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This is the largest single center retrospective study to date looking at response to laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with acalculous biliary disease. A chart review was completed on 1116 patients from 2009 to 2014 who had admitting diagnoses related to acalculous cholecystitis and biliary colic. Four hundred and seventy four patients were available for long term follow up (6 months or longer). Multiple factors were studied as related to cholescintigraphy scans with cholecystokinin administration (HIDA with CCK). Hyperkinetic, normokinetic and hypokinetic ejection fractions (EF), as well as reproduction of symptoms with administration of CCK were catagorized. ROME III criteria (Table 1) were used to describe cholecystitis/biliary colic symptoms. (1). It was found that rates of resolution of symptoms after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in normokinetic and hypokinetic were similar. It was also found that reproduction of symptoms after administration of CCK was a better predictor of favorable response to surgery than calculated ejection fraction.

It is increasingly important for faculty to teach deliberately and provide timely, detailed, and formative feedback on surgical trainee performance. We initiated a multicenter study to improve resident evaluative processes and enhance teaching and learning behaviors while engaging residents in their education.Faculty from 7 US postgraduate training programs rated resident operative performances using the perioperative briefing, intraoperative teaching, debriefing model, and rated patient visits/academic performances using the entrustable professional activities model via a web-based platform. Data were centrally analyzed and iterative changes made based on participant feedback, individual preferences, and database refinements, with trends addressed using the Plan, Do, Check, Act improvement methodology.Participants (92 surgeons, 150 residents) submitted 3,880 assessments during July 2014 through September 2017. Evidence of preoperative briefings improved from 33.9% ± 2.5% to 95.5% ± 1.5% between April and September 2014 compared with April and September 2017 (p0.001). Postoperative debriefings improved from 10.6% ± 2.7% to 90.2% ± 2.5% (p0.001) for the same period. Meaningful self-reflection by residents improved from 28.6% to 67.4% (p0.001). The number of assessments received per resident during a 6-month period increased from 6.4 ± 6.2 to 13.4 ± 10.1 (p0.003). Surgeon-entered assessments increased from 364 initially to 685 in the final period, and the number of resident assessments increased from 308 to 445. We showed a 4-fold increase in resident observed activities being rated.By adopting recognized educational models with repeated Plan, Do, Check, Act cycles, we increased the quality of preoperative learning objectives, showed more frequent, detailed, and timely assessments of resident performance, and demonstrated more effective self-reflection by residents. We monitored trends, identified opportunities for improvement and successfully sustained those improvements over time, applying a team-based approach.

Cervicomedullary compression (CMC) from traumatic, infectious, or congenital processes of the atlanto-axial joint is a known cause of vocal cord immobility. Cervicomedullary compression can also occur from destructive arthritic changes and inflammatory pannus formation at the occipito-atlanto-axial joint in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We present findings suggesting that CMC in patients with RA is an unrecognized cause of vocal cord immobility. Previously, vocal cord immobility in patients with RA has been assumed to be cricoarytenoid arthritis with joint fixation. We report 3 patients with RA and radiographically demonstrated CMC with vocal cord immobility. One patient had bilateral vocal cord immobility and airway obstruction; 2 patients had unilateral cord paralysis and contralateral paresis without airway compromise. All patients had myelopathy and neck pain in addition to brain stem symptoms. All patients underwent transoral-transpharyngeal decompression of the anterior craniocervical junction with subsequent posterior fusion. These patients demonstrated full return of vocal cord function within 3 months of decompression. We propose that CMC is a cause of vocal cord paralysis in patients with RA that may go unrecognized without appropriate imaging studies of the skull base and physician awareness of symptoms of occipito-atlanto-axial subluxation and/or basilar invagination with brain stem compression. Our results demonstrate that CMC in RA is a potentially reversible cause of vocal cord paralysis.