Article of interest: Initial management of acute pancreatitis

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Chaitoff A, Cifu AS, Niforatos JD. Initial Management of Acute Pancreatitis. JAMA. 2020 May 7. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.2177. [Epub ahead of print]

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Major recommendations:

  • In patients with acute pancreatitis, early oral feeding as tolerated (within 24 hours) is recommended (strong recommendation; moderate evidence).
  • If patients are unable to tolerate oral feeding, enteral (oral or enteral tube) rather than parenteral nutrition is recommended (strong recommendation; moderate evidence).
  • In patients with acute biliary pancreatitis, cholecystectomy should be performed during the initial admission rather than after discharge (strong recommendation; moderate evidence).
  • In patients with acute alcoholic pancreatitis, a brief alcohol intervention should be performed during the initial admission (strong recommendation; moderate evidence).
  • In patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis and necrotizing acute pancreatitis, the guidelines suggest against use of prophylactic antibiotics (conditional recommendation; low evidence).

A randomised trial of post-discharge enteral feeding following surgical resection of an upper gastrointestinal malignancy

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Froghi F, et al. A randomised trial of post-discharge enteral feeding following surgical resection of an upper gastrointestinal malignancy. Clin Nutr. 2017 Dec;36(6):1516-1519.

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RESULTS: 44 patients (M:F, 29:15) were randomised, 23 received jejunal supplements. There were no differences between the groups. Percentage of calculated energy requirement received was greater in the supplemented group at weeks 3 and 6 (p < 0.0001). Oral energy intake was not different between the groups at any time period. After hospital discharge, there were no differences in MFI-20, EQ5D and QLQ-OES18 scores at any time point. From hospital discharge fatigue improved and plateaued at 6 weeks (p < 0.05 for both groups), independence at 12 weeks (p < 0.05 for both groups). No improvement was seen in quality of life until 24 weeks in the active group alone (p < 0.02) and not at all in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: Addition of jejunal feeding is effective in providing patients with an adequate energy intake. Increased energy intake however, produced no obvious improvement in measures of fatigue, quality of life or health economics.

Preoperative portal vein embolization for major liver resection

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Rassam F, et al. Functional and volumetric assessment of liver segments after portal
vein embolization: Differences in hypertrophy response. Surgery. 2019 Apr;165(4):686-695.

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RESULTS: A total of 90 patients underwent portal vein embolization of the right liver. After 3 weeks, there was a significant increase in both volumetric and functional share of the future remnant liver (both P < .01). The increase in functional share exceeded the increase in volumetric share (P < .01). The median functional contribution of segment 4 after portal vein embolization was 41.5% (31.7%-48.7%) of the nonembolized lobe. Preoperative chemotherapy was not a significant predictor of the increase in function or volume. Compared with benign lesions, malignant diseases were significant negative predictors of the functional response.

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The use of risk stratification tools for perioperative and postoperative morbidity and mortality

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Havens JM, Columbus AB, Seshadri AJ, et al. Risk stratification tools in emergency general surgery. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2018 Apr 29;3(1):e000160.

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The use of risk stratification tools (RST) aids in clinical triage, decision making and quality assessment in a wide variety of medical fields. Although emergency general surgery (EGS) is characterized by a comorbid, physiologically acute patient population with disparately high rates of perioperative morbidity and mortality, few RST have been explicitly examined in this setting. We examined the available RST with the intent of identifying a tool that comprehensively reflects an EGS patients perioperative risk for death or complication.

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Considerations in stoma reversal

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Sherman KL, Wexner SD. Considerations in Stoma Reversal. Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2017 Jul;30(3):172-177.

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Temporary stomas are frequently used in the management of diverticulitis, colorectal cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease. These temporary stomas are used to try to mitigate septic complications from anastomotic leaks and to avoid the need for reoperation. Once acute medical conditions have improved and after the anastomosis has been proven to be healed, stomas can be reversed. Contrast enemas, digital rectal examination, and endoscopic evaluation are used to evaluate the anastomosis prior to reversal. Stoma reversal is associated with complications including anastomotic leak, postoperative ileus, bowel obstruction, enterocutaneous fistula, and, most commonly, surgical site infection. Furthermore, many stomas, which were intended to be temporary, may not be reversed due to postoperative complications, adjuvant therapy, or prohibitive comorbidities.

The impact of abdominal incisional closure techniques on rates of fascial dehiscence

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Tolstrup MB, Watt SK, Gögenur I. Reduced Rate of Dehiscence After Implementation of a Standardized Fascial Closure Technique in Patients Undergoing Emergency Laparotomy. Ann Surg. 2017 Apr;265(4):821-826.

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RESULTS: We included 494 patients from 2014 to 2015 and 1079 patients from our historical cohort for comparison. All patients had a midline laparotomy in an emergency setting. The rate of dehiscence was reduced from 6.6% to 3.8%, P = 0.03 comparing year 2009 to 2013 with 2014 to 2015. Factors associated with dehiscence were male gender [hazard ratio (HR) 2.8, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) (1.8-4.4), P < 0.001], performance status ≥3 [HR 2.1, 95% CI (1.2-3.7), P = 0.006], cirrhosis [HR 3.8, 95% CI (1.5-9.5), P = 0.004], and retention sutures [HR 2.8, 95% CI (1.6-4.9), P < 0.000]. The 30-day mortality rate was 18.4% in the standardized group vs 22.4% in 2009 to 2013, P = 0.057 and 90-day mortality 24.2% vs 30.4%, P = 0.008.

CONCLUSION: The standardized procedure of closing the midline laparotomy by using a “small steps” technique of continuous suturing with a slowly absorbable (polydioxanone) suture material reduces the rate of fascial dehiscence.

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WARC Journal Club: STITCH Trial

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Deerenberg EB, Harlaar JJ, Steyerberg EW, et al. Small bites versus large bites for closure of abdominal midline incisions (STITCH): a double-blind, multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2015 Sep 26;386(10000):1254-1260.

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FINDINGS: Between Oct 20, 2009, and March 12, 2012, we randomly assigned 560 patients to the large bites group (n=284) or the small bites group (n=276). Follow-up ended on Aug 30, 2013; 545 (97%) patients completed follow-up and were included in the primary outcome analysis. Patients in the small bites group had fascial closures sutured with more stitches than those in the large bites group (mean number of stitches 45 [SD 12] vs 25 [10]; p<0·0001), a higher ratio of suture length to wound length (5·0 [1·5] vs 4·3 [1·4]; p<0·0001) and a longer closure time (14 [6] vs 10 [4] min; p<0·0001). At 1 year follow-up, 57 (21%) of 277 patients in the large bites group and 35 (13%) of 268 patients in the small bites group had incisional hernia (p=0·0220, covariate adjusted odds ratio 0·52, 95% CI 0·31-0·87; p=0·0131). Rates of adverse events did not differ significantly between groups.

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