Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine.

ObjectiveTo summarize the practice of UK urologists with regard to nephrectomy for benign disease, documenting the indications, procedural techniques and outcomes. MethodsAll patients undergoing nephrectomy for a benign condition in 2012 were identified from the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) nephrectomy database. Recorded variables included the technique of surgery, the type of minimally invasive procedure, operating time, blood loss, transfusion rate, conversion rate, intra-and postoperative complications and mortality rate. Cases were also subanalysed according to their pathologies to determine the differences in complication rate between stone disease, pyelonephritis, non-functioning kidney and other benign lesions. To contextualize procedural complexity, the simple nephrectomy data were compared with those obtained from the BAUS stage T1 radical nephrectomy audit. ResultsA total of 1 093 nephrectomies were performed (537 nonfunctioning kidneys, 142 stone disease, 129 nephrectomies secondary to pyelonephritis and 285 cases with other benign conditions). Of these, 76% were performed laparoscopically. Blood loss >500 mL was noted in 74 cases with a 4.8% blood transfusion rate. The intra-and postoperative complication rates were 5.2 and 11.9%, respectively. Of the 847 minimally invasive procedures, the conversion rate was 5.9%. Patients with stone disease have the highest intra-and postoperative complications (9.9 and 23.9%, respectively) compared with other benign pathologies. The total number of T1 radical nephrectomies performed was 1 095. In comparison with T1 radical nephrectomy, simple nephrectomy carries an increased risk of conversion to an open procedure (1.8 times), a higher rate of blood transfusion (4.8 vs 2.8%), and a higher risk of intra-and postoperative complications (5.2 vs 3.7% and 11.9 vs 10%, respectively). ConclusionThe present study reports the largest series of nephrectomies performed for benign disease and the resultant data now support the bespoke preoperative counselling of patients. Furthermore, it confirms the commonly held view that simple nephrectomy can be more difficult than its radical counterpart. The authors suggest that the term 'simple nephrectomy' is changed to 'benign nephrectomy'.

BackgroundPeople with severe mental illnesses die up to 20 years earlier than the general population, with cardiovascular disease being the leading cause of death. National guidelines recommend that the physical care of people with severe mental illnesses should be the responsibility of primary care; however, little is known about effective interventions to lower cardiovascular disease risk in this population and setting. Following extensive peer review, funding was secured from the United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to deliver the proposed study. The aim of the trial is to test the effectiveness of a behavioural intervention to lower cardiovascular disease risk in people with severe mental illnesses in United Kingdom General Practices.Methods/DesignThe study is a cluster randomised controlled trial in 70 GP practices for people with severe mental illnesses, aged 30 to 75 years old, with elevated cardiovascular disease risk factors. The trial will compare the effectiveness of a behavioural intervention designed to lower cardiovascular disease risk and delivered by a practice nurse or healthcare assistant, with standard care offered in General Practice. A total of 350 people will be recruited and followed up at 6 and 12 months. The primary outcome is total cholesterol level at the 12-month follow-up and secondary outcomes include blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking status, quality of life, adherence to treatments and services and behavioural measures for diet, physical activity and alcohol use. An economic evaluation will be carried out to determine the cost effectiveness of the intervention compared with standard care.DiscussionThe results of this pragmatic trial will provide evidence on the clinical and cost effectiveness of the intervention on lowering total cholesterol and addressing multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors in people with severe mental illnesses in GP Practices.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN13762819. Date of Registration: 25 February 2013.Date and Version Number: 27 August 2014 Version 5.

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Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.