Abstract Background Adhesive small bowel obstructions are the most common postoperative causes of hospitalization. Several studies investigated the diagnostic and therapeutic role of water-soluble ...contrast agent (WSCA) in predicting the need for surgery, but there is no consensus. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis was done of studies on diagnostic and therapeutic role of oral WSCA. Results WSCA had a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 93% in predicting resolution of obstruction without surgery; diagnostic accuracy increased significantly if abdominal X-rays were taken after 8 hours. The administration of oral WSCA reduced the need for surgery (odds ratio .55, P = .003), length of stay (weighted mean difference −2.18 days, P < .00001), and time to resolution (weighted mean difference −28.25 hours, P < .00001). No differences in terms of morbidity or mortality were recorded. Conclusions The administration of WSCA is accurate in predicting the need for surgery; the test should be taken after at least 8 hours from administration. WSCA is a proven safe and effective treatment, correlated with a significant reduction in the need for surgery and in the length of hospital stay.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Introduction. Emergency resection represents the traditional treatment for left-sided malignant obstruction. However, the placement of self-expanding metallic stents and delayed surgery has been ...proposed as an alternative approach. The aim of the current meta-analysis was to review the available evidence, with particular interest for the short-term outcomes, including a recent multicentre RCT. Methods. We considered randomized controlled trials comparing stenting as a bridge to surgery and emergency surgery for the management of left-sided malignant large bowel obstruction, performing a systematic review in MEDLINE, PubMed database, and the Cochrane libraries. Results. We initially identified a total of 2543 studies. After the elimination of duplicates and the screening of titles and abstracts, seven studies, for a total of 448 patients, were considered. The current meta-analysis revealed no difference in the mortality rate between the stent group and the emergency surgery group; the postoperative complication rate (37.84% versus 54.87%, P=0.02), the stoma rate (28.8% versus 46.02%, P<0.0001), and the incidence of wound infection (8.11% versus 15.49%, P=0.01) were reduced after stent as a bridge to surgery. Conclusion. Colonic stenting as a bridge to surgery appears to be a safe approach to malignant large bowel obstruction. Possible advantages of this treatment can be identified in a reduced incidence of postoperative complications and a lower stoma rate. Further RCTs considering long-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness analysis are needed.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has been proposed as a treatment in ovarian cancer. A recently published RCT demonstrated that HIPEC prolongs disease-free survival (DFS) and overall ...survival (OS) in ovarian cancer. The aim of the study was to investigate oncologic results of cytoreductive surgery+HIPEC compared with cytoreductive surgery alone in advanced primary ovarian cancer with a particular attention to the pattern of recurrence.
This is a retrospective case control study with a propensity score (PS) matching of the patients. All the patients treated for primary advanced ovarian cancer who underwent interval surgery with or without HIPEC were collected; a PS was calculated in order to match cases to controls.
Among 77 eligible patients 56 patients were included in the study. Preoperative patients' characteristics were homogeneous. No difference in morbidity and mortality after surgery were recorded. DFS was not different among the 2 groups (13.2 vs. 13.9 months, p=0.454) but OS was better in patients treated with HIPEC with no median reached vs. 35.5 months (p=0.048). Patients treated with cytoreductive surgery alone were more likely to have a peritoneal recurrence (43% vs. 14%).
HIPEC seems to affect the relapse pattern with lesser peritoneal recurrence. This difference in relapse pattern seems to affect the OS with better results in patients treated with HIPEC. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the world; 53–60% of patients show disease progression and die of peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). ...PC of gastric origin has an extremely inauspicious prognosis with a median survival estimate at 1–3 months. Different studies presented contrasting data about survival rates; however, all agreed with the necessity of a complete cytoreduction to improve survival. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has an adjuvant role in preventing peritoneal recurrences. A multidisciplinary approach should be empowered: the association of neoadjuvant intraperitoneal and systemic chemotherapy (NIPS), cytoreductive surgery (CRS), HIPEC, and early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC) could increase the rate of completeness of cytoreduction (CC) and consequently survival rates, especially in patients with Peritoneal Cancer Index (PCI) ≤6. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy may improve survival also in PC from GC and adjuvant chemotherapy could prevent recurrence. In the last decade an interesting new drug, called Catumaxomab, has been developed in Germany. Two studies showed that this drug seems to improve progression-free survival in patients with GC; however, final results for both studies have still to be published.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The placement of a metallic stent as a bridge to surgery (SBTS) could represents an option for the treatment of left-sided malignant colonic obstruction in centres with adequate skills. Several ...meta-analyses demonstrated better short-term outcomes after SBTS when compared with emergency surgery (ES); however, some studies reported a higher local recurrence rate. The aim of the present review is to investigate the long-term outcomes of stent bridge to surgery as compared to ES.
A systematic review was performed to retrieve studies comparing long-term oncologic outcomes of SBTS and ES. Local and overall recurrence rate, overall and disease-free survival were retrieved and results were expressed as risk ratios.
Seventeen studies and a total of 1,333 patients were included in the analysis. No significant differences were reported in recurrence rate risk ratio (RR) =1.11; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.84-1.47, P=0.47, 3-year mortality (RR =0.90; 95% CI: 0.73-1.12, P=0.34) and 5-year mortality (RR =1.00; 95% CI: 0.82-1.22, P=0.99). There were no differences among randomized and observational studies.
SBTS has similar long-term oncologic outcomes to ES and in centres with appropriate skill should be considered the best treatment option for left-sided malignant colonic obstructions.
AIM To investigate the epidemiology,treatment and outcomes of acute appendicitis(AA) in a large population study.METHODS This is a retrospective cohort study derived from the administrative dataset ...of the Bergamo district healthcare system(more than 1 million inhabitants) from 1997 to 2013.Data about treatment,surgery,length of stay were collected.Moreover for each patients were registered data about relapse of appendicitis and hospital admission due to intestinal obstruction.RESULTS From 1997 to 2013 in the Bergamo district we collected 16544 cases of AA,with a crude incidence rate of 89/100000 inhabitants per year; mean age was 24.51 ± 16.17,54.7% were male and the mean Charlson’s comorbidity index was 0.32 ± 0.92.Mortality was < 0.0001%.Appendectomy was performed in 94.7% of the patients and the mean length of stay was 5.08 ± 2.88 d; the cumulative hospital stay was 5.19 ± 3.36 d and 1.2% of patients had at least one further hospitalization due intestinal occlusion.Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed in 48% of cases.Percent of 5.34 the patients were treated conservatively with a mean length of stay of 3.98 ± 3.96 d; the relapse rate was 23.1% and the cumulative hospital stay during the study period was 5.46 ± 6.05 d.CONCLUSION The treatment of acute appendicitis in Northern Italy is slowly changing,with the large diffusion of laparoscopic approach; conservative treatment of non-complicated appendicitis is still a neglected option,but rich of promising results.
Background
Self-inflicted injuries represent a consistent cause of trauma and falls from heights (FFH) represent a common dynamic used for suicidal attempts. The aim of the current report is to ...compare, among FFH patients, unintentional fallers and intentional jumpers in terms of demographical characteristics, clinical-pathological parameters and mortality, describing the population at risk for suicide by jumping and the particular patterns of injury of FFH patients.
Materials and methods
The present study is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data regarding FFH patients, extracted from the Trauma Registry of the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Italy. Demographic characteristics, clinical-pathological parameters, patterns of injury, outcomes including mortality rates of jumpers and fallers were analyzed and compared.
Results
The FFH trauma group included 299 patients between April 2014 and July 2016: 259 of them (86.6%) were fallers and 40 (13.4%) were jumpers. At multivariate analysis both young age (
p
= 0.01) and female sex (
p
< 0.001) were statistical significant risk factors for suicidal attempt with FFH. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) at the arrival was lower and ISS was higher in the self-inflicted injury group (SBP 133.35 ± 23.46 in fallers vs 109.89 ± 29.93 in jumpers,
p
< 0.001; ISS in fallers 12.61 ± 10.65 vs 18.88 ± 11.80 in jumpers,
p
= 0.001). Jumpers reported higher AIS score than fallers for injuries to: face (
p
= 0.023), abdomen (
p
< 0.001) and extremities (
p
= 0.004). The global percentage of patients who required advanced or definitive airway control was significantly higher in the jumper group (35.0% vs 16.2%,
p
= 0.005). In total, 75% of jumpers and the 34% of fallers received surgical intervention (
p
< 0.001). A higher number of jumpers needed ICU admission, as compared to fallers (57.5% vs 23.6%,
p
< 0.001); jumpers showed longer total length of stay (26.00 ± 24.34 vs 14.89 ± 13.04,
p
= 0.007) and higher early mortality than fallers (7.5% vs 1.2%,
p
= 0.008).
Conclusions
In Northern Italy, the population at highest risk of suicide by jumping and requiring Trauma Team activation is greatly composed by middle-aged women. Furthermore, FFH is the most common suicidal method. Jumpers show tendency to “feet-first landing” and seem to have more severe injuries, worse outcome and a higher early mortality rate, as compared to fallers. The Trauma Registry can be a useful tool to describe clusters of patients at high risk for suicidal attempts and to plan preventive and clinical actions, with the aim of optimizing hospital care for FFH trauma patients.
The World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) spleen trauma classification meets the need of an evolution of the current anatomical spleen injury scale considering both the anatomical lesions and ...their physiologic effect. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy and trustfulness of the WSES classification as a tool in the decision-making process during spleen trauma management.
Multicenter prospective observational study on adult patients with blunt splenic trauma managed between 2014 and 2016 in two Italian trauma centers (ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII in Bergamo and Sant'Anna University Hospital in Ferrara). Risk factors for operative management at the arrival of the patient and as a definitive treatment were analyzed. Moreover, the association between the different WSES grades of injury and the definitive management was analyzed.
One hundred twenty-four patients were included. At multivariate analysis, a WSES splenic injury grade IV is a risk factor for the operative management both at the arrival of the patients and as a definitive treatment. WSES splenic injury grade III is a risk factor for angioembolization.
The WSES classification is a good and reliable tool in the decision-making process in splenic trauma management.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
We reviewed our experience with patients presenting with trauma and peritonitis who underwent an open abdomen (OA) procedure, and compared outcomes between Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) and ...a modified Barker Vacuum Pack (mBVP) technique.
In this descriptive study, we retrospectively analyzed data regarding all patients who underwent OA for intra-abdominal sepsis or abdominal trauma at our Centre from January 2012 to December 2015. Demographic data, co-morbidities, indications to surgery, intra-operative details and Björck classification grade were considered. Outcomes included were: time to closure in days, fascial closure rates, ICU and hospital stay, in-hospital and overall mortality, and entero-atmospheric fistula rate.
A total of 83 cases were considered. Mean closure time was 6 days versus 6.5 days (p = 0.71) in NPWT and mBVP groups, respectively; the fascial closure rate was 75.4% versus 93.8% (p = 0.10). At multivariate analysis, in-hospital and overall mortality were significantly higher within the mBVP, as compared to NPWT (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.1 to 13.1, p = 0.02 - OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 14.1, p = 0.01). Entero-atmospheric fistula rate was 2.6% in the two groups.
NPWT as a temporary abdominal closure technique, as compared to mBVP, appears to be associated with better outcomes in terms of mortality.
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