[Chain of errors in laparoscopic appendectomy]. / Cadena de errores en apendicectomía laparoscópica.

BACKGROUND: The urachal cyst is a rare pathology in the adult patient and in general is asymptomatic. The goal of this presentation is to learn of the errors. CLINICAL CASE: A 22 year old female with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis was taken to surgical management. Laparoscopy confirmed the diagnosis. Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed uneventfully. Four weeks in the postoperative period the patient developed reddening and softening in the left surgical wound which was a trocar incision. The initial diagnosis was a granuloma which was removed surgically twice. A fistulogram and abdominal CT scan were negative. Finally, we decided to perform a laparatomy trought the same incision and we found an infected urachal cyst, which was excised. A retrospective analysis of the laparoscopic appendectomy shows the urachal cyst and the perforation by the trocars. CONCLUSION: an inadequate process in the laparoscopic vision, in the diagnosis and technical errors were the cause of this chain of errors and a major temporal damage to this patient. An optimal laparoscopy would have detected the urachal cyst and treated of the two pathologies simultaneously. An adequate trocar placement would not have perforated the urachal cyst and therefore there would have been no postoperative symptoms. Finally open appendectomy could have avoided this chain of errors.

L-alanyl-L-glutamine-supplemented parenteral nutrition improves infectious morbidity in secondary peritonitis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: A growing number of randomized clinical trials suggest that glutamine (Gln) supplementation may be beneficial in a selected group of patients and conditions. However, the effects of Gln-enriched total parenteral nutrition (TPN) on recovery from acute intra-abdominal infection have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the provision of Gln-enriched TPN after surgical and medical treatment of secondary peritonitis improves infectious morbidity. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with secondary peritonitis were randomly assigned to receive either standard (n=16) TPN or L-alanyl-L-glutamine-supplemented (n=17) TPN, after medical and surgical treatment of the infectious focus. The two TPN formulae were isonitrogenous and isocaloric, which commenced the morning after surgery and ran continuously for 10 consecutive days. The control group received standard TPN, while the treatment group was given L-alanyl-L-glutamine, 0.40 g/kg/d (Dipeptiven, Fresenius Kabi, Bad Homburg, Germany). Infectious morbidity, nitrogen balance, leukocytes, lymphocytes, subpopulations CD(4) and CD(8), Immunoglobulin A (IgA), total proteins, albumin, hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stays, and mortality were evaluated. Statistical analysis included one-way ANOVA, the unpaired Student's t-test, the Mann-Whitney U-test, chi(2) test, or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Patients in both groups were comparable prior to the operation. Nitrogen balance and the levels of albumin and IgA were significantly better than those in the control group. Also, a significant reduction in the infectious morbidity was found in the Gln-treated group. Lymphocyte counts as well as subpopulations CD(4) and CD(8), and proteins showed a propensity to improvement and a tendency to reduced rates of mortality were observed when comparing the groups. Hospital and ICU stays were similar. CONCLUSION: L-alanyl-L-glutamine-supplemented TPN improved the infectious morbidity of patients with secondary peritonitis. Gln supplementation to parenteral nutrition may be an alternative for enhancing host defenses and improving infectious morbidity.

Complicaciones abdominales consecutivas a derivación cardiopulmonar / Abdominal complications resulting from cardiopulmonary derivation

Objetivo. Conocer la frecuencia de complicaciones intraabdominales y su impacto en la supervivencia de pacientes sujetos a DCP para procedimientos quirúrgicos comunes a corazón abierto. Antecedentes. Las complicaciones gastrointestinales después de cirugía cardiaca con derivación cardiopulmonar, tienen incidencia del 0.3 al 3 por ciento, pero la mortalidad puede sobrepasar 60 por ciento. Pese a las mejorías en el cuidado pre, trans, y posoperatorio, la impresión general ha sido que las complicaciones abdominales permanecen como un problema significativo. Tipo de Estudio. Retrospectivo de casos y controles. Material y métodos. Pacientes consecutivos sometidos a cirugía cardiaca con derivación cardiopulmonar, entre marzo de 1995 y marzo de 1997. Se identificó cualquier complicación abdominal, su diagnóstico, manejo médico o quirúrgico y mortalidad. Resultados. Se estudiaron 1,352 pacientes de los cuales 516 fueron operados por revascularización coronaria (38 por ciento), 502 (37 por ciento) por reemplazo valvular, 68 (5.2 por ciento) una combinación de reemplazo valvular y revascularización, 144 (10.6 por ciento) corrección de defectos congénitos, y 122 (9.6 por ciento) tratados por padecimientos diversos. Desarrollaron complicaciones 44 pacientes (3.3 por ciento) y éstas fueron íleo intestinal posoperatorio en 14 casos (32 por ciento), la mitad de ellos tuvo hiperamilasemia. Las complicaciones hepatobiliares representaron 29.5 por ciento (13 casos). Diez pacientes (22.7 por ciento) tuvieron enfermedad ulceropéptica complicada con hemorragia o perforación. La pandreatitis aguda grave se observó en 4.5 por ciento de los casos al igual en dos pacientes con necrosis intestinal. Tres casos presentaron complicaciones quirúrgicas no relacionadas con DCP y fueron traumatismo hepático grado I, apendicitis aguda y colitis amibiana. La mortalidad fue de 11/44 (25 por ciento). Como grupo control, se analizaron 73 pacientes operados el día o alrededor de los días como los del grupo de estudio y que no desarrollaron complicaciones gastrointestinales. La mortalidad en este grupo fue de 5/73 (6.8 por ciento). ...