Clinical practice guidelines in pediatric anesthesia: What constitutes high‐quality guidance?

The explosion of scientific evidence has outstripped the ability of individual clinicians to acquire, process, and apply it within a clinical context. Clinical practice guidelines bridge the gap between this large body of evidence and clinical practice by translating evidence into recommendations. As such, they are an important extension of the evidence‐based medicine paradigm. Guidelines promise to translate evidence into actionable clinical recommendations. However, this promise can only be realized if they are both useful and trustworthy. As the number of guidelines increases users’ question their role, the quality of the scientific evidence behind them and the strength of the recommendations made. In this article, we provide definitions and outline the features of the common forms of clinical guidance. We then describe the essential characteristics of good quality clinical guidance and outline initiatives aimed at improving quality. Specific issues and limitations related to guideline development in perioperative care of children are discussed. Finally, two clinical guidance documents, published recently in Pediatric Anesthesia, are discussed based upon these criteria.     

Considerations for head and neck oncology practices during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic: Wuhan and Toronto experience

The practices of head and neck surgical oncologists must evolve to meet the unprecedented needs placed on our health care system by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. Guidelines are emerging to help guide the provision of head and neck cancer care, though in practice, it can be challenging to operationalize such recommendations. Head and neck surgeons at Wuhan University faced significant challenges in providing care for their patients. Similar challenges were faced by the University of Toronto during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic in 2003. Herein, we outline our combined experience and key practical considerations for maintaining an oncology service in the midst of a pandemic.     

国际《胆囊切除术中预防胆管损伤多协会共识和实践指南（2020）》解读

医源性胆管损伤是腹腔镜胆囊切除术最常见的严重并发症,是医疗费用增加、病人生活质量下降和引起医疗纠纷的重要原因。优化胆囊切除术解剖辨识技术和手术技能、风险评估和控制、胆管损伤处理策略和提升医生经验等环节,有可能降低医源性胆管损伤的发生率。2018年10月美国胃肠与内镜外科医师协会（SAGES）联合美国肝胆胰协会、国际肝胆胰协会、消化道外科协会和欧洲内镜外科协会组成的国际小组,针对18个基于证据的问题和推荐意见进行投票决议,通过了其中17个推荐意见。该指南可为外科医生的临床实践提供指导,为相关医疗培训机构、医院管理和专业协会等提供合理有效的规范以降低胆管损伤发生率,从而改善病人的预后。     

Barriers to Implementation of Treatment Guidelines for ADHD in Adults With Substance Use Disorder

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common among adult patients with a substance use disorder, yet often goes undetected. This is a qualitative study to explore implementation barriers to a guideline developed in Belgium for the recognition and treatment of ADHD in adult patients with substance use disorder and to gain a better understanding of the strategies to overcome these barriers.

Methods: Focus groups were conducted with caregivers and patients to explore experiences with comorbid substance use disorder and ADHD. The barriers reported in these focus groups became the subject of further study in focus groups with addiction professionals (physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists) who had tried the guideline and with psychiatrists specializing in addiction but without experience with ADHD.

Results: Our analysis revealed a number of barriers to the implementation of this guideline, including lack of information from the family, pressure from patients and caregivers to make an ADHD diagnosis, and the potential for abuse of ADHD medication. Furthermore, diagnostic instruments for ADHD have not been validated in people with substance use disorder. Although patients with ADHD are usually treated in an outpatient setting, patients with ADHD comorbid with substance use disorder are difficult to identify in an outpatient setting for various reasons. Finally, there is a lack of specific ADHD expertise in substance use treatment organizations.

Conclusions: Despite the availability of an approved guideline for recognizing and treating adult ADHD in patients with a substance use disorder, underdiagnosis and inadequate treatment still persist. As in general substance use treatment, medication only plays a supportive role in the treatment of substance use disorder with comorbid ADHD. An integrated approach and further improvements in the competence of practitioners may help to reduce the resistance to diagnosing ADHD in substance use treatment centers. Practitioners who specialize in addiction medicine and therapists without medical education view the problem from different perspectives and therefore each group needs specific information and training. Targeted interventions need to be developed to keep these patients in treatment.