Postlaparotomy pain management: Comparison of patient-controlled analgesia pump alone, with subcutaneous bupivacaine infusion, or with injection of liposomal bupivacaine suspension.

OBJECTIVE: Efforts to achieve balance between effective pain management and opioid-related adverse events (ORAEs) have led to multimodal analgesia regimens. This study compared opioids delivered via patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) plus liposomal bupivacaine, a long-acting local anesthetic with potential to be an effective component of such regimens, to opioids delivered through PCA alone or PCA plus subcutaneous bupivacaine infusion (ONQ), following laparotomy. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Single, tertiary-care institution. PATIENTS: One hundred patients undergoing nonemergent laparotomy. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned to one of three study treatments: PCA only (PCAO), PCA with ONQ, or PCA with injectable liposomal bupivacaine suspension (EXP). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cumulative opioid use, daily mean patient-reported pain scores, and ORAEs through 72 hours postoperatively. RESULTS: On average, the EXP (n = 31) group exhibited less than 50 percent of the total opioid consumption of the PCAO (n = 36) group, and less than 60 percent of that for the ONQ (n = 33) group. Postoperative days 1 and 3 pain scores were significantly lower for the EXP group as compared to the ONQ and PCAO groups (p ≤ 0.005). Fewer patients in the EXP group (19.4 percent) experienced ORAEs compared to the PCAO (41.1 percent) and ONQ (45.5 percent) groups (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Laparotomy patients treated with liposomal bupivacaine as part of a multimodal regimen consumed less opioids, had lower pain scores, and had fewer ORAEs. The role of liposomal bupivacaine in the postoperative care of laparotomy patients merits further study.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy with simultaneous integrated boost based dose escalation on neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy for locally advanced distal esophageal adenocarcinoma.

AIM: To evaluate impact of radiation therapy dose escalation through intensity modulated radiation therapy with simultaneous integrated boost (IMRT-SIB). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the patients who underwent four-dimensional-based IMRT-SIB-based neoadjuvant chemoradiation protocol. During the concurrent chemoradiation therapy, radiation therapy was through IMRT-SIB delivered in 28 consecutive daily fractions with total radiation doses of 56 Gy to tumor and 5040 Gy dose-painted to clinical tumor volume, with a regimen at the discretion of the treating medical oncologist. This was followed by surgical tumor resection. We analyzed pathological completion response (pCR) rates its relationship with overall survival and event-free survival. RESULTS: Seventeen patients underwent dose escalation with the IMRT-SIB protocol between 2007 and 2014 and their records were available for analysis. Among the IMRT-SIB-treated patients, the toxicity appeared mild, the most common side effects were grade 1-3 esophagitis (46%) and pneumonitis (11.7%). There were no cardiac events. The Ro resection rate was 94% (n = 16), the pCR rate was 47% (n = 8), and the postoperative morbidity was zero. There was one mediastinal failure found, one patient had local failure at the anastomosis site, and the majority of failures were distant in the lung or bone. The 3-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 41% (n = 7) and 53% (n = 9), respectively. CONCLUSION: The dose escalation through IMRT-SIB in the chemoradiation regimen seems responsible for down-staging the distal esophageal with well-tolerated complications.

Postcolonoscopy appendicitis.

Outpatient colonoscopy has been proven safe but can rarely be associated with serious complications. The addition of polypectomy to the procedure increases the incidence of all complications with hemorrhage accounting for approximately half. The use of electrocautery for hot biopsy or polyp removal can result in a full-thickness burn without perforation in approximately 1 per cent of cases and typically presents as focal peritonitis without pneumoperitoneum. This so-called "postpolypectomy syndrome" or "serositis" is often successfully managed medically with resolution of symptoms in 24 to 48 hours. Bowel perforation occurs in less than 1 per cent of patients but requires emergent laparotomy. Appendicitis, both acute and perforated, has been reported as a rare complication of colonoscopy.

Comorbidity among the morbidly obese: a comparative study of 2002 U.S. hospital patient discharges.

BACKGROUND: Increased morbidity is associated with increasing severity of obesity. However, among morbidly obese patients, comorbid prevalence has been reported primarily in the bariatric surgical literature. This study compares demographic characteristics and selected comorbid conditions of morbidly obese patients discharged after surgical obesity procedures and morbidly obese patients discharged after all other hospital procedures. METHODS: The 2002 National Hospital Discharge Survey (a nationally representative sample of hospital discharge records) and the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification were used to identify and describe all morbidly obese patient discharges (n = 3,473) and to quantify the prevalence of selected obesity-related comorbid conditions. RESULTS: Compared with all other morbidly obese patients, the obesity surgery patients (n = 833) were younger (median, 42 vs 48 years; range, 17 to 67) and more female (82.3% vs. 63.7%), with higher rates of sleep apnea (24.0% vs. 11.8%), osteoarthritis (22.9% vs. 11.8%), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (27.7% vs. 11.7%) (all P < .001). The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus was lower in the obesity surgery patients (16.1% vs. 24.3%; P = .003), whereas the rates of hypertension (45.9% vs. 41.0%; P = .13) and asthma (9.6% vs. 12.0%; P = .26) were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic characteristics and comorbid prevalence of morbidly obese patients discharged after obesity surgery are consistent with reports in the bariatric surgical literature. Obesity surgery patients had a higher prevalence of some comorbid conditions. Possible explanations for this include preferential diagnosis, differential diagnostic coding, or increased severity of morbid obesity. Advancing surgical and insurance guidelines for bariatric surgery will require clinical data that accurately describe and quantify the demographic distribution of obesity and the associated burden of disease.

Migrating mesh plug: complication of a well-established hernia repair technique.

The mesh plug technique for repair of inguinal hernia has become one of the standard procedures in general surgery. The evolution of the technique of occluding the fascial defect with a foreign body has extensively been described in the surgical literature. The associated complications are also well described. We find only two published reports describing complications related to migration of a mesh plug. We present a case of a 50-year-old man with vague left lower quadrant pain approximately 18 months after left indirect inguinal hernia repair with the PerFix plug (Bard, Murray Hill, NJ) and overlay patch method. Laparoscopic exploration determined that the plug had migrated away from the left internal ring in the preperitoneal space and was involved with significant adhesions. The plug was removed, and his hernia was repaired laparoscopically with GORE-TEX mesh (W.L. Gore, Tempe, AZ). The patient's symptoms were relieved, and he remained pain free through follow-up at 6 months.

Laparoscopic Heller myotomy with epiphrenic diverticulectomy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To describe the technique and results of laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Toupet fundoplication combined with epiphrenic diverticulectomy. CASE REPORT: A 75-year-old man presented to our institution complaining of dysphagia to solid foods and liquids. The preoperative preparation included a barium swallow, esophagoscopy, and esophageal manometry. Three months earlier, the patient had a botulinum toxin injection, which provided temporary relief. Ten months later, the patient underwent a laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Toupet fundoplication combined with an epiphrenic diverticulectomy. RESULTS: No complications occurred. The patient tolerated clear liquids on postoperative day 1; on postoperative day 2, he was discharged tolerating full liquids. He returned to full activity in 1 week. CONCLUSIONS: Epiphrenic diverticulectomy combined with treatment for the underlying motor disorder and gastroesophageal reflux prevention is an accepted practice. We demonstrate that this rare problem can be approached with the laparoscopic technique. Given this favorable result, we plan to continue this technique and establish a longer follow-up and wider series.