary lymph node dissection, as demonstrated by the AMAROS trial ·       Describe the study design and results of the ACOSOG Z1071 trial and how interpretation of its subgroup analysis has been applied to our approach of offering sentinel lymph node biopsy as a means of staging the axilla following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with clinical node-positive disease at the time of diagnosis Journal Article Links: ACOSOG Z0011: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2653737 AMAROS: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(14)70460-7/fulltext ACOSOG Z1071: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1748149%20 Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  

Join our Emergency General Surgery Team as they discuss EGS in patients > 65.  Introduction - > 65 = 40% of EGS admissions  - In-hospital mortality for EGS in older adults is approximately 7-12% and the one-year mortality is around 30-38%. - High risk due to decreased reserve, poor nutritional status, and chronic medical conditions  - Frailty correlates with poor post-operative outcomes Paper #1: Mehta A, Dultz LA, Joseph B, Canner JK, Stevens K, Jones C, Haut ER, Efron DT, Sakran JV. Emergency general surgery in geriatric patients: A statewide analysis of surgeon and hospital volume with outcomes. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2018 Jun;84(6):864-875.  - retrospective population-based cross-sectional study using administrative data.  - looks at the association between surgeon and hospital annual experience with outcomes in geriatric patients with EGS conditions. - Note Table 2 provides outcomes broken down by type of surgery - Key finding: patients operated on by a low-volume surgeon had about twice the odds of mortality, and 1.7X the odds of failure to rescue Paper #2: Guttman MP, Tillmann BW, Nathens AB, Saskin R, Bronskill SE, Huang A, Haas B. Alive and at home: Five-year outcomes in older adults following emergency general surgery. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2021 Feb 1;90(2):287-295.  - large-scale population-based retrospective cohort study looking at long-term outcomes of older adults with admissions for emergency general surgery diagnoses - primary outcome of interest is “aging in place” or being able to reside in one’s home for as long as possible.  - Key finding: being admitted for an EGS diagnosis reduces your survival and time in your home by about 7 months. - Very little reduction in low-risk diagnoses (acute appendicitis/cholecystitis) - 57% of patients were alive and in their home 5 years later Please visit behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.