Chirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany)最新文献

Background and objective: Soft tissue sarcomas are rare heterogeneous tumors that require extensive treatment and should only be treated in specialized sarcoma centers. Surgical R0 resection with negative margins is one of the most important positive predictors of disease-specific survival. Comprehensive healthcare economic analyses of inpatient treatment costs are largely lacking but are essential to ensure sustainable and cost-effective care.

Methods: This retrospective single center study analyzed the inpatient costs of 112 sarcoma cases treated at this university tumor center between 2020 and 2022. The statistical analyses were performed to identify variables that influence case underfunding. Additionally, the revenue distribution was examined with respect to the frequency and extent of underfunding using the cost matrix of the Institute for the Remuneration System in Hospitals (InEK).

Results: A negative revenue balance was observed in 66.1% of cases, leading to a total deficit exceeding € 222,000. Significant predictors of underfunding included prolonged operation times, duration of intensive care stay and exceeding the average length of stay. The highest negative revenues were identified in the categories of "infrastructure costs", "medical technical services" and "operating room costs".

Conclusion: The results reveal significant underfunding of surgical sarcoma treatment in a specialized university sarcoma center. Adjustments to diagnosis-related groups (DRG)-based reimbursement are urgently needed to ensure the economic sustainability of care while safeguarding patient safety, academic training and making clinical decisions.

Any procedure involving the liver or bile ducts can lead to bile leakage and thus to a potentially life-threatening complication. Most cases are treated conservatively or with an endoscopic intervention. Interdisciplinary treatment plays a crucial role in this context. This article examines the definition, risk factors, diagnostics, and treatment of postoperative bile leakage, taking the relevant literature into account.

Background: Healthcare apps or healthcare applications (DiHA) offer great potential for the modernization of healthcare treatment but place high demands on the digital health landscape. In order to achieve a real additional value for the treatment of patients, clear criteria must be fulfilled. This article is based on a consensus conference of the Digital Health Summit (29-30 August 2024) at the Technical University Brandenburg.

Material and method: A modified multistage Delphi survey procedure was carried out with interdisciplinary experts from clinical, scientific and industrial sectors to achieve a consensus on the requirements for surgical healthcare apps.

Results: The Delphi procedure led to 30 statements on requirements for surgical apps in Germany. They can provide evidence-based benefits for patient information and reduction of symptoms but must be more stringently tested in clinical studies on benefits and safety. In addition, apps can support training, simplify documentation and organize processes more efficiently. Uniform quality criteria are necessary in the European context. Patient data should be anonymized to assist research, whereby the sovereignty of the data lies by the patients. Regulatory hurdles should be dismantled and DiHAs should be classified according to the evidence and the risk-benefit profile.

Conclusion: In our statements we recommend to actively promote the development and use of healthcare apps to improve the treatment of patients in surgery. This requires targeted support for licensing, research and use, particularly by academic groups, as well as studies on the efficacy of healthcare apps.

Klatskin tumors are cholangiocarcinomas which arise at the biliary bifurcation (perihilar cholangiocarcinoma). Due to the close anatomical relationship to the liver parenchyma, portal bifurcation and hepatic arteries, the treatment of these tumors represents a major challenge. The only curative treatment option so far is the complete surgical removal of the affected bile ducts. This often warrants an en bloc liver resection sometimes in combination with resection and reconstruction of the portal vein and occasionally of the hepatic artery. A regional lymphadenectomy is mandatory. The operations are technically challenging and associated with a significant perioperative morbidity up to 50-60% and mortality of around 10%.

The treatment of patients with liver diseases represents an important challenge in the German healthcare system. The strategy of centralization of complex surgical interventions has the aim to improve the quality of treatment, to optimize postoperative outcomes and to minimize complications by the bundling of professional competence, infrastructure and resources. Although centralization has the potential to improve the results of treatment, it is simultaneously accompanied by substantial challenges with respect to availability of resources, hospital structures and personal treatment. A thorough planning and sufficient investments are necessary so that this strategy can sustainably be implemented in the practice.

The preoperative estimation of the volumetric and especially functional future liver remnant (FLR) is of particular importance before major liver resections to avoid posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF). A postoperative regeneration of the liver is only possible if there is sufficient functional FLR. Laboratory parameter scores, such as the combined aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI)/albumin-bilirubin grade (ALBI) score, can provide an initial assessment of the risk of PHLF. Other functional tests, such as the ICG-R15 test, the LiMAx® (Humedics GmbH, Berlin, Germany) test or scintigraphic procedures (e.g. technetium 99m mebrofenin secretion) can be used in the event of abnormal findings in order to assess liver function more precisely. In the case of inhomogeneous parenchymal quality, for example after portal vein embolization (PVE), knowledge of the segmental functional distribution is essential. This can be done by functional imaging techniques, such as the technetium 99m mebrofenin scintigraphy examinations in combination with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although not yet approved for functional testing, MRI with the hepatocyte-specific contrast agent gadolinium provides a practicable surrogate parameter for parallel three-dimensional (tumor) imaging. This procedure is already well validated. In the future, deep learning algorithms will enable automated analyses of segmental liver function; however, surgical expertise remains decisive for assessing resectability. As a guideline the rule of thumb is at least 30% parenchymal reserve in patients with a healthy liver and 40% in risk constellations. This article provides an overview of current concepts and diagnostic procedures for the preoperative assessment of sufficient parenchymal reserve.