Successful management of chylous ascites: A report of two cases.

Chylous ascites consists of the accumulation of chyle in the peritoneal cavity. Diagnosis is established by cytochemical analysis of the fluid revealing fat globules and high triglyceride content. The majority of cases are caused by pathology that interferes with abdominal retroperitoneal lymphatic drainage. We present two cases of postoperative chylous ascites, one following a bilateral nephrectomy, the other following orthotopic heart transplantation. Treatment is typically conservative with the aim to alleviate abdominal distension and reduce the flow of lymph into the mesenteric lymph nodes. Postsurgical chylous ascites has high cure rate with conservative therapy alone. Therapeutic paracentesis, diuretics, salt restriction, a high-protein, low-fat, mediumchain triglyceride diet, and parenteral nutrition are considered in chronic cases. The effects of longterm paracentesis on patients remains to be seen. In patients requiring renal replacement therapy, removal of chyle during peritoneal dialysis is often attempted.

Negative Appendectomy: an Audit of Resident-Performed Surgery. How Can Its Incidence Be Minimized?

Negative appendectomy remains a concern in current surgical practice. Data from the developing world is scarce. Data of appendectomies during the last 5 years were analyzed. Interval and incidental appendectomies were excluded. The demographic details, presenting complaints, clinical signs, and investigations performed were recorded in a predesigned proforma. The data were critically analyzed. Six hundred eighty-five appendectomies were performed during the period. One hundred eighty-five patients with a normal appendix were identified on histopathology. Sixty-seven patients with incidental or interval appendectomies were excluded. Thus, 118 patients had appendectomies performed erroneously. All these patients with presumed diagnosis of acute appendicitis were operated on by resident surgeons. Records of 17 patients could not be retrieved. The most common symptom was abdominal pain (100 %), and the commonest sign was right iliac fossa tenderness (93 %). Most of the patients underwent USG to supplement the diagnosis. CT scan and diagnostic laparoscopy were not performed. The negative appendectomy rate was 17.2 % (12.4 % in males; 33.3 % in females). The highest incidence of negative appendectomy was in females aged 11-20 years (66.7 %). The rate of negative appendectomy at our institute is comparable with the world statistics. More diligence is required in making the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis, especially in young females. The use of C-reactive protein and CT scan may decrease the negative appendectomy rate.

Laparoscopic colon resections with discharge less than 24 hours.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A short hospital stay is one of the main advantages of laparoscopic surgery. Previous studies have shown that after a multimodal fast-track process, the hospital length of stay can be shortened to between 2 and 5 days. The objective of this review is to show that the hospital length of stay can, in some cases, be reduced to <24 hours. METHODS: This study retrospectively reviews a surgeon's experience with laparoscopic surgery over a 12-month period. Seven patients were discharged home within 24 hours after minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical treatment, following a modified fast-track protocol that was adopted for perioperative care. RESULTS: Of the 7 patients, 4 received laparoscopic right hemicolectomy for malignant disease and 3 underwent sigmoid colectomies for recurrent diverticulitis. The mean hospital stay was 21 hours, 47 minutes; the mean volume of intraoperative fluid (lactated Ringer) was 1850 mL; the mean surgical blood loss was only 74.3 mL; the mean duration of surgery was 118 minutes; and the patients were ambulated and fed a liquid diet after recovery from anesthesia. The reviewed patients had functional gastrointestinal tracts and were agreeable to the timing of discharge. On the follow-up visit, they showed no adverse consequences such as bleeding, infection, or anastomotic leak. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic colon surgery that incorporated multimodal perioperative care allowed patients to be discharged within the first 24 hours. Careful postoperative outpatient follow-up is important in monitoring complications such as anastomotic leak, which may not present until postoperative day 5.

Metabolic syndrome: a brain disease.

Recent research indicates an association between brain dysfunction and the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome. To investigate this, we created a Medline search (up to December 2011) of articles in PubMed. The results indicated that refined carbohydrates, saturated and total fat, high levels of ω-6 fatty acids, and low levels of ω-3 fatty acids and other long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), all in conjunction with sedentary behaviour and mental stress can predispose to inflammation. Increased sympathetic activity, with increased secretion of catecholamine, cortisol, and serotonin can cause oxidative stress, which may damage the arcuate nucleus as well as the hypothalamus and macrophages, and the liver may release pro-inflammatory cytokines. These, in conjunction with an underlying deficiency in long chain PUFA, may damage the arcuate nucleus as well as neuropeptide-Y and pro-opiomelanocortin neurons and insulin receptors in the brain, especially during fetal life, infancy, and childhood, resulting in their dysfunction. Of the fatty acids in the brain, 30%-50% are long chain PUFA, which are incorporated in the cell membrane phospholipids. Hence, ω-3 fatty acids, which are also known to enhance parasympathetic activity and increase the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 as well as acetylcholine in the hippocampus, may be protective. Therefore, treatment with ω-3 fatty acids may be applied for the prevention of metabolic syndrome.

Nutritional aspects of epigenetic inheritance.

The impact of diet and environmental factors on genes concerned with epigenetic inheritance and the mechanism of evolution has grown significantly beyond the Modern Synthesis period. Epigenetic inheritance is the passing of phenotypic change to subsequent generations in ways that are outside the genetic code of DNA. Recently, polymorphisms of the human Delta-5 (fatty acid desaturase, FADS1) and Delta-6 (FADS2) desaturase genes have been described as being associated with the level of several long-chain n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in serum phospholipids. Increased consumption of refined starches and sugar increases the generation of superoxide anion in the tissues and free fatty acids (FFA) in the blood. There is an increased amount and activity of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), a transcriptional factor regulating the activity of at least 125 genes, most of which are pro-inflammatory. The consumption of glucose may be associated with an increase in 2 other pro-inflammatory transcription factors: activating protein-1 (AP-1), and early growth response protein-1 (Egr-1). AP-1 regulates the transcription of matrix metallo-proteinases and Egr-1 modulates the transcription of tissue factor and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. It is possible that a complex set of factors, including nutritional factors, come into play during epigenetic inheritance.

Overnight hospital stay after colon surgery for adenocarcinoma.

A short hospital stay is one of the main advantages of the laparoscopic surgical technique. The process of developing and studying the "fast-track" process has contributed to a better understanding of the elements of perioperative care and has resulted in the reduction in length of stay (LOS) after colectomies. As we follow and refine this well-recognized multimodal approach, further decreases in the LOS can be expected. We present 2 octogenarian patients who, after receiving laparoscopic hemicolectomies for malignant disease, were discharged home < 24 hours after their operations. Postoperative follow-ups did not show any adverse reaction to the early discharge. Modifying the multimodal perioperative technique with further refinement to the surgical technique appears to allow patients to be discharged home in the first 24 hours following laparoscopic colectomy.