Neurosurgery Commons^™

Safe Paralytic Reversal For Neurologic Examinations, Keenan Piper, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

AIM Statement

Institute a protocol for safe administration of sugammadex to obtain neurologic exams with a goal of 90% adherence and three or less agitation-related complications over a 6-month period

Instituting A New Traumatic Ich Algorithm At Jefferson, Michael Baldassari, Md, Matthews Lan, Md, Caitlin Ritz, Md, Tyler Alexander, Bs, Richard Schmidt, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem Statement: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a high-incidence condition causing substantial economic burden on trauma centers worldwide. Many institutions have begun using validated algorithms for safe management, such as the Modified Brain Injury Guidelines (BIG) Criteria. At Jefferson, tICH have not historically been treated algorithmically, and therefore, tICH patients are often subject to excessive imaging surveillance and admission lengths.

Aim Statement: To institute a new algorithm modeled off mBIG criteria for the management of tICH patient at Jefferson to streamline treatment and safely reduce the number of surveillance HCTs obtained, as well as length of stay in this …

Improving Time To Mri In The Emergency Room For Spinal Epidural Abscesses, Karim Hafazalla, Md, Angeleah Carreras, Ms, Sean Mcgann, Md, Scott Faro, Md, Adam Flanders, Md, Richard Schmidt, Md, James Harrop, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Magnetic resonance images (MRI) is integral in assessing pathology. This is especially true in the emergency room (ER), where delays in diagnosing emergent neurologic pathologies, including spinal epidural abscesses (EDAs), where the morbidity can be severe if not addressed in time. This study aims to implement an expedited imaging pathway for this urgent / emergent pathology.

Improving Head Ct Utilization After Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage According To The Modified Brain Injury Guidelines (Mbig), Mathews Lan, Md, Michael Baldassari, Md, Caitlin Ritz, Md, Tyler Alexander, Bs, Richard Schmidt, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem Statement: There are subsets of patients with traumatic intracranial hemorrhage who are low-risk for clinically significant hemorrhage expansion and/or neurologic deterioration requiring procedural intervention, yet these patients often undergo multiple serial head CT’s requiring an extended length of stay that may not be necessary. The Brain Injury Guidelines^1,2 (BIG) and subsequent modified Brain Injury Guidelines³ (mBIG) sought to categorize these low-risk subsets and provide an algorithm for more efficient care for these patients.

Project AIM: For low-risk patients with traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (specifically mBIG 2), we aim to reduce the number of head CT’s during admission …

Improving Post-Operative Educational Handouts After Spine Surgery, Arbaz A. Momin, James Harrop

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem Statement: After spine surgery, patients are given take home instructions which are outdated and provide limited answers to frequently asked questions. This leads to increased office calls and overnight calls to on-call physician.

Project AIM:

• Improving educational handouts given to patients after spine surgery
• Aim is to analyze current handouts given to patients after spine surgery
• Identify frequently asked questions by patients after surgery

Resumption Of Anti-Platelet/Anticoagulation Therapy Following Lumbar Spine Surgery, Stephanie Serva, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem Statement:

• No current guideline or protocol for AC/AP resumption in neurosurgical spine patients at TJUH
• There is difficulty in providing consistent perioperative anticoagulation recommendations to patients, as there remains no widely accepted, definitive literature of evidence or guidelines (Louie et al, 2020)

Project Aims:

• To determine standardized protocol for resuming antiplatelet/anticoagulation therapy following lumbar surgery
• To reduce combined postoperative cardiac/cerebrovascular/thrombotic events, and post-operative hematomas

Streamlined Pre-Authorization Expedites Patient Discharges From Stroke Units To Rehabilitation Centers, Michael Vo, William Nguyen, Matthew Trotter, Jeffrey Zhou, Glenn A. Gonzalez, Eric Mong, Rene Daniel, Ross-Jordan Elliott, James Harrop

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem statement: Patient discharge from neurosurgical stroke units to rehabilitation centers is a complex administrative and clinical endeavor involving a population often with cognitive and motor morbidity that can be intensified with extensive hospital length of stay (LOS).

Project aim: This project aims to analyze the change in LOS due to the introduction of liaisons, who advocate for and expedite pre-authorization, rounds, and plan of care establishment for patients with strokes.

Do Large Language Models Adhere To Clinical Guidelines For Cervical Fusion? A Comparison Of Chatbotgenerated Responses With Nass Coverage Recommendations, Advith Sarikonda, Ba, Bs, Emily Self, Md, Dwight Mitchell Self, Md, Abhijeet Sambangi, Bs, Angeleah Carreras, Md, Jack Jallo, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Introduction:

• Cervical fusion is a widely performed procedure with rapidly increasing usage.
• Despite this surge in utilization, there has been limited exploration into whether cervical fusion procedures align with evidence-based guidelines.
• To address these issues, the North American Spine Society (NASS) has developed EBM coverage recommendations for various diagnostic procedures and therapeutic treatments in the field of spine surgery

Project AIM:

• To assess the efficacy of chatbots in adhering to official guidelines for indications for cervical spine surgery

Addressing Catheter Associated Uti In The Neuro Icu, Aria Mahtabfar, Md, Giuliana Labella, Msn, Caitlin Harley, Msn, Omar Shah, Md, Mba

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Increasing systemic pressures have forced clinicians to identify and address a variety of metrics to provide better “quality” care. Catheter associated UTIs (CAUTI) are a common health careassociated infection in the Neuro ICU and are associated with increased LOS and overall mortality.

Aims for Improvement: Improving the incidence of CAUTI at the Gibbon and JHN ICUs on an annual basis after incremental interventions.

Improving Serial Imaging Protocols In Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage, Kevin Hines, Md, Nikolaos Mouchtouris, Md, Fadi Al-Saiegh, Md, Karim Hafazalla, Jacob Mazza, Giuliana Labella, Muhammad K. Athar, Md, Adam Flanders, Md, M. Reid Gooch, Md, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris, Md, Robert H. Rosenwasswer, Md, Pascal Jabbour, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

There is no universally agreed upon protocol to image patient presenting with intra-parenchymal hemorrhage of non-traumatic etiology (sICH). At our institution, it is common practice for a patient to have 3 CT’s done within 24 hours. They are often at onset of symptoms or presentation, 6 hours post onset of symptoms, and finally 24 hours post bleed onset.

The goal of this project will be to assess the safety and efficacy of obtaining this repeat imaging in our patients in the hopes that limiting unnecessary CT head studies will decrease resource utilization, decrease patient radiation, expedite movement of stable patients …

Addressing The Limitations Of Neurosurgical Care Via Telemedicine, Nikolaos Mouchtouris, Md, Robert Sergott, Md, Mark Moster, Md, Michael Karsy, Md, Laura Sweeney, Crnp, Christopher Farrell, Md, James Evans, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Novel telemedicine software successfully automates cranial nerve assessment of patients from the comfort of their home

Improving The Virtual Neurosurgery Residency Interview Experience, Ellina Hattar, Md, Omaditya Khanna, Md, Ritam Ghosh, Md, Nikolaos Mouchtouris, Md, Kevin Hines, Md, Daniel Franco, Md, Michelle Hoffman, James S. Harrop, Md, Ashwini D. Sharan, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

The residency selection process has proven a challenge in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the neurosurgery match, residents are chosen based on objective metrics as well as their ability to effectively work as part of a team tasked with caring for medically complex patients faced with neurosurgical conditions. As there remain limitations on the number of externships students could participate in and the Step 1 examination is expected to be reported as either pass or fail in years to come, we will have fewer objective metrics to review in the student application. We conducted a study to best …

Implementing A Surgical Pre-Operative Checklist: Improving Transparency & Communication, Ritam Ghosh, Md, James Harrop, Md, Jesse Edwards, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Our goal was to first analyze what the current practice was and if there was a need for improvement. To our knowledge, each surgical service has its own preop protocol and this is not standardized across the hospital. Furthermore, very few services have EPIC based protocols that allow for documentation and information sharing. For example, the neurosurgery service uses paper checklists, a style that is effective yet outdated.

A survey was sent out to multiple departments in order to gauge the current landscape of pre-operative care. Questions were posed to analyze if there was a need for improved documentation by …

Standardizing Postoperative Handoffs Using The Evidence-Based Ipass Framework Improves Handoff Communication For Postoperative Neurosurgical Patients In The Neuro-Intensive Care Unit, Richard F. Schmidt, Md, Matthew D. Vibbert, Md, Coleen A. Vernick, Do, Andrew M. Mendelson, Do, Caitlin Harley, Msn, Giuliana Labella, Msn, Jessica Houser, Bsn, Patrick Becher, Bsn, Erin Simko, Bsn, Pascal M. Jabbour, Md, Stavropoula I. Tjoumakaris, Md, M. Reid Gooch, Md, Ashwini D. Sharan, Md, Christopher J. Farrell, Md, James S. Harrop, Md, Robert H. Rosenwasswer, Md, Rebecca C. Jaffe, Md, Jack Jallo, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Aims for Improvement

Within one year of initiation of the process improvement plan, we wanted to improve:

• Direct communication of airway and hemodynamic concerns
• Direct communication of operative events, complications, and perioperative management goals.
• Attendance at postoperative handoffs
• Confirmation of information by receiving teams
• Staff perceptions of handoff efficacy and teamwork.

Improving Patient Safety Through A Postoperative Debriefing Initiative, Ellina Hattar, Md, Monica Young, Dnp, Mba, Rn, Cnor, Erin Leonetti, Rn, Omaditya Khanna, Md, Anthony Stefanelli, Md, James Harrop, Md, Ashwini Sharan Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Aims for Improvement

Effective and clear communication in the operating room is a necessary aspect of any surgery. Every member of the operative team is integral in fostering an environment focused on patient safety. As such, the institution of a postoperative debrief session may allow for feedback from every member of the team that will ultimately aid in improving a patient’s experience.

Improving Serial Imaging Protocols In Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage, Kevin Hines, Md, Nikolaos Mouchtouris, Md, Fadi Al-Saiegh, Md, Karim Hafazalla, Jacob Mazza, Giuliana Labella, Muhammad K. Athar, Md, Adam Flanders, Md, M. Reid Gooch, Md, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris, Md, Robert H. Rosenwasswer, Md, Pascal Jabbour, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Aims for Improvement

Aim to decrease unnecessary use of serial imaging in sICH patients.

• This project plans to decrease the number of scans in this patient population while increasing faculty/staff satisfaction and efficiency of resource utilization.
• The goal is to decrease HCT utilization by 20% without compromising patient care or decision making.
• After finalizing and approving the HCT protocol, implementation of a trial period for two