Background The global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has impacted population health and care delivery worldwide. As information emerges regarding the impact of “lockdown measures” and changes to clinical practice worldwide; there is no comparative information emerging from the United Kingdom with regard to major trauma. Methods This observational study from a UK Major Trauma Centre matched a cohort of patients admitted during a 10-week period of the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic (09/03/2020–18/05/2020) to a historical cohort of patients admitted during a similar time period in 2019 (11/03/2019–20/05/2019). Differences in demographics, Clinical Frailty Scale, SARS-CoV-2 status, mechanism of injury and injury severity were compared using Fisher’s exact and Chi-squared tests. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses examined the associated factors that predicted 30-days mortality. Results A total of 642 patients were included, with 405 in the 2019 and 237 in the 2020 cohorts, respectively. 4/237(1.69%) of patients in the 2020 cohort tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. There was a 41.5% decrease in the number of trauma admissions in 2020. This cohort was older (median 46 vs 40 years), had more comorbidities and were frail (p < 0.0015). There was a significant difference in mechanism of injury with a decrease in vehicle related trauma, but an increase in falls. There was a twofold increased risk of mortality in the 2020 cohort which in adjusted multivariable models, was explained by injury severity and frailty. A positive SARS-CoV-2 status was not significantly associated with increased mortality when adjusted for other variables. Conclusion Patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic were older, frailer, more co-morbid and had an associated increased risk of mortality.

Background There are conflicting opinions on the role of Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) in the staging of oesophageal cancer (OG) patients which can complicate and delay intervention. We aim to audit the use of EUS in the OG cancer staging pathway as well as assess accuracy in selected cases. Methods A retrospective audit of the hospital database of patients diagnosed with oesophageal carcinoma between January 2016 and March 2021.The duration between the first MDT and EUS performed was calculated. Concordance between initial CT and EUS stage as well as histology in patients that were offered direct to surgery were evaluated using Cohen's Weighted Kappa. Results A total of 301 patients were identified. Overall, there was a moderate agreement (K=0.526) between CT and EUS reported T Staging(p&lt;0.001). There was substantial agreement (K=0.798) between CT reporting T2, T3 and EUS(p&lt;0.0005). Twenty-seven patients underwent upfront surgery-11 were T1, 16 were T2 and T3 disease. Comparing to final histology, EUS reported an accurate T1 stage in 36.3% compared with 0% with CT (p=0.018), whereas T2 and T3 disease were accurately reported with EUS and CT in 43.7% and 37.5% respectively (p=0.375). The median number of days between first MDT and EUS was 14 days (8,18) and this was requested after CT and PET CT results were available in 80% of cases. Conclusions This audit demonstrates minor differences between EUS and CT for T2 and T3 disease and therefore unlikely to alter management. However, EUS is superior to CT for staging Tx and T1 disease and is therefore likely to impact on the treatment options. EUS also contributed to prolonged pre-treatment staging time. Adopting a selective approach to EUS could result in overall reduction of waiting times from referral to decision making and increase cost-effectiveness.

Background The significance of indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs) on preoperative imaging in the surgical resection of pancreatic cancers remains a clinical dilemma. IPNs are defined as ≥ 1 well-defined, non-calcified lung nodules that are ≤ 1cm in diameter. We report the prevalence and impact of IPNs in surgically managed pancreatic cancer patients from our centre. Methods We studied patients who had attempted/successful surgical resection of pancreatic cancers between 2014 and 2020. The summary statistics are presented as frequencies and percentages, while Fisher's exact test was used to calculate p value for the compared variables including the presence of IPNs, pulmonary metastasis and death. P value of &lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Our study included 262 patients – 204 (77.9%) had surgical resections including pancreaticoduodenectomy (with or without portal venous resection) or total or distal pancreatectomy, while 58 (22.1%) had trial dissection, bypass and/or laparoscopy. All patients had a preoperative chest computed tomography (CT) scan. 25/262 (9.5%) had IPN on preoperative CT scans. 15/25 (60%) had solitary IPN, 2/25 (8%) had two IPNs, 3/25 (12%) had three IPNs, 1/25 (4%) had 6 IPNs and 4/25 (16%) reported multiple/plural IPNs. In patients with more than 1 IPN, only one patient had unilateral pulmonary nodules. 23/262 (8.8%) developed pulmonary metastasis. Of these, none had IPN preoperatively. There was no statistically significant association between IPN and pulmonary metastasis (p = 0.1428). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given to 13/262 patients. None of these patients had IPN pre-operatively, but 4 of them had recurrent/metastatic disease (3 Liver & 2 Pulmonary). IPN was found in 3 patients on post-operative imaging, all three developed metastatic disease after pancreaticoduodenectomies. As at 31st of October 2021, 177/262 patients had died. There was a statistically significant association between pulmonary metastasis and mortality (p = 0.0379). On the other hand, an association between IPN and mortality showed no statistical significance (p = 1.0). Conclusions Our study suggests that IPN is not linked to pulmonary metastasis in pancreatic cancer patients that were offered surgical resection. The presence of IPN did not impact mortality. Therefore, we conclude that IPN should not be used as a determining factor for surgical management of pancreatic cancers.

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