Surgical resident bedside rescue successes.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Critical Care
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Emergent bedside care is crucial for hospitalized patients.
• Rapid response teams are established, but the role of surgical residents in emergent care is underdescribed.
• Surgical residents have a history of successful emergent bedside interventions in teaching hospitals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the critical role of surgical residents in emergent bedside care.
• To present instances of surgical resident-led bedside rescues.
• To emphasize their contribution to reducing adverse events and mortality.

Main Methods:

• Review of 11 cases from Morbidity and Mortality conferences at Monmouth Medical Center over one year.
• Focus on cases where surgical residents performed technical maneuvers for emergent bedside rescues.
• Cases included various procedures, excluding central lines but including chest tube-related incidents.

Main Results:

• Surgical residents performed emergent reintubation, managed expanding hematomas via neck incision opening, and replaced dislodged tracheostomy tubes.
• Rescues included rigid sigmoidoscopy for rectal bleeding, bronchoscopy for hemoptysis, and control of various bleeds (permacatheter, femoral-femoral bypass, tracheoinnominate fistula).
• Emergent chest tube placement was also a key intervention performed by surgical residents.

Conclusions:

• Surgical residents possess advanced bedside procedural skills essential for emergent care.
• These skills are crucial for preventing adverse events and reducing mortality in hospitalized patients.
• Surgical residents should be prioritized for emergent interventions like bleeding control and invasive procedures in teaching hospitals.