Delayed gastric emptying after operation for obstructing peptic ulcer disease: the influence of cimetidine.

We studied the factors related to delayed gastric emptying after operation for obstructing peptic ulcer disease. The records of 76 consecutive patients who underwent operation for obstructing peptic ulcer were examined retrospectively. Delayed gastric emptying (unable to tolerate solid food for at least 2 weeks after operation) occurred in 11 of 76 patients (14.5%). It was not related to the type of operation performed, including procedures that employed truncal vagotomy. It did not correlate with the preoperative severity of obstruction, duration of preoperative nasogastric decompression, or the nutritional status of the patient. Delayed emptying occurred in four of six patients (66.7%) with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus but only 10 of 70 patients (14%) without insulin-dependent diabetes (p less than 0.001). It was seen in six of 16 patients (37.5%) receiving long-term cimetidine therapy (more than 3 months) but only five of 60 patients (8.3%) not receiving long-term cimetidine therapy (p less than 0.01). Patients receiving long-term cimetidine therapy had an average number of 2.3 prior hospitalizations for ulcer disease while those not receiving long-term cimetidine therapy had an average of 1.4 prior admissions (p less than 0.01). Thus we advise against the long-term use of cimetidine in chronic peptic ulcer disease complicated by obstruction. Patients with diabetes mellitus who require insulin appear to be at particular risk for delayed gastric emptying after operation for obstructing peptic ulcer.

The creation of a surgical endoscopy training program--is there sufficient clinical material?

The American Board of Surgery now requires surgical training programs to provide instruction in gastrointestinal endoscopy. In order to demonstrate that an independent Surgical Endoscopy Service could generate sufficient patient volume for an endoscopy training program, we reviewed our experience before and after the organization of such a service. In the year before formation of the Surgical Endoscopy Service (1981), surgical endoscopists performed 134 upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopies and 25 colonoscopies for a total of 159 procedures. This represented 17% of the total institutional endoscopies performed. Further analysis indicated that 30.5% of UGI endoscopies and 24% of colonoscopies were performed on patients referred from surgical services. During the first year of the Surgical Endoscopy Service (1982), we performed 322 UGI endoscopies and 102 colonoscopies for a total of 424 procedures. This represented an increase to 36.5% of the total institutional endoscopies. During this time 41% of the UGI endoscopies and 33% of the colonoscopies were performed on patients referred from surgical services. Thus, with the formation of a Surgical Endoscopy Service we were able to dramatically increase our procedure volume and to provide effective gastrointestinal endoscopic training for our residency program. This confirmed our premise that in a typical university training program there is sufficient clinical material to provide training in surgical endoscopy.

Serum protein response to surgery and starvation.

To investigate the effect of stress on the dynamics of serum protein response during starvation, serum albumin, prealbumin, and transferrin changes were studied in six chair-adapted macaques during two separate 7-day test periods: (1) Starvation--NPO + IV D5/W (100 cc/kg/day), and (2) Surgery/starvation--laparotomy and gastrostomy + NPO + IV D5/W (100 cc/kg/day). During the starvation period, transferrin was the only protein that decreased from baseline values and did so at day 7 of the study period. In contrast, during the period of starvation following surgery, both prealbumin and transferrin were significantly decreased at both day 4 and day 7 of the study period, whereas albumin was only decreased at day 7 of this period. These findings indicate that the addition of a surgical stress to starvation results in a depression of serum protein levels that is not only of greater magnitude, but also more rapid in onset than observed with starvation alone. In addition, the differential response of prealbumin and transferrin to starvation and stress may provide a useful indicator of the presence and/or degree of stress in certain situations. The clinical utility of this finding remains to be ascertained.

The efficacy of nutritional assessment and support in cancer surgery.

Malnutrition is common in cancer patients and may be an important determinant of operative morbidity and mortality. To determine whether preoperative nutritional assessment can be used to identify a group of high-risk patients, and whether preoperative TPN decreases morbidity and mortality in this group, retrospective, nonrandomized review of 159 patients who were subjected to major cancer surgery was performed. All patients underwent preoperative multiparameter assessment. A previously developed and validated nutritional assessment model (Prognostic Nutritional Index) was used to evaluate the probability of operative complications. Based on predicted outcome (PNI), patients were assigned to either a high-risk or low-risk group for statistical comparison with actual outcome. The effect of preoperative TPN was then analyzed in both risk groups for determination of efficacy of preoperative nutritional support. Substantial malnutrition was found to exist among patients undergoing major cancer surgery and was closely correlated with subsequent morbidity and mortality. This predictive nutritional assessment model accurately identifies a subset of cancer surgery patients at increased risk of operative morbidity and mortality. In this high risk group (PNI greater than or equal to 40%), preoperative nutritional support significantly reduces operative morbidity.

Successful long-term percutaneous decompression of the biliary tract.

The efficacy of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage for long-term (greater than 3 months) decompression of biliary obstruction was evaluated in 35 patients with benign (10) and malignant (25) obstructing lesions. The results indicate that such drainage is a safe and effective means for long-term decompression of the biliary tract in selected patients, especially patients who are poor operative risks and those with metastatic or nonresectable malignancy. In addition, the procedure provides access to the biliary tract for percutaneous dilatation of selected common duct or anastomotic strictures.

Reduction of operative morbidity and mortality by combined preoperative and postoperative nutritional support.

A previously developed and validated predictive nutritional assessment model (Prognostic Nutritional Index) was applied to a heterogenous surgical population. Without knowledge of the then undeveloped PNI, adequate preoperative nutritional repletion (TPN) was provided on clinical indications alone to 50 of 145 patients with the remaining 95 patients receiving no preoperative total parenteral nutrition. Analysis of the two groups found no baseline differences in nutritional status, type and severity of disease and/or operative therapy, and other potentially important variables. In the high-risk stratified group as defined by admission nutritional assessment and calculated PNI (greater than or equal to 50%), adequate preoperative TPN reduced postoperative complications 2.5-fold (p < 0.01), postoperative major sepsis six-fold (p < 0.005) and mortality five-fold (p < 0.01). Clinical "eyeball" evaluation of nutritional status cannot identify high-risk individuals. This nutritional assessment predictive model (PNI) identifies the subset of operative candidates in whom adequate preoperative nutritional support significantly reduces operative morbidity and/or mortality.