ObjectiveTo analyze the influencing factors for image quality of 18F-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT systemic tumor imaging and explore the method of control in order to improve the PET/CT image quality. MethodsRetrospective analysis of image data from March to June 2011 collected from 1 000 18F-FDG whole body tumor imaging patients was carried out. We separated standard films from non-standard films according to PET/CT image quality criteria. Related factors for non-standard films were analyzed to explore the entire process quality control. ResultsThere were 158 cases of standard films (15.80%), and 842 of non-standard films (84.20%). Artifact was a major factor for non-standard films (93.00%, 783/842) followed by patients’ injection information recording error (2.49%, 21/842), the instrument factor (1.90%, 16/842), incomplete scanning (0.95%, 8/842), muscle and soft tissue uptake (0.83%, 7/842), radionuclide contamination (0.59%, 5/842), and drug injection (0.24%, 2/842). The waste film rate was 5.80% (58/1 000), and the redoing rate was 2.20% (22/1 000). ConclusionComplex and diverse factors affect PET/CT image quality throughout the entire process, but most of them can be controlled if doctors, nurses and technicians coordinate and cooperate with each other. The rigorous routine quality control of equipment and maintenance, patients’ full preparation, appropriate position and scan field, proper parameter settings, and post-processing technology are important factors affecting the image quality.
ObjectiveTo explore the application of clinical pathway in patients undergoing orthopedic day surgery.MethodsPatients who were scheduled for orthopedic treatment at Day Surgery Department of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from May to October 2020 were selected as the clinical pathway group, and all of them were managed by clinical pathway. Patients who were scheduled for orthopedic treatment at Day Surgery Department of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from May to October 2019 were selected as the routine group, and all of them were managed by conventional clinical methods. The general conditions of patients, physicians’ work efficiency, medical costs and medical quality were compared between the two groups.ResultsThe clinical pathway group included 246 patients, and the routine group included 391 patients. There was no significant difference in gender, age or disease distribution between the two groups (P>0.05). Compared with the routine group, the clinical pathway group had obvious advantages in terms of average time spent by a physician in issuing a medical order each time [(5.64±3.29) vs. (2.12±1.05) min], average number of revisions per physician’s order (1.40±0.24 vs. 0.38±0.19), rate of filing medical records within 3 days (90.28% vs. 97.97%), hospital costs [(7462.10±1035.01) vs. (6252.52±1189.05) yuan], drug costs [(652.21±88.53) vs. (437.17±108.20) yuan], length of stay [(1.23±1.04) vs. (1.02±0.18) d] and delayed discharge rate (7.93% vs. 2.03%), with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of unplanned reoperation rate, unplanned rehospitalization rate, or patient satisfaction (P>0.05).ConclusionCompared with routine clinical management, clinical pathway management can improve work efficiency, reduce medical cost and improve medical quality more effectively in the implementation of orthopedic day surgery, which has very positive effects and is worthy of promotion and application.
[Abstract]It is an effective way of constructing a lung transplantation quality control system suitable for China's national conditions to break through the many dilemmas in China. Under the leadership of the National Quality Control Center, a stage-by-stage and full-scale quality control system for lung transplantation in China has been gradually constructed and extended to many lung transplantation centers nationwide, which has strongly promoted the development of lung transplantation in China. This article outlines the construction, promotion and experience of China's lung transplantation quality control system, aiming to provide reference for further development of relevant measures to promote the homogenization of lung transplantation in China.
In recent years, the Chengdu Municipal Thoracic Surgery Quality Control Center has preliminarily established a regional quality control system for thoracic surgery through the development of standards, data reporting, and on-site supervision, achieving phased improvements. This review summarizes the current development of Chengdu’s thoracic surgery quality control system, including its organizational structure and scoring methodology, quality indicators based on structure–process–outcome, information technology infrastructure, and multicenter collaboration experiences, and outlines trends in surgical volume, minimally invasive procedure rates, human resources, and care quality metrics. It also analyzes existing challenges such as inter-hospital quality disparities and insufficient interoperability among information platforms. Drawing on domestic and international best practices, we propose development strategies to further enhance the homogenization and continuous improvement of thoracic surgery quality in the region. The Chengdu experience could offer a valuable model for building regional thoracic surgery quality control systems nationwide and for integration with the national quality control platform.
Objective To monitor surgical quality and analyze learning curve of minimally invasive totally thoracoscopic cardiac surgery. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 150 consecutive patients who underwent minimally invasive totally thoracoscopic cardiac surgery in the Guangdong General Hospital between January 2013 and December 2015. There were 60 males and 90 females at age of 43.1 years. There were 60 patients with atrial or ventricular septal defect repair, 12 patients with cardiac tumor resection, 53 patients with mitral valve replacement and 25 patients with mitral valve repair. According to the surgical sequence, all the patients were divided into 3 groups including a group A, group B, and group C with 50 patients in each group (every 10 patients as a sequence, every 5 sequence as a group). Surgical outcomes were compared among the 3 groups, and surgical quality was analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results Surgical failure rate was 6.7% (10/150). There was no in-hospital mortality. Aortic cross-clamp time, cardiopulmonary bypass time and duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of ICU stay, duration of hospital stays of the group C were significantly shorter than those of the group A and group B. Analysis showed a significant learning curve effect in totally thoracoscopic cardiac surgery. When surgical cases reached about 100 cases, cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp time was shorter than the average value stably. Conclusion Totally thoracoscopic cardiac surgery is safe and reliable. For the beginners, it needs about 100 patients of surgery to master the totally thoracoscopic cardiac surgery.
As a standard of care, lymph node dissection is an indispensible step in lung cancer surgery. The quality of dissection determines completeness of surgery and the accuracy of N staging. Hereby, we suggest labeling all surgically resected nodes according to the new lymph node map in the 8th TNM classification for lung cancer. As systematic lymph node dissection remains the gold standard of lymphadenectomy, at least three mediastinal stations and ten nodes should be removed in an en-bloc fashion, if possible. For patients with stage Ⅰ lung cancer, lymph node dissection via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or open thoracotomy may has similar oncological outcome. Besides, limited lymph node sampling in selected patients with early staged lung cancer to minimize unnecessary surgical damage still need further investigation.
ObjectiveExplore the impact of a digital-intelligence-based quality control platform for thyroid cancer on the effectiveness of clinical diagnosis and treatment quality management. MethodsThe digital-intelligence-based quality control platform for thyroid cancer at Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital was launched at the end of July 2022. In its initial phase, six quality control indicators related to the standardized diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer were deployed. This study analyzed the changes in these six quality control indicators between January 2022 and November 2023, comparing data before and after the platform’s implementation. ResultsCompared with the period from January to July 2022 (prior to the platform’s launch), the rates of preoperative cytopathological examination (t=–8.490, P<0.001) and postoperative pTNM staging for thyroid cancer patients (t=–3.027, P=0.013) increased from July to November 2023 (one year post-launch). However, the proportion of minimally invasive surgeries among thyroid cancer patients (t=4.085, P=0.002) decreased. The linear regression model results indicated that, following the platform’s launch, there was a gradual increase over time in both the preoperative cytopathological examination rate for thyroid cancer (P=0.001) and the postoperative pTNM staging rate (P=0.049). ConclusionPreliminary results of this study suggest that the thyroid cancer digital-intelligence-based quality control platform developed by our team can effectively enhance the standardized quality control of clinical diagnosis and treatment for thyroid cancer.
In recent years, with the increasing attention of health administrative departments and medical institutions at all levels to hospital infection, the prevention and control of hospital infection is increasing. As an important part of the quality control network, the role of provincial quality control center has a very important impact on the effectiveness of quality control work. Since its establishment, “Gansu Provincial Medical Quality Control Center of Hospital Infection Management” has actively explored the quality control mode suitable for the provincial situation, continuously strengthened the basic hospital infection quality control work, and innovated the quality control forms, especially the special quality control activities of “Infection Prevention in Gansu Province” with the core content of “supervision, training and investigation” carried out in combination with the provincial situation, which has created a new quality control work mode of the provincial quality control center. It is recognized and promoted by the national counterparts, and playes a positive role in promoting the management of hospital infection in the whole province. This article expounds the supervision practice of “Infection Prevention in Gansu Province” from four aspects in detail.