Matthews, Marc R.

We report the occurrence of a refractory infection caused by the “rapidly growing” nontuberculous mycobacterium, Mycobacterium fortuitum, after incisional hernia repair using synthetic mesh. The patient had previously undergone three herniorrhaphies incorporating polypropylene mesh. Multiple surgical debridements were required, along with complete removal of all the mesh, to eradicate the infection. Prolonged antimicrobial therapy with sulfamethoxazole, an agent active against the patient's isolate, was also used. Although this atypical mycobacterium has been reported to cause a variety of infections, including many types of periprosthetic infections, this case represents successful treatment of M. fortuitum infecting abdominal wall mesh.

Introduction Burn center patients present not only with burn injuries but also necrotizing infections, purpura fulminans, frostbite, toxic epidermal necrolysis, chronic wounds, and trauma. Burn surgeons are often faced with the need to amputate when limb salvage is no longer a viable option. The purpose of this study was to determine factors which predispose patients to extremity amputations. Methods: This retrospective registry review (2000-2019) compared patients who required upper extremity amputations with those who did not. Cases were pair-matched by age, sex, percent total body surface area (%TBSA), and type/location of injury to control for possible confounding variables. Results: There were 77 upper extremity amputee patients (APs) and 77 pair-matched non-amputees (NAPs) with the median age 45- and 43-years, %TBSA 21 and 10, respectively; second and third degree burn injuries were similar in the 2 groups. The AP group had longer hospitalizations (median 40 vs 15 days) P < .0001, with more intensive care unit days (median 28 vs 18 days). APs presented with significantly more cardiac, renal, and pulmonary comorbidities, acquired infections (61 [64%] vs 35 [36%]), escharotomies, and fasciotomies than the NAP, P < .0001. Mortality was similar (AP 14 [18.2%] vs NAP 9 [11.7%]), P = .26. Conclusions: Escharotomies, fasciotomies, sepsis, pneumonia, wound, and urinary tract infections contributed to prolonged hospitalizations and increased risk for upper extremity amputations in the AP group.

Effective medical teamwork can improve the effectiveness and experience of care for staff and patients, including safety. Healthcare organizations, and especially primary care clinics, have sought to improve medical teamwork through improved layout and design, moving staff into shared multidisciplinary team rooms. While co-locating staff has been shown to increase communication, successful designs balance four teamwork needs: face-to-face communications; situational awareness; heads-down work; perception of teamness. However, precautions for COVID-19 make it more difficult to conduct face-to-face communications. In this paper we describe a model for understanding how layout affects these four teamwork needs and describe how the perception of teamwork by staff changed after COVID-19 precautions were put in place. Observations, interviews and two standard surveys were conducted in two primary care clinics before COVID-19 and again in 2021 after a year of precautions. In general, staff felt more isolated and found it more difficult to conduct brief consults, though these perceptions varied by role. RNs, who spent more time on the phone, found it convenient to work part time-from home, while medical assistants found it more difficult to find providers in the distanced clinics. These cases suggest some important considerations for future clinic designs, including greater physical transparency that also allow for physical separation and more spaces for informal communication that are distanced from workstations.

Abstract Introduction Burn and traumatic limb injuries with exposed bone/tendon typically require surgical flaps or amputations for healing. Some burn patients are not candidates for these invasive techniques. Placental amniotic membrane has been used as a wound dressing for more than 100 years and may offer an alternative to flaps and/or amputations. Processed dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (dHACM), from human placental tissue, contains type 1 human collagen as well as non-viable cells and 285 identified regulatory proteins including growth factors, chemokines, cytokines, metalloproteinases, and other tissue growth and inflammatory mediators. dHACM has been successfully used as a dressing for wound ulcers, burns, donor sites, & surgical debridement. This study reports the use of dHCAM as a limb salvage tool in four patients with severe injuries. Methods This is a retrospective case series of patients suffering severe lower extremity injury with bone/tendon exposure that had applied dHACM/dHCM over or packed (depending on wound depth), then covered with 3% bismuth tribromophenate petrolatum dressing & glycerol/ hydroxyethylcellulose lubricant. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) was initiated; wound re-evaluation occurred in seven days. dHACM/dHCM was reapplied if required (bone still exposed). Results There were 3 males and 1 female with three burns and one NSTI. The mean±sd (median) age was 58±23 (61) years; % total burn surface area 3±3 (2); length of hospital stay 48±30 (40) days; number of tangential excisions & debridements 6.5±1 (6.5); days from admission to product application 49±47 (34) and discharge 24±19 (19) days; negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) 53±6 (56) days. All four patients continued treatment upon discharge with clinic visits and home NPWT. All recovered with good results and no complications. Treatment may be continued with NPWT therapy at home or in a skilled nursing facility. Patients healed after two to three dHACM/dHCM applications and did not require leg or foot amputations. Conclusions In select limb salvage cases, dHACM/HCM may be a promising alternative to extremity amputations, tissue transfer flaps or other techniques for secondary intention healing of wounds with bone/tendon exposure.