Annals of surgery
-
Case Reports
Perforation of the colon in renal homograft recipients. A report of 11 cases and a review of the literature.
Colon perforation in renal transplant recipients is a potentially lethal condition that is amenable to appropriate medical and surgical treatment. The 11 cases seen at the Cleveland Clinic (incidence 1.1% of all renal transplant patients) and previous reports in the literature have been reviewed. The pathogenesis is related to a high incidence of diverticular disease in patients with polycystic kidneys and/or chronic renal failure, the effects of long-term immunosuppression, and the transplant procedure itself. ⋯ Mortality has fallen from 88% (1970-1974) to 53% (1975-1979), and there are indications that it is continuing to fall. All four cases operated on here since 1980 have survived, giving a total operative mortality of 2/6, and all have maintained excellent allograft function. A high clinical index of suspicion, prompt exteriorization of the perforated colon, reduction of immunosuppression to minimal levels, and effective antibiotic coverage have all contributed to the declining mortality.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Prophylactic platelet administration during massive transfusion. A prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical study.
Prior studies at Harborview Medical Center have suggested that dilutional thrombocytopenia is a major etiology of microvascular, nonmechanical bleeding (MVB). We undertook a prospective randomized double-blind clinical study to compare the prophylactic effects of 6 units of platelet concentrates (PLT) versus 2 units of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) administered with every 12 units of modified whole blood in patients undergoing massive transfusion (12 or more units in 12 hours). ⋯ Only one patient had evidence of dilutional thrombocytopenia as a cause for MVB. Prophylactic platelet administration is not warranted as a routine measure to prevent MVB.
-
Comparative Study
Manometric diagnosis of sphincter of Oddi spasm as a cause of postcholecystectomy pain and the treatment by endoscopic sphincterotomy.
Seventeen patients with postcholecystectomy pain and nine controls were studied by nonoperative biliary manometry with stimulation of sphincter of Oddi spasm by morphine. The controls remained asymptomatic despite an elevation of bile duct pressure after morphine. In 13 patients with postcholecystectomy pain, morphine induced pain paralleling a pressure rise. ⋯ Endoscopic sphincterotomy provided complete (8), moderate (3), or slight (1) relief of pain to 12 patients with the parallel pain-pressure relationship. Postsphincterotomy manometry showed disappearance of both the pressure elevation and pain induction, and the morphine-Prostigmin test turned negative. It is concluded that morphine-induced bile duct pressure elevation coinciding with pain is diagnostic of sphincter spasm as a cause of postcholecystectomy pain, the morphine-Prostigmin test, although helpful, is less specific and less sensitive in diagnosing sphincter spasm than the manometry, and endoscopic sphincterotomy relieves the pain due to this condition in most cases.
-
The previously unaddressed impact of radiotherapy and vagotomy on palliative gastroenterostomy (GE) in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer was studied. Sixty-eight patients were retrospectively evaluated. A higher overall incidence of complications was found in the group (N = 44) undergoing irradiation as well as gastroenterostomy compared to a group undergoing gastroenterostomy alone. ⋯ Rates of bleeding were highest among patients undergoing prophylactic GE and irradiation compared to those receiving GE alone. Vagotomy in 12 patients who were irradiated did not appear to protect against bleeding. We found the irradiated prophylactic GE to provide poor palliation in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer and recommend it not be performed if radiotherapy is to be used for attempt in local control of unresectable pancreatic cancer.
-
Experiences with 14 patients undergoing rupture of the left ventricle following mitral valve replacement over a period of 9 years have been described. Three different types have been recognized. Before 1978, most injuries occurred in the atrioventricular groove, apparently resulting from traction that insidiously avulsed the mitral annulus from the underlying left ventricular muscle. ⋯ It is well realized, of course, that a fortunate narrative experience of 3 1/2 years does not have any statistical value concerning a complication that occurs in 1 to 2% of operations. The experiences are reported, however, because to our knowledge, the untethered loop hypothesis has not been previously evaluated in a large number of consecutive patients operated on. Future comparison of experiences reported by others should make it possible to determine whether or not this concept is correct.