Cut-down assisted percutaneous gastrostomy tube placement in morbidly obese patient.

Enteral and parenteral nutrition is primarily indicated in patients that lack adequate oral intake to support their metabolic needs. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) has become the preferred procedure of choice. With the increasing prevalence of obesity in the USA, there is a need for special interventions for PEG tube placements in overweight and obese patients. Some challenges that frequently arise with obese patients include sub-optimal transillumination, insufficient abdominal landmarks and inability to estimate the abdominal and gastric walls. We present a case of a patient with persistent dysphagia requiring enteral nutrition with an unconventional placement of a PEG tube given patient's large body habitus.

Critical Outcomes in Nonrobotic vs Robotic-Assisted Cardiac Surgery.

IMPORTANCE: As robotic-assisted cardiac surgical procedures increase nationwide, surgeons need to be educated on the safety of the new modality compared with that of open technique. OBJECTIVE: To compare complications, length of stay (LOS), actual cost, and mortality between nonrobotic and robotic-assisted cardiac surgical procedures. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Weighted data on cardiac patients who had undergone operations involving the valves or septa and vessels, as well as other heart and pericardium procedures, from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2011, were obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample via the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Propensity score matching was used to match each robotic-assisted case to 2 nonrobotic cases on 14 characteristics. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Complications, median LOS, actual cost, and mortality. RESULTS: Exploratory analysis found a total of 1,374,653 cardiac cases (1,369,454 [99.6%] nonrobotic and 5199 [0.4%] robotic-assisted cases). After propensity score matching, there were 10,331 (66.5%) nonrobotic cases and 5199 (33.5%) robotic-assisted cases. Cardiac operations included 1630 (10.5%) involving the valves or septa, 6616 (42.6%) involving the vessels, and 7284 (46.9%) other heart and pericardium procedures. Robotic-assisted compared with nonrobotic surgery had a higher median cost ($39,030 vs $36,340; P < .001) but lower LOS (5 vs 6 days; P < .001) and lower mortality (1.0% vs 1.9%; P < .001). Robotic-assisted surgery had significantly fewer complications for all operation types (30.3% vs 27.2%; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Overall, robotic-assisted surgery has significantly reduced median LOS, complications, and mortality compared with nonrobotic surgery. Results of this study support the contention that robotic-assisted surgery is as safe as nonrobotic surgery and offers the surgeon an additional technique for performing cardiac surgery.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is safe but underused in the elderly.

Studies confirm that laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is safe and efficacious for elderly patients. The purposes of this study were to evaluate if LC is underused in the elderly and if it is a safe option in that group. Open cholecystectomy (OC) and LC were compared in nonelderly (40 to 64 years) and elderly (65 years or older) matched patient groups identified with gallbladder disease using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database (2005 to 2008). Length of stay (LOS), 30-day complications, and mortality were evaluated as outcomes. Using multivariate logistic regression, independent predictors of OC were identified. After case-matching, each group had 11,926 patients. A χ(2) test showed that elderly (20.1 vs 15.0%, P < 0.001) were more likely to undergo OC. Elderly patients had significantly higher comorbidities and were operated on as emergent case (all P < 0.05). OC had longer LOS and mortality (all P < 0.05). Among 10 other variables in logistic regression, elderly had a higher likelihood of receiving OC (OR, 1.299; P < 0 0.001). Significant disparity exists between elderly and nonelderly patients in use of LC surgery. LC has a lower complication rate than OC; however, elderly undergo LC less often. Awareness needs to be raised for offering earlier operative intervention and the superior results of LC in the elderly.