Laparoscopic Management of Esophageal Epiphrenic Diverticulum.

A 45-year-old man who presented with progressive dysphagia of five months duration was diagnosed as a case of oesophageal epiphrenic diverticulum after endoscopic and imaging investigations. He underwent laparoscopic cardiomyotomy with Dor's fundoplication. Myotomy was done from the base of the diverticulum up to 2 cm distal to the gastroesophageal junction. Intraoperative endoscopy was done to check the adequacy of myotomy. Diverticulectomy was not done. Yet the patient had complete relief of symptoms and is well and asymptomatic after two years. Cardiomyotomy with anti-reflux procedures is effective in treating the epiphrenic diverticulum without the need for resection of the diverticulum, which also provides a better prognosis and less morbidity to the patient.

Incidence and Risk Factors of Postoperative Complications in General Surgery Patients.

Background Postoperative complications, which are undesirable consequences of surgery, need to be minimized to ensure the quality of surgical care. In this study, we aimed to estimate the incidence and identify the risk factors for postoperative complications which may help in planning appropriate preventive measures. Methodology A prospective observational study was conducted in the general surgery department of a tertiary care hospital in a metropolitan city in India. Patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery were included. Patients transferred postoperatively from other hospitals and those undergoing day-care operations or endoscopic procedures were excluded. Age, gender, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, surgical risk as per American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grading, scheduling of surgery (emergency, semi-emergency, or elective), approach (open or laparoscopic), intraoperative complications, operative blood loss, the extent of surgery (superficial or deep cavity), indication (diagnostic, therapeutic, or palliative), duration of surgery, wound class (clean, clean-contaminated, contaminated, or dirty), and duration of hospital stay in days were recorded. Patients were followed up for 30 days postoperatively for complications (defined as any undesirable, unintended event as a direct result of an operation). Clavien-Dindo classification was used to grade the severity of complications. The chi-square test was used for categorical data, and the t-test was used for numerical data. P-values <0.05 were considered significant. Results Postoperative complications were observed in 31.50%; minor complications (Grade I and II) in 19.75% and major complications (Grade III and IV) in 8.0% of patients. Postoperative mortality (Grade V) was 3.75%. Significant risk factors were the presence of comorbidities, higher ASA grade, higher BMI, emergency surgery, open surgery, palliative surgery, deeper cavity surgery, higher intraoperative blood loss, prolonged surgical duration, intraoperative complications, and contaminated surgical wounds. Postoperative complications significantly prolonged the hospital stay. Conclusions Understanding risk factors can guide surgeons to adopt appropriate strategic measures to reduce postoperative complications and improve the quality of surgical care. Three key measures emerging from this study are (1) preoperative patient optimization; (2) diligence during surgery to reduce operative time, blood loss, and intraoperative complications; and (3) implementation of infection control practices.

Non Operative Approach to Isolated Traumatic Pancreatic Duct Disruption.

Management of isolated traumatic pancreatic duct disruption remains challenging due to associated morbidity and mortality. Two children with isolated pancreatic ductal disruption were treated conservatively. Both developed a pseudocyst which resolved spontaneously due to the atrophy of the distal pancreas in a five-year-old girl while remained persistent and was treated by endoscopic cystogastrostomy in an eight-year-old boy. Non-operative management may be pursued in patients with pancreatic ductal injury in the hope of a pseudocyst formation which may spontaneously resolve or may be treated later with a minimally invasive procedure. However, the literature review precludes its practice as a standard due to high incidence of associated complications of non-operative management.

Scoring system to preoperatively predict choledocholithiasis.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of common bile duct (CBD) calculi has been reported to be 8 % to 20 % among the patients with cholelithiasis. Failure to detect CBD stones on the part of the surgeon not only fails to relieve symptoms but also subjects them to potentially life-threatening complications such as cholangitis, pancreatitis or obstructive jaundice. Modalities for detection of CBD stones have evolved over time from CBD exploration based on clinical and operative findings to intraoperative cholangiography (IOC), to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) and, recently, to magnetic resonance cholangiopancreaticography (MRCP) and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). We felt a need for a scoring system to predict a patient population having a higher risk of choledocholithiasis so that these modern interventions can be selectively utilized. SETTING: This study was performed in a tertiary care medical college hospital in a metropolitan city. DESIGN: This is a prospective observational study. METHODS: All patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis admitted to the hospital were included. Patients were diagnosed as having choledocholithiasis either by ultrasonography (USG), computed tomography scan, MRCP, EUS or ERCP and were followed up for at least 6 weeks. RESULTS: The prevalence of choledocholithiasis among the 275 patients with symptomatic biliary colic in our study was 18.9 % (n = 77). On bivariate analysis, dilated bile duct on USG (>6 mm), raised total bilirubin, raised alkaline phosphatase (ALP), raised amylase, raised SGPT and SGOT were significantly associated with choledocholithiasis (p < 0.05). On multivariate analysis also, all these factors except amylase and SGPT showed a significant correlation with choledocholithiasis (p < 0.05). These observations were used to build a scoring system consisting of four factors: dilated bile duct on USG (>6 mm), total bilirubin >2 mg/dL, ALP >190 IU/L and SGOT >40 IU/L. CONCLUSION: A positive predictive value of 3 or more factors was over 95 %, necessitating an endoscopic intervention. A negative predictive value of the absence of any factor was 100 %, which ruled out CBD calculi. If only one or two factors are positive, then further evaluation is recommended preferably using non-minimal or minimal invasive investigations like EUS or MRCP.

Laparotomy for blunt abdominal trauma-some uncommon indications.

Trauma laparotomy after blunt abdominal trauma is conventionally indicated for patients with features of hemodynamic instability and peritonitis to achieve control of hemorrhage and control of spillage. In addition, surgery is clearly indicated for the repair of posttraumatic diaphragmatic injury with herniation. Some other indications for laparotomy have been presented and discussed. Five patients with blunt abdominal injury who underwent laparotomy for nonroutine indications have been presented. These patients were hemodynamically stable and had no overt signs of peritonitis. Three patients had solid organ (spleen, kidney) infarction due to posttraumatic occlusion of the blood supply. One patient had mesenteric tear with internal herniation of bowel loops causing intestinal obstruction. One patient underwent surgery for traumatic abdominal wall hernia. In addition to standard indications for surgery in blunt abdominal trauma, laparotomy may be needed for vascular thrombosis of end arteries supplying solid organs, internal or external herniation through a mesenteric tear or anterior abdominal wall musculature, respectively.

Efficacy and safety of oxum in treatment of the venous ulcer.

The present study was carried out to find out the efficacy and safety of oxum in the treatment of venous ulcers. The oxum (superoxidised water) is a pH neutral, non-irritating, aqueous solution that possesses a good antiseptic, antimicrobial activity and wound healing properties. The study was conducted in 30 patients of venous ulcers with a culture examination positive for pathogenic microbial flora. All patients received a gauze dressing impregnated with oxum followed by compression bandage for 28 days. The primary endpoint was the calculation of ulcer size using ulcer tracing. Assessment of periwound oedema, periwound erythema, wound fibrin and wound granulations were considered as secondary endpoints. There was a singificant reduction in ulcer size starting from day 7 of the treatment. Significant improvements in secondary endpoints were observed. This study has demonstrated that oxum improved the clinical status, reduced the signs of inflammation in venous ulcers in addition to its well confirmed anti-infective properties.

Utility of optic nerve ultrasonography in head injury.

BACKGROUND: CT has evolved as the gold standard for evaluation of head injury, but early CT is not always possible. Bedside ultrasonography is available in most trauma units and optic nerve ultrasound (ONUS) examination should be feasible. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of ONUS for people with head injury. SETTING: Tertiary care trauma service in a teaching hospital in a large metropolitan city in India. DESIGN: Prospective, blinded, observational study. METHODS: From April 2006 to January 2007, all adult patients with head injury but without obvious ocular trauma, for whom it was possible to perform CT, were enrolled. Using a 7.5-MHz ultrasonographic probe on the closed eyelids, optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) was measured on either side. A mean binocular ONSD less than 5.00 mm was considered normal. Cranial CT findings were used as a reference standard to evaluate ONUS. RESULTS: The study included 100 participants (72 men, 28 women, median age 28 years, median Glasgow Coma Scale score 11). Clinical features did not correlate with CT for signs of raised intracranial pressure (ICP). The mean binocular ONSD (5.8+/-0.57 mm) was significantly increased among individuals with signs of raised ICP on CT compared with the mean ONSD (3.5+/-0.75 mm) among those without such signs. ONUS revealed evidence of raised ICP in 74 cases (confirmed by CT in 72 cases), 59 of whom had significant intracranial haematoma needing surgical evacuation. Of the 26 cases with negative ONUS, confirmed by CT in 25 cases, only 1 needed surgical intervention for drainage of intracranial haematoma. ONUS was false positive for two and false negative for one person. The sensitivity of ONUS in detecting elevated ICP was 98.6%, specificity 92.8%, positive predictive value 97.26% and negative predictive value 96.3%. CONCLUSION: ONUS has potential as a sensitive bedside screening test for detecting raised ICP and the presence of intracranial haematoma needing surgical intervention in adult head injury. This can be of immense help for unstable patients, in mass casualty situations and in remote locations.

Early prediction of outcome in very severe closed head injury.

BACKGROUND: People with severe head injury and admission Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score < or =5 have a poor outcome and greatly strain limited resources. AIM: To identify patients with the best chances of survival, using routine clinical measures. METHODS: People attending the trauma intensive care unit, who had isolated blunt head injury and GCS< or =5 and who had survived > or =4h, were included in the study, resuscitated and clinically assessed. The GCS score was followed serially after admission. Bivariate analysis of various parameters with outcome was performed using the chi-square test. Serial GCS scores were compared with admission GCS by paired t-testing. RESULTS: Of the 102 patients who were studied prospectively, 78 (76.5%) died and 24 (23.5%) survived. Age, gender, pre-hospital delay and admission GCS scores were comparable between the two groups. Adequate spontaneous respiration, brisk pupillary light reactivity on admission and increase in GCS by at least 2 at 24h after admission significantly affected the outcome (p<0.05). In the presence of all these factors, the survival rate increased from 6.1% to 57.1% (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: People with GCS score < or =5 still have a reasonable chance of survival, so all patients should be aggressively managed initially. Better survival was observed among those with adequate spontaneous respiration, good pupillary reaction and improvement in GCS of at least 2 at 24h. These clinical parameters can help to predict survival and thus make best use of limited resources.

Acute necrotizing gastritis.

A 17-year-old man presented with signs of peritonitis. Laparotomy revealed gangrene of the stomach without obvious cause. The patient underwent total gastrectomy with esophago-jejunal anastomosis with formation of jejunal pouch. Bacterial culture of the peritoneal fluid grew Strept. pyogenes and E. coli. The patient was discharged on day 21 after a stormy postoperative course.

Degloving injury of small intestine.

Self-inflicted stab wounds are seldom very grave. We report a 25-year-old man who inflicted stab wounds with a glass piece under the influence of alcohol. This led to evisceration and later degloving injury to the small bowel. He recovered following surgery.