[Thoracic empyema due to subphrenic appendicitis: an infrequent presentation]. / Empiema pleural secundario a apendicitis subdiafragmática: una extraña presentación.

Acute appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency. Atypical presentations lead to a late diagnosis with a higher complication rate. Given its rarity, we report a case of a thoracic empyema due to subphrenic appendicitis.

[Safety and efficiency of ambulatory treatment of acute diverticulitis]. / Eficiencia y seguridad del tratamiento ambulatorio de la diverticulitis aguda.

INTRODUCTION: The treatment of acute diverticulitis is currently being modified, showing a tendency to limit surgical treatment and favor conservative management. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the safety and efficiency of ambulatory treatment of acute diverticulitis in a selected group of patients. METHODS: We performed a prospective study of domiciliary oral antibiotic therapy for acute diverticulitis in a cohort of patients in the Emergency Surgery Section of our hospital. Seventy-four patients (44 men and 30 women) were included between 2000 and 2006. Patients with Hinchey stage 1 diverticulitis and those with Hinchey stage 2 diverticulitis and abscesses of less than 3cm, who were clinically and biochemically stable, were selected. The patients were treated with oral ciprofloxacin and metronidazole for 7-10 days. Follow-up was performed in the outpatients unit with clinical evaluation at 10 days and an imaging test at 1 month. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 55 years. The most frequent clinical presentation was spontaneous abdominal pain associated with leukocytosis. The mean duration of treatment was 8.8 days. Four patients (5.4%) required subsequent hospital admission for intravenous antibiotic administration and 70 (94.6%) completed treatment without complications. During follow-up, two cases of colonic adenocarcinoma and six cases of polyposis were diagnosed. Only 13 patients underwent elective surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In most of the patients studied, ambulatory conservative management was safe and effective in the treatment of uncomplicated acute diverticulitis. Moreover, this approach reduces length of hospital stay and lowers costs.

Eficiencia y seguridad del tratamiento ambulatorio de la diverticulitis aguda / Safety and efficiency of ambulatory treatment of acute diverticulitis

Introducción: el tratamiento de la diverticulitis aguda está siendo recientemente revisado y muestra una tendencia a limitar el tratamiento quirúrgico y potenciar el de tipo conservador.Objetivo: analizar la eficiencia y la seguridad del tratamiento ambulatorio de la diverticulitis aguda en un grupo seleccionado de pacientes.Métodos: estudio prospectivo sobre el tratamiento antibiótico oral domiciliario de la diverticulitis aguda en una cohorte de pacientes, realizado en la sección de cirugía de urgencias de nuestro centro.Pacientes y tratamiento: 74 pacientes (44 varones y 30 mujeres) fueron incluidos en el período 2000–2006; se seleccionaron los tipo I de Hinchey y los tipo II con absceso menor de 3cm, clínica y analíticamente estables, y se trataron con ciprofloxacino y metronidazol, por vía oral, durante 7–10 días. El seguimiento se realizó en consultas externas mediante control clínico a los 10 días y prueba de imagen al cabo de un mes.Resultados: la edad media era de 55 años. La presentación clínica más frecuente fue dolor abdominal espontáneo asociado a leucocitosis. La duración media del tratamiento fue de 8,8 días. Cuatro pacientes (5,4%) precisaron ingreso posterior para tratamiento antibiótico intravenoso y 70 (94,6%) completaron el tratamiento sin complicaciones. Durante el seguimiento diagnosticamos 2 casos de adenocarcinoma de colon y 6 de poliposis. Solamente 13 pacientes recibieron cirugía electiva.Conclusiones: el manejo conservador ambulatorio ha demostrado ser seguro y eficaz en el tratamiento de la diverticulitis aguda no complicada en la mayoría de los pacientes de nuestro estudio, consiguiendo además una reducción de la estancia hospitalaria y una minimización de los costes(AU)

Introduction: The treatment of acute diverticulitis is currently being modified, showing a tendency to limit surgical treatment and favor conservative management.Objective: To analyze the safety and efficiency of ambulatory treatment of acute diverticulitis in a selected group of patients.Methods: We performed a prospective study of domiciliary oral antibiotic therapy for acute diverticulitis in a cohort of patients in the Emergency Surgery Section of our hospital. Seventy-four patients (44 men and 30 women) were included between 2000 and 2006. Patients with Hinchey stage 1 diverticulitis and those with Hinchey stage 2 diverticulitis and abscesses of less than 3cm, who were clinically and biochemically stable, were selected. The patients were treated with oral ciprofloxacin and metronidazole for 7–10 days. Follow-up was performed in the outpatients unit with clinical evaluation at 10 days and an imaging test at 1 month.Results: The mean age of the patients was 55 years. The most frequent clinical presentation was spontaneous abdominal pain associated with leukocytosis. The mean duration of treatment was 8.8 days. Four patients (5.4%) required subsequent hospital admission for intravenous antibiotic administration and 70 (94.6%) completed treatment without complications. During follow-up, two cases of colonic adenocarcinoma and six cases of polyposis were diagnosed. Only 13 patients underwent elective surgery.Conclusions: In most of the patients studied, ambulatory conservative management was safe and effective in the treatment of uncomplicated acute diverticulitis. Moreover, this approach reduces length of hospital stay and lowers costs(AU)