Surgery today
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We evaluated the purpose reliability and validity of a preliminary scale, which we developed to assess postoperative dysfunction after surgery for gastric and esophageal carcinoma. ⋯ Our preliminary scale is sufficiently reliable and valid, and will prove to be clinically useful.
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Case Reports
Endovascular stent grafting for thoracic aneurysms in Jehovah's Witnesses: report of three cases.
There are few published reports on endovascular stent grafting for thoracic aneurysms in Jehovah's Witnesses. Between 2001 and 2003, we performed endovascular stent grafting for a thoracic aneurysm in three patients of the Jehovah's Witness faith. ⋯ None of the patients required perioperative blood transfusion, there was no postoperative endoleak, and all recovered uneventfully and were discharged from hospital. Thus, stent-graft repair of thoracic aneurysms in Jehovah's Witnesses is feasible and can be achieved without the need for blood transfusion.
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Review Comparative Study
Spinal cord protection during thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair.
Spinal cord injury after thoracoabdominal aortic surgery remains a devastating and unpredictable complication, caused by clamping of the thoracoabdominal aorta, resulting in exclusion of blood flow in critical and essential intercostal arteries. Various protective methods against spinal cord ischemia have been proposed and performed clinically. These include preoperative spinal angiography, distal aortic perfusion, hypothermia, reattachment of the intercostal artery, cerebrospinal fluid drainage, administration of neuroprotective agents, and monitoring of somatosensory and motor-evoked potentials. The information to date suggests that multimodality approaches should be used to prevent spinal cord injury after thoracic and thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair.
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Review Comparative Study
Acute mesenteric ischemia: the challenge of gastroenterology.
Intestinal ischemia has been classified into three major categories based on its clinical features, namely, acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI), chronic mesenteric ischemia (intestinal angina), and colonic ischemia (ischemic colitis). Acute mesenteric ischemia is not an isolated clinical entity, but a complex of diseases, including acute mesenteric arterial embolus and thrombus, mesenteric venous thrombus, and nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI). These diseases have common clinical features caused by impaired blood perfusion to the intestine, bacterial translocation, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome. ⋯ Mesenteric venous thrombosis is much less lethal than acute thromboembolism of the superior mesenteric artery and NOMI. We present an overview of the current understanding of AMI based on reported evidence. Although AMI is still lethal and in-hospital mortality rates have remained high over the last few decades, accumulated knowledge on this condition is expected to improve its prognosis.
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Comparative Study
Planned staged reoperative necrosectomy using an abdominal zipper in the treatment of necrotizing pancreatitis.
The optimal operative treatment for severe necrotizing pancreatitis (SNP) still remains controversial. This article describes the operative approach with a planned staged necrosectomy using the "zipper" technique. ⋯ Severe necrotizing pancreatitis still carries significant morbidity and mortality. This surgical approach facilitates the removal of all devitalized tissue and seems to decrease the incidence of recurrent intra-abdominal infection requiring reoperation. An APACHE-II score of > or = 13 and an extension of necrosis behind both paracolic gutters was thus found to signify a worse outcome.