Internal herniation through foramen of Winslow. / Intern herniering gjennom Winslows foramen.

BACKGROUND: Internal herniation through the foramen of Winslow is a rare cause of bowel obstruction. The presented case illustrates this condition and considerations made regarding treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: An elderly woman was admitted to the hospital with sudden onset of epigastric pain and vomiting. Blood tests were normal except for a lactate value of 2.5 mmol/L (normal value < 1.8). Computer tomography showed internal herniation of the caecum through the foramen of Winslow. Initial treatment with intravenous fluids, a nasogastric tube and fasting did not resolve the bowel obstruction. The herniated caecum was laparoscopically reduced, and there were no signs of intestinal ischaemia. INTERPRETATION: Internal herniation through the foramen of Winslow is rare. There are no evidence-based guidelines on treatment, or on prophylactic measures to prevent recurrence. Both laparoscopic and open surgical approaches have been reported, with or without closure of the foramen. There is little documentation on recurrence rates.

DNA sequence profiles of the colorectal cancer critical gene set KRAS-BRAF-PIK3CA-PTEN-TP53 related to age at disease onset.

The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) increases with age and early onset indicates an increased likelihood for genetic predisposition for this disease. The somatic genetics of tumor development in relation to patient age remains mostly unknown. We have examined the mutation status of five known cancer critical genes in relation to age at diagnosis, and compared the genomic complexity of tumors from young patients without known CRC syndromes with those from elderly patients. Among 181 CRC patients, stratified by microsatellite instability status, DNA sequence changes were identified in KRAS (32%), BRAF (16%), PIK3CA (4%), PTEN (14%) and TP53 (51%). In patients younger than 50 years (n = 45), PIK3CA mutations were not observed and TP53 mutations were more frequent than in the older age groups. The total gene mutation index was lowest in tumors from the youngest patients. In contrast, the genome complexity, assessed as copy number aberrations, was highest in tumors from the youngest patients. A comparable number of tumors from young (<50 years) and old patients (>70 years) was quadruple negative for the four predictive gene markers (KRAS-BRAF-PIK3CA-PTEN); however, 16% of young versus only 1% of the old patients had tumor mutations in PTEN/PIK3CA exclusively. This implies that mutation testing for prediction of EGFR treatment response may be restricted to KRAS and BRAF in elderly (>70 years) patients. Distinct genetic differences found in tumors from young and elderly patients, whom are comparable for known clinical and pathological variables, indicate that young patients have a different genetic risk profile for CRC development than older patients.

Allowing normal food at will after major upper gastrointestinal surgery does not increase morbidity: a randomized multicenter trial.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this trial was to investigate whether a routine of allowing normal food at will increases morbidity after major upper gastrointestinal (GI) surgery. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Nil-by-mouth with enteral tube feeding is widely practiced for several days after major upper GI surgery. After other abdominal operations, normal food at will has been shown to be safe and to improve gut function. METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned to a routine of nil-by-mouth and enteral tube feeding by needle-catheter jejunostomy (ETF group) or normal food at will from the first day after major upper GI surgery. Primary end point was rate of major complications and death. Secondary outcomes were minor complications and adverse events, bowel function, and length of stay. All patients were invited to a follow-up at 8 weeks after discharge from the hospital. RESULTS: Four hundred fifty-three patients who underwent major open upper GI surgery in 5 centers were enrolled between 2001 and 2006. Four hundred forty-seven patients were correctly randomized. Of 227 patients 76 (33.5%) had major complications in the ETF group compared with 62 (28.2%) of 220 patients allowed normal food at will (P = 0.26, 95% CI for the difference in rate from -3.3 to 13.9). In the ETF group, 36 (15.9%) patients were reoperated compared with 29 (13.2%) in the group allowed normal food at will (P = 0.50) and 30-day mortality was 10 (4.4%) of 227 and 11 (5.0%) of 220 patients, respectively (P = 0.83). Time to resumed bowel function was significantly in favor of allowing normal food at will (P = 0.01), as were the total number of major complications, length of stay, and rate of postdischarge complications. CONCLUSIONS: Allowing patients to eat normal food at will from the first day after major upper GI surgery does not increase morbidity compared with traditional care with nil-by-mouth and enteral feeding.