23-hour/next day discharge post-laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) surgery is safe.

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) is well established, yet practice varies as to when patients should be discharged post operation. After noting that many LRYGB patients met our unit's discharge criteria sooner than anticipated, we implemented a policy of aiming for 23-h inpatient stay post LRYGB in January 2012. This retrospective study aimed to assess the safety of this policy. We reviewed data of all patients undergoing LRYGB at our unit from September 2010 to October 2013. We compared the lengths of inpatient stay, complication rates and re-admission rates of patients treated before and after the introduction of the 23-h length of stay policy. Of 161 LRYGB procedures, 38 patients (29 female) underwent LRYGB from September 2010 to December 2011 (pre-policy change) and 123 (107 female) underwent operation after this date (post-policy change). The two groups were similar in terms of mean age (46.5 vs. 46.7 years, p = 0.932), mean BMI (46.8 vs. 46.6 kg/m(2), p = 0.868) and median number of pre-operative comorbidities (3 vs. 3, p = 0.9). There were significant reductions in median length of inpatient stay (2 vs. 1 day, p < 0.0001), re-admission rate (21.1 to 6.5 %, p = 0.025) and complication rate (18.4 vs. 3.3 %, p = 0.004) after the policy change. There were seven complications pre-policy change: pulmonary embolus (n = 1), chest infection (n = 1), constipation and anal fissure (n = 1), umbilical hernia requiring operation (n = 2), adhesional obstruction (n = 1) and persistent food intolerance (n = 1). Post-policy changes, there were four complications: adhesional obstruction (n = 2), staple line bleeding (n = 1) and persistent dysphagia (n = 1). There were no deaths. Patients undergoing LRYGB can be safely discharged on the first post-operative day. This reduction in length of inpatient stay offers significant cost savings.

A systematic review of randomised control trials assessing mesh fixation in open inguinal hernia repair.

PURPOSE: The technique for fixation of mesh has been attributed to adverse patient and surgical outcomes. Although this has been the subject of vigorous debate in laparoscopic hernia repair, the several methods of fixation in open, anterior inguinal hernia repair have seldom been reviewed. The aim of this systematic review was to determine whether there is any difference in patient-based (recurrence, post-operative pain, SSI, quality of life) or surgical outcomes (operative time, length of operative stay) with different fixation methods in open anterior inguinal hernioplasty. METHODS: A literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library databases. Randomised clinical trials assessing more than one method of mesh fixation (or fixation versus no fixation) of mesh in adults (>18 years) in open, anterior inguinal hernia repair, with a minimum of 6-month follow-up and including at least one of the primary outcome measures (recurrence, chronic pain, surgical site infection) were included in the review. Secondary outcomes analysed included post-operative pain (within the first week), quality of life, operative time and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: Twelve randomised clinical trials, which included 1,992 primary inguinal hernia repairs, were eligible for inclusion. Four studies compared n-butyl-2 cyanoacrylate (NB2C) glues to sutures, two compared self-fixing meshes to sutures, four compared fibrin sealant to sutures, one compared tacks to sutures, and one compared absorbable sutures to non-absorbable sutures. The majority of the trials were rated as low or very low-quality studies. There was no significant difference in recurrence or surgical site infection rates between fixation methods. There was significant heterogeneity in the measurement of chronic pain. Three trials reported significantly lower rates of chronic pain with fibrin sealant or glue fixation compared to sutures. A further three studies reported lower pain rates within the first week with non-suture fixation techniques compared to suture fixation. A significant reduction in operative time, ranging form 6 to 17.9 min with non-suture fixation, was reported in five of the studies. Although infrequently measured, there were no significant differences in length of hospital stay or quality of life between fixation methods. CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to promote fibrin sealant, self-fixing meshes or NB2C glues ahead of suture fixation. However, these products have been shown to be at least substantially equivalent, and moderate-quality RCTs have suggested that both fibrin sealant and NB2C glues may have a beneficial effect on reducing immediate post-operative pain and chronic pain in at-risk populations, such as younger active patients. It will ultimately be up to surgeons and health-care policy makers to decide whether based on the limited evidence these products represent a worthwhile cost for their patients.