Background: COVID-19 pandemic required a marked re-allocation of healthcare resources, including at Breast Units. A patient-tailored program was developed to assess its efficacy regarding prevention of COVID-19 infection among patients with breast cancer undergoing surgery and healthcare workers (HCWs). Patients and Methods: From March 9th to April 9th 2020, 91 patients were selected for elective surgery by means of: i) Prehospital screening aimed at avoiding hospitalization of symptomatic or suspicious COVID-19 patients, and ii) prioritisation of surgical procedure according to specific disease features. Results: Eighty-five patients (93.4%) were fit for surgery, while five patients (5.5%) were temporarily excluded through 'telephone triage'; another two patients were excluded at in-hospital triage. A total of 71 out of 85 patients (83.5%) were diagnosed with invasive cancer, most of whom were undergoing breast-conserving surgery (61 out of 85 patients, 71.8%). The mean in-hospital stay was 2.2 days (SD=0.7 days). After hospital discharge, no patient needed re-admission due to post-operative complications; moreover, no COVID-19 infection among patients or HCWs was detected. Conclusion: Safe breast cancer surgery was accomplished for both patients and HCWs by means of a careful preoperative selection of patients and in-hospital preventative measures. This screening program can be transferred to high-volume Breast Units and it may be useful in implementing European Community recommendations for prevention of COVID-19 infection.
Observational study of SorbaView® 2000, SorbaView® Ultimate and SecureView® Port AFZ dressings used on Central Venous Catheters in 11 Italian Oncology, Hematology and Pain Centers.
Dressing care is one of the nursing challenges that is more and more frequent in the management of central venous catheters (CVCs). Our intention with this observational study was to study the efficacy and tolerability of the latest generation devices recently introduced in Italy. The study was performed on 435 patients; including 293 carriers of totally implantable CVCs and 142 carriers of tunneled and non-tunneled CVCs. In 90% of 311 patients with scheduled therapy of greater than seven days, the dressing adhered completely, at the end of seven days and up to 10 days. In 10% of all 435 patients the dressing became partially detached at between greater than one day and less than 10 days, but not enough to justify dressing change. Of the 10% that partially detached with dwell time greater than one day and less than four days, most occurred in Hematology. A cumulative total of 1,391 dressings were applied.
At the conclusion of the study, 84% of patients reported that they were satisfied with the use of the SorbaView 2000, SorbaView Ultimate and SecureView Port AFZ dressings.
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