Acta Chir Belg
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Pulmonary angiography is the gold standard for segmental pulmonary embolism (PE) but no longer for subsegmental PE, because the inter-observer agreement for angiographically documented subsegmental PE is only 60%. Two non-invasive tools exclude PE with a negative predictive value of >99% : a normal perfusion lung scan and a normal rapid ELISA VIDAS D-dimer test. The positive predictive value is 85 to 88% for a high probability ventilation-perfusion lung scan (VP-scan) and >95% for helical spiral CT. ⋯ Single-slice helical CT as the primary diagnostic test in patients with suspected PE in three retrospective studies and in two prospective management study indicate that the negative predictive value of a normal helical spiral CT, a negative compression ultrasonography of the legs (CUS) together with a low or intermediate pre-test clinical probability is >99%. Therefore, helical spiral CT can replace both the VP-scan and pulmonary angiography to safely rule in and out PE. The combination of clinical assessment, a rapid ELISA VIDAS D-dimer followed by CUS will reduce the need for helical spiral CT by 40 to 50%.
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Clinical Trial
Acute rehabilitation program after laparoscopic colectomy using intravenous lidocaine.
The concept of postoperative acute rehabilitation was introduced to accelerate postoperative recovery and improve outcome. We investigated whether intravenous lidocaine infusion, which decreases postoperative pain and speeds the return of bowel function, can be used instead of epidural analgesia in an acute rehabilitation protocol for patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy. ⋯ Acute rehabilitation after laparoscopic colectomy using i.v. lidocaine gives similar outcomes to those reported using epidural analgesia.
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Primary chemotherapy is being given in the treatment of locally advanced breast cancers (LABC), but a major concern is local recurrence after therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the role of breast conserving surgery (BCS) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer. ⋯ Negative margin is more important than the clinical and histological parameters, such as pretreatment stage, clinical response rate, ER and PR in terms of local recurrence. BCS can be performed safely by achieving free surgical margin in patients who have small sized tumour and with either N2 axillary involvement or skin invasion.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Treatment of deep cartilage defects of the knee using autologous chondrograft transplantation and by abrasive techniques--a randomized controlled study.
To compare outcomes of surgical treatment of deep cartilage defects of the knee in a group of patients treated by autologous chondrograft transplantation versus patients treated by abrasive techniques. ⋯ The results obtained in this study have confirmed the better outcome in patients treated with autologous chondrograft transplantation. This original method was found to be just as effective as abrasive techniques. We recommend its use in clinical practice.
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Appendiceal anomalies are extremely rare malformations that are usually found in the adult population as an incidental finding during laparotomy performed for other reasons. Abnormal development of the appendix usually takes the form of a double appendix. Accompanying intestinal, genito-urinary or vertebral malformations may be present when appendiceal duplications are detected in childhood. ⋯ Appendiceal anomalies are of great practical importance and a surgeon must bear them in mind during an operation. If he overlooks them, the patient undergoing surgery may experience grave consequences. They also may be a forensic issue in cases when a second explorative laparotomy reveals 'previously removed' vermiform appendix.