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Introduction: Disparities in surgical management have been documented across a range of disease processes. The objective of this study was to investigate sociodemographic disparities in young females undergoing excision of a breast mass., Methods: A retrospective study of females aged 10-21 y who underwent surgery for a breast lesion across eleven pediatric hospitals from 2011 to 2016 was performed. Differences in patient characteristics, workup, management, and pathology by race/ethnicity, insurance status, median neighborhood income, and urbanicity were evaluated with bivariate and multivariable regression analyses., Results: A total of 454 females were included, with a median age of 16 y interquartile range (IQR: 3). 44% of patients were nonHispanic (NH) Black, 40% were NH White, and 7% were Hispanic. 50% of patients had private insurance, 39% had public insurance, and 9% had other/unknown insurance status. Median neighborhood income was $49,974, and 88% of patients resided in a metropolitan area. NH Whites have 4.5 times the odds of undergoing preoperative fine needle aspiration or core needle biopsy compared to NH Blacks (CI: 2.0, 10.0). No differences in time to surgery from the initial imaging study, size of the lesion, or pathology were observed on multivariable analysis., Conclusions: We found no significant differences by race/ethnicity, insurance status, household income, or urbanicity in the time to surgery after the initial imaging study. The only significant disparity noted on multivariable analysis was NH White patients were more likely to undergo preoperative biopsy than were NH Black patients; however, the utility of biopsy in pediatric breast masses is not well established., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The minimally invasive step-up approach to pancreatitis improves outcomes. Multidisciplinary working groups may best facilitate this approach. However, support for these working groups requires funding. We hypothesize that patients requiring surgical debridement generate sufficient revenue to sustain these working groups. Furthermore, patients selected for surgical debridement by the working group will have a higher rate of percutaneous and endoscopic intervention in adherence to the step-up approach., Methods: We conducted an observational cohort study of all patients with severe acute and/or necrotizing pancreatitis whose care was overseen by our multidisciplinary working group (October 2015 through January 2019). Patient demographics, hospital treatments, and outcomes data were compared between those who underwent surgical debridement and those who did not. Hospital billing data were also collected from those who are undergoing surgical debridement and compared to institutional benchmarks for financial sustainability., Results: A total of 108 patients received care overseen by the working group, 10 of which progressed to surgical debridement. The mean contribution margin percentages for each patient in the surgical debridement group were higher than the threshold value for financial sustainability, 39% (60.34% ± 16.66%; P = 0.004). Patients in the surgical debridement group were more likely to undergo intervention by interventional radiologist (odds ratio, 1.58; P = 0.005). The mortality was higher in the nonsurgical debridement group (odds ratio, 15; P = 0.008)., Conclusions: Our multidisciplinary working group delivered step-up care to patients with pancreatitis. Patients requiring surgical debridement generated a significantly positive contribution margin that could be used to help support the costs associated with providing multidisciplinary care., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The objective of our study was to describe the workup, management, and outcomes of pediatric patients with breast masses undergoing operative intervention., Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of girls 10-21 y of age who underwent surgery for a breast mass across 11 children's hospitals from 2011 to 2016. Demographic and clinical characteristics were summarized., Results: Four hundred and fifty-three female patients with a median age of 16 y (IQR: 3) underwent surgery for a breast mass during the study period. The most common preoperative imaging was breast ultrasound (95%); 28% reported the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) classification. Preoperative core biopsy was performed in 12%. All patients underwent lumpectomy, most commonly due to mass size (45%) or growth (29%). The median maximum dimension of a mass on preoperative ultrasound was 2.8 cm (IQR: 1.9). Most operations were performed by pediatric surgeons (65%) and breast surgeons (25%). The most frequent pathology was fibroadenoma (75%); 3% were phyllodes. BI-RADS scoring ≥4 on breast ultrasound had a sensitivity of 0% and a negative predictive value of 93% for identifying phyllodes tumors., Conclusions: Most pediatric breast masses are self-identified and benign. BI-RADS classification based on ultrasound was not consistently assigned and had little clinical utility for identifying phyllodes., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)