The Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Surgery for Colorectal Cancer.

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emergency treatment of patients with colorectal cancer in a university surgery clinic. Data from patients undergoing emergency surgery during the pandemic period (2020-2021) was taken into consideration and the results were analyzed and compared with the periods 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. A significant decrease in the number of patients undergoing emergency surgery was reported (p = 0.028). The proportion of patients who presented more severe symptoms at the hospital was significantly higher (p = 0.007). There was an increase in the average duration of surgical interventions compared to pre-pandemic periods (p = 0.021). An increase in the percentage of stomas performed during the pandemic was reported. The average duration of postoperative hospitalization was shorter during the pandemic. A postoperative mortality of 25.7% was highlighted. Conclusions: The pandemic generated by COVID-19 had significant consequences on the emergency treatment of patients with colon cancer. A smaller number of patients showed up at the hospital, and with more severe symptoms. In order to reduce the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus, the postoperative hospitalization period was shortened and a higher number of protective stomas were performed.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor. A case report with over 5 years follow-up.

Gastro-intestinal stromal tumors (GIST) represent a type of mesenchymal tumors, located in the digestive tract wall, with the possibility of alternate locations such as the caul or the mesentery. The relapse prognosis is closely corelated with the dimensions of the tumor, the rate at which tumor cells divide, the cellularity of the tumor and the nuclear pleomorphism. The definitive treatment for these types of tumors is surgical resection, associated with tyrosine- kinase inhibitors.The largest gastro-intestinal stromal tumor ever recorded in medical literature measured 42/31/23 cm and weighed in at 18.5 kg. The following case presentation is of a patient aged 65 at his first admission, who received tyrosine-kinase inhibitors of different generations, associated with multiple surgical interventions for tumor cytoreduction. The case presented, according to specialty literature, is the second one as far as volume and weight of the tumor go, the tumor invading the peritoneal cavity and weighing in at approximatively 15 kg. KEY WORDS: Gist, Second largest tumor, Tyrosine-kinase inhibitors, Nuclear pleomorphism.