Arch Surg Chicago
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Video games have become extensively integrated into popular culture. Anecdotal observations of young surgeons suggest that video game play contributes to performance excellence in laparoscopic surgery. Training benefits for surgeons who play video games should be quantifiable. ⋯ Video game skill correlates with laparoscopic surgical skills. Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery. Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons.
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Infections and sepsis are major complications in secondary peritonitis and still represent a diagnostic challenge. We hypothesized that the laboratory marker procalcitonin would provide an early and reliable assessment of septic complications. ⋯ Procalcitonin monitoring is a fast and reliable approach to assessing septic MODS and overall prognosis in secondary peritonitis. This single-test marker improves stratification of patients who will develop clinically relevant complications.
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Multicenter Study
Association between venous thromboembolism and perioperative allogeneic transfusion.
Perioperative allogeneic blood product transfusion would be associated with venous thromboembolic complications in surgical patients. ⋯ In this large observational study of patients undergoing colorectal cancer resection, perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion was associated with an increased risk of VTE in women but not in men. Given the substantial morbidity and mortality associated with VTE and the implication that this finding has for postoperative management in women, this association must be confirmed in independent studies.
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Infusion of ethyl pyruvate (EP) solution can improve outcome in a clinically relevant, large- animal model of septic shock resulting from fecal peritonitis. ⋯ In this clinically relevant model of septic shock in ewes, continuous EP infusion prolonged time to development of organ dysfunction and markedly prolonged survival. These findings suggest a potential use for EP in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock.
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The improved survival after esophageal cancer surgery in Sweden during recent years may be attributable to the increased centralization of such surgery. ⋯ This study revealed no effect of hospital volume on long-term survival after esophageal cancer surgery. Tumor biology apparently has a greater effect on the chances of long-term survival than hospital volume.