Surgery

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines do not specifically address optimal antibiotic duration following cholecystostomy. This study compares outcomes for short-course (<7 days) and long-course (≥7 days) antibiotics post-cholecystostomy. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of cholecystostomy patients (≥18 years) admitted (1/1/2007-12/31/2017) to one healthcare system. RESULTS: Overall, 214 patients were studied. Demographics were similar, except short-course patients had higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (p < 0...

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic, cholestatic, autoimmune disease with a variable progressive course. PBC can cause debilitating symptoms including fatigue and pruritus and, if left untreated, is associated with a high risk of cirrhosis and related complications, liver failure, and death. Recent changes to the PBC landscape include a name change, updated guidelines for diagnosis and treatment as well as new treatment options that have recently become available. Practicing clinicians face many unanswered questions when managing PBC...

BACKGROUND: Morbidity after pancreatectomy is commonly due to leakage of exocrine secretions resulting in abscess or pancreatic fistula (PF). Previously, we authored a double-blind randomized controlled trial demonstrating that perioperative pasireotide administration lowers abscess or PF formation by >50%. Accordingly, we adopted pasireotide use as standard practice after pancreatectomy in October 2014 and hypothesized a similar PF/abscess rate reduction would be observed. STUDY DESIGN: A prospectively maintained database was queried for all patients who underwent pancreatectomy between October 2014 and July 2017...

BACKGROUND: As many as 40 % of breast cancer patients undergoing axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and radiotherapy develop lymphedema. We report our experience performing lymphatic-venous anastomosis using the lymphatic microsurgical preventive healing approach (LYMPHA) at the time of ALND. This technique was described by Boccardo, Campisi in 2009. METHODS: LYMPHA was offered to node-positive women with breast cancer requiring ALND. Afferent lymphatic vessels, identified by injection of blue dye in the ipsilateral arm, were sutured into a branch of the axillary vein distal to a competent valve...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficiency of Simplified Lymphatic Microsurgical Preventing Healing Approach (S-LYMPHA) in preventing lymphedema (LE) in a prospective cohort of patients. BACKGROUND: LE is a serious complication of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) with an incidence rate of 25%. LYMPHA has been proposed as an effective adjunct to ALND for the prevention of LE. This procedure, however, requires microsurgical techniques and significant coordination between services...

BACKGROUND: Since publication of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z0011 trial results, demonstrating that many patients with nonpalpable axillary lymph nodes and one or two positive sentinel nodes do not require axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), preoperative axillary ultrasound (AUS) has become controversial. Clinicians are concerned that AUS may lead to unnecessary ALND. The authors developed an algorithm (Algorithm 1) in which the number of AUS-suspicious nodes and tumor biology direct management...

BACKGROUND: During recent years, an increasing number of patients with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) and previous axillary surgery have undergone repeat sentinel lymph node biopsy (rSLNB). The influence of axillary nodal status on prognosis for IBTR patients remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the technical success rate, follow-up assessment, and prognostic value of rSLNB for patients with IBTR. METHODS: A systematic search conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library up to July 2017 included all studies on rSLNB in IBTR...

BACKGROUND: Surgery for non-palpable breast cancer may often be a challenging procedure. Recently, a magnetic seed (Magseed® ) used for tumour localization has been developed. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIO) for sentinel lymph node (SN) detection is a novel tracer that may be injected up to four weeks preoperatively. This study is the first combining the magnetic seed and SPIO. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients planned for breast conserving surgery and SN-biopsy (SNB) were recruited from two units in Sweden...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although water exchange may improve adenoma detection compared with CO2 , it is unclear whether water is a better medium to fill the lumen during withdrawal and visualize the mucosa. Total underwater colonoscopy (TUC) involves the use of water exchange with the air valve off during insertion followed by the inspection of the mucosa under water. Our goal was to compare miss rates for TUC with standard CO2 for polyps and adenomas using a tandem colonoscopy design. METHODS: We randomized participants to undergo tandem colonoscopies using TUC or CO2 first...

Eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) are the most common causes of chronic oesophagitis and dysphagia associated with oesophageal mucosal eosinophilia. Distinguishing between the two is imperative but challenging due to overlapping clinical and histological features. A diagnosis of EoE requires clinical, histological and endoscopic correlation whereas a diagnosis of GORD is mainly clinical without the need for other investigations. Both entities may exhibit oesophageal eosinophilia at a similar level making a histological distinction between them difficult...

BACKGROUND: Although surgical management of the axilla for breast cancer continues to evolve, axillary lymphadenectomy remains the standard of care for women with advanced nodal disease. We sought to evaluate national patterns of care in axillary surgery, and its association with overall survival (OS) among women with N2-3 invasive breast cancer. METHODS: Women (18-90 years) with clinical N2-3 invasive breast cancer who underwent axillary surgery were identified from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) from 2004 to 2013...

Systematic application of the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) as a screen for colorectal cancer has been shown to meaningfully impact colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. However, there is room for improvement. FIT performance is impacted by a host of patient level factors such as sex and medication use. Meta-analysis has defined those factors most likely to result in a false positive or false negative test. Further work determining how best to gather information on important factors and incorporate them into the FIT result will further enhance the accuracy and outcomes accomplished with this valuable screening test...

Small bowel obstruction is one of the most frequent emergencies in general surgery, commonly affecting elderly patients. Morbidity and mortality from small bowel obstruction in elderly is high. Significant progress has been made in the diagnosis and management of bowel obstruction in recent years. But little is known whether this progress has benefitted outcomes in elderly patients, particularly those who are frail or have a malignancy as cause of the obstruction, and when considering quality of life and functioning as outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Adhesive bowel obstruction is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality, but the magnitude of the risk is debated. METHOD: In a national cohort of all Danish women with an abdominal operation (N = 665,423) between 1977 and 2013, the risk of adhesive bowel obstruction was assessed by Cox multiple regression. Covariates were the number of abdominal operations, the surgical methods, the anatomical site involved, and the calendar year...

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of antibiotics in appendicitis remains controversial, and physicians are not confident in prescribing antibiotics as the first line treatment. This network meta-analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of individual antibiotics in uncomplicated appendicitis. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified from MEDLINE and SCOPUS databases since inception to July 2017. STUDIES: Network meta-analysis was applied to estimate treatment effects and safety...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the incision used for specimen extraction on wound infection during laparoscopic colorectal surgery. METHODS: All patients undergoing elective laparoscopic colorectal resection in a single specialized department from 2000 to 2011 were identified from a prospectively maintained institutional database. Specific extraction-sites and other relevant factors associated with wound infection rates were evaluated with univariate and multivariate analyses...

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) is an initial alternative to laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for complicated acute cholecystitis (AC). No studies have directly compared costs of index hospitalization and readmissions between PC and LC patients. METHODS: The Nationwide Readmissions Database was queried for patients undergoing PC or LC for AC from 2013 through 2014. Primary outcomes including length of stay, and index and total hospital costs at 30- and 60-days were evaluated after 1:1 propensity score matching for patient and hospital characteristics...

Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a mucinous tumour of the appendix that spreads into the peritoneal cavity in the form of gelatinous deposits. The incidence of PMP is believed to be approximately 1-3 out of a million per year. Nonetheless, due to its indolent nature, it is usually discovered at an advanced stage and severely impacts quality of life. Curative treatment for PMP is complete cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). An extensive literature review was conducted searching EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases for PMP in aims to delineate a clinical approach to diagnosis and treatment...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Guidelines concur that postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) in T1-2 tumors with one to three positive (+) lymph nodes (LNs) decreases locoregional recurrence (LRR) but advise limiting PMRT to patients at highest risk to balance against potential harms. In this study, we identify the risks of LRR after mastectomy in patients with T1-2N1 disease, treated with modern chemotherapy, and identify predictors of LRR when omitting PMRT. METHODS: Patients with T1-2N1 breast cancer undergoing mastectomy between 1995 and 2006 were categorized by receipt of PMRT...

BACKGROUND: Antistaphylococcal penicillins (ASPs) and cefazolin have become the most frequent choices for the treatment of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) infections. However, the best therapeutic agent to treat MSSA bacteremia remains to be established. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these two regimens for the treatment of MSSA bacteremia. PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library from inception to February 2018 were searched...