[Colonic actinomycosis. Clinical, endoscopic and histological aspects in one patient]. / L'actinomycose du côlon: aspects cliniques, endoscopiques et anatomo-pathologiques.

Colonic location of actinomycosis must be distinguished from infected colonic carcinoma and other colonic inflammatory pseudotumors. The diagnosis is often made by histological examination of the tumor. Initial treatment consists in surgery, followed by an antibiotic treatment. We report the case of a 32-year old woman with a right colonic actinomycosis.

[Analysis of the drainage fluid after cephalic duodenopancreatectomy: a reliable clinical criterion]. / Analyse du liquide de drainage après duodénopancréatectomie céphalique: un critère de surveillance fiable.

The authors have retrospectively analysed the drainage fluid of 39 patients undergoing Whipple's operation over a 18-year period. The aim of the study was to assess whether the volume and amylase concentration of the drainage fluid were good criteria of healing of the pancreatico-jejunal anastomosis. The patients have been divided into two groups: Group I (30 patients) with no complications at the pancreatico-jejunostomy--Group II (9 patients) with a pancreatic leak. The analysis of the volume, amylase concentration and amylase index (Log of the amylase concentration x volume) showed that the groups had clearly different profiles: in group I all three criteria were rapidly decreasing, while they remained abnormally high in group II. Those criteria may help the clinician in the monitoring of individual patients; they also may prove useful in prospective studies evaluating new means of prevention of this anastomosis.

Anastomic dehiscence and severe peritonitis.

Fifteen years of experience in the management of postoperative complications following GI surgery are reviewed. In the surgical ICU of the Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, France, a referral center for these conditions, 385 cases of postoperative peritonitis and 500 cases of enterocutaneous fistulas were observed from 1980 to 1995. Original techniques of management are described in surgical treatment: temporary stomas, intubation irrigation of leaks situated on the upper GI tract, primary closure of the abdominal wall without tension. New methods of intensive care of intestinal conditions have also been designed: control and/or obturation of complex enterocutaneous fistulas, reinfusion of chyme into the distal small bowel and continuous enteral nutrition. In accordance with their experience in this field, the authors review the most controversial points of surgical technique and intensive care.

[Spontaneous colonic ischemia]. / Ischémies coliques spontanées.

Spontaneous ischemic colitis is a frequent disease, affecting mostly elderly people and predominantly localised on the left and sigmoid colon. It is due to alterations of small vessels of the colon and/or modifications of the splanchnic blood flow. Spontaneous evolution is generally favorable with restitution ad integrum of the disease colon. The diagnosis of ischemic colitis is established from the clinical picture, CT-scan and colonoscopy. Surgery, under the form of colonic resection, is required in 15% of cases approximately, in case of colonic necrosis.