Complications requiring ICU care represent a significant morbidity in the colectomy patient population. Frailty index seems to be an important predictor of ICU-level complications and death, and laparoscopy seems to be protective.

Objectives. This study was designed to assess the clinical applicability of a Point-of-Care (POC) ultrasound curriculum into an intensive care unit (ICU) fellowship program and its impact on patient care. Methods. A POC ultrasound curriculum for the surgical ICU (SICU) fellowship was designed and implemented in an urban, academic tertiary care center. It included 30 hours of didactics and hands-on training on models. Minimum requirement for each ICU fellow was to perform 25–50 exams on respective systems or organs for a total not less than 125 studies on ICU. The ICU fellows implemented the POC ultrasound curriculum into their daily practice in managing ICU patients, under supervision from ICU staff physicians, who were instructors in POC ultrasound. Impact on patient care including finding a new diagnosis or change in patient management was reviewed over a period of one academic year. Results. 873 POC ultrasound studies in 203 patients admitted to the surgical ICU were reviewed for analysis. All studies included were done through the POC ultrasound curriculum training. The most common exams performed were 379 lung/pleural exams, 239 focused echocardiography and hemodynamic exams, and 237 abdominal exams. New diagnosis was found in 65.52% of cases (95% CI 0.590, 0.720). Changes in patient management were found in 36.95% of cases (95% CI 0.303, 0.435). Conclusions. Implementation of POC ultrasound in the ICU with a structured fellowship curriculum was associated with an increase in new diagnosis in about 2/3 and change in management in over 1/3 of ICU patients studied.

The incidence of anastomotic stricture tends to be lower with a handsewn technique with lower operative time. No difference was appreciated in the anastomotic leak or reexploration rate with either technique.

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Antiplatelet and anticoagulant medication increases the risk of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) after a fall in geriatric patients. We sought to determine whether there were differences in ICH rates and outcomes based on type of anticoagulant or antiplatelet agent after a ground-level fall (GLF). Our institutional trauma registry was used to identify patients 65 years old or older after a GLF while taking warfarin, clopidogrel, or aspirin over a 2-year period. Rates and types of ICH and patient outcomes were evaluated. Of 562 patients who met inclusion and exclusion criteria, 218 (38.8%) were on warfarin, 95 (16.9%) were on clopidogrel, and 249 (44.3%) were on aspirin. Overall ICH frequency was 15 per cent with no difference in ICH rate, type of ICH, need for craniotomy, mortality, or intensive care unit or hospital length of stay between groups. Patients with ICH were more likely to present with abnormal Glasgow Coma Score, history of hypertension, and/or loss of consciousness.