First surgical experience with a COVID-19 positive patient in Costa Rica: case report, staff safety protocol and brief review of literature.

BACKGROUND: The safe management of patients with COVID-19 has been a challenge during the current pandemic, leading to healthcare workers being disproportionately affected by the virus. In Costa Rica, 20% of all infections and 27% of all ICU cases during the initial weeks of the outbreak were healthcare workers. The existing recommendations and protocols on how to care for an infected patient that requires acute surgical management have been applied successfully in various scenarios. We look to describe the first case of a COVID-19 patient that required surgical management in Costa Rica and present a summary of the protection measures utilized in a tertiary care hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A review of literature utilizing Embase, Medline Complete and Google Scholar was performed. A surgical case report using the SCARE statement guidelines was drafted and a brief summary of the 54 items contained in the hospital's COVID-19 surgical protocol is described. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 29 year old obese male who had acute appendicitis with perforation that contracted SARS-CoV-2 and became symptomatic at home on pod#3, who later required multiple surgeries to address an infected abdominal hematoma both while having an active COVID-19 infection and afterwards. CONCLUSIONS: Safety measures for both staff and patients are of the utmost importance during the current coronavirus pandemic. Limitations in the availability of personal protection equipment as well a lack of knowledge and experience with handling surgical patients with this condition have led to various safety and attention protocols being drafted. The successful management of this patient is the first experience in Costa Rica on how to properly address staff safety during a surgical procedure. None of the workers involved in care of this patient were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2.

Application of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy with Instillation and Dwell Time of the Open Abdomen: Initial Experience.

Recent therapeutic advances in the management of severe abdominal sepsis (SAS) have improved patient mortality and morbidity. However, SAS and its impact on multiple organ failure remain a serious, life-threatening condition with a high mortality rate. The open abdomen (OA) technique has become an effective alternative to repeat laparotomy. The use of OA negative pressure wound therapy (OA NPWT) has been a significant advancement in the management of the open abdomen. Similarly, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) with instillation and dwell time (NPWT-i) has been used in patients with multiple comorbidities, with an American Society of Anesthesiology Classification ≥ 2, severe traumatic wounds, diabetic foot infections, and wounds complicated by invasive infection or extensive biofilm. Controlled instillation of saline during NPWT-i may further enhance healing by facilitating automatic and contained volumetric wound irrigation and cleansing and diluting local levels of inflammatory cytokines, improving the local as well as the systemic response to infection. Although the soft tissue and intra-abdominal compartments differ anatomically, they share very similar biologic responses to infections. Therefore, from a biologic and physiologic aspect, intraperitoneal instillation therapy may play a role as an adjunctive treatment of abdominal compartment inflammation from trauma or infection. The addition of saline solution instillation to OA NPWT (OAI) in a programmed, controlled manner may offer the clinician an effective adjunctive therapy for the treatment of the complex septic abdomen. The technical aspects of instillation into the OA and a pooled multicenter case study cohort utilizing OAI with saline solution, bacitracin, or hypochlorous acid in the management of the septic abdomen is presented.

Closed Incision Negative Pressure Therapy: Review of the Literature.

Surgical site infection and other common surgical site complications (dehiscence, hematoma, and seroma formation) can lead to serious and often life-threatening complications. Gauze, adhesive dressings, and skin adhesives have traditionally been utilized for incision management. However, the application of negative pressure wound therapy over clean, closed surgical incisions (closed incision negative pressure therapy, ciNPT), has become a recent option for incision management. A brief review of ciNPT clinical evidence and health economic evidence are presented. A brief literature review was performed using available publication databases (PubMed, Ovid®, Embase®, and QUOSA™) for articles in English reporting on the use of ciNPT between October 1, 2016, to March 31, 2019. The successful application of ciNPT over clean, closed wounds has been reported in a broad spectrum of patients and operative interventions, resulting in favorable clinical results. Four of the five studies that examined health economics following the use of ciNPT reported a potential reduction in the cost of care. The authors' own experience and published results suggest that patients at high risk for developing a surgical site complication may benefit from the use of ciNPT during the immediate postoperative period. Additional studies are needed across various surgical disciplines to further assess the safety, and cost-effectiveness of ciNPT use in patient populations.

Peritonitis terciaria por Candida famata: infección por una levadura atípica / Tertiary peritonitis due to Candida famata: Infection by an atypical yeast

ResumenLa Candida famata es una levadura halotolerante, sobreproductora de vitamina B2, asociada infrecuentemente a infecciones en seres humanos, cuyo uso es común en procesos industriales. En nuestro servicio, se había detectado un único caso en el contexto de mediastinitis con un desenlace mortal. Se carecía de experiencia en cuanto al manejo de la infección por este agente. Posterior a una exhaustiva revisión bibliográfica, se demuestra la ausencia de reportes de infecciones por este agente en el contexto de la peritonitis terciaria. Se reporta el caso de un paciente de 37 años de edad que sufrió una herida de arma blanca en abdomen, y que después de múltiples complicaciones asociadas a este evento, desarrolló una peritonitis terciaria por C. famata; fue tratado satisfactoriamente con caspofungina y un abdomen abierto con terapia de presión negativa e instilación. Se espera que esta experiencia sirva de referente al detectar algún paciente con esta condición en el futuro.

AbstractCandida famata is a halotoleran, vitamin B2 overproducing yeast that is rarely associated with infections in humans, but is commonly utilized in industrial processes. In our service, it had been detected only once before in a patient with mediastinitis. The outcome of that infection was fatal. Not only were we unfamiliar with the management of infection by this agent, but after performing a thorough literary review, we were unable to find published reports of infections by this pathogen as the cause of tertiary peritonitis. We report the case of a 37 year old male who after suffering a stab wound to his abdomen and having multiple complications associated with this event, developed tertiary peritonitis by C. famata, that was treated with casponfungin and an open abdomen utilizing negative pressure wound therapy with instillation which yielded a satisfactory response to the therapy. This report may be of use in the event that clinicians are confronted with this condition in the future.

Candida famata mediastinitis. A rare complication of open heart surgery. Case report and brief review.

Candida mediastinitis is a rare complication of open heart surgery with high mortality and morbidity usually associated with C. albicans. We are reporting the case of a 57 year old male who after having a triple coronary artery bypass graft procedure, had mediastinitis caused by Candida famata, a yeast, that had only been reported once before as the causal agent of this condition. It is of vital importance, that future cases be reported, due to the fact that both reported cases have led to patient demise.