Surgery
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The physiologic response to surgical trauma promotes sodium and water retention AND weight gain owing to perioperative fluid loading increases morbidity SO perioperative fluid restriction should reduce postoperative complications after gastrointestinal surgery.
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A 35-year-old man attempted suicide by a shotgun discharge to his abdomen. Although the patient had been awake, oriented, and conversing about baseball during the emergency medical services ride to the hospital, he made no mention of his religious beliefs. He is bleeding profusely when he arrives at the emergency room (ER). ⋯ He has lost a critical amount of blood and is under anesthesia when a call to the OR comes from an ER nurse who has been approached by the patient's family and given a Jehovah's Witness card signed by the patient. The card states: "NO BLOOD TRANSFUSION. As a God-fearing Christian and a believer in Jehovah's word, the Bible, I hereby demand that blood, in any way, shape or form, is NOT to be fed into my body; however, blood substitutes may be used in case of extreme loss of blood."
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Laparoscopic extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repair versus open mesh repair: long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.
We have conducted a randomized controlled trial of totally extraperitoneal hernia repair (TEP) versus tension-free open repair (Lichtenstein repair); we have presented the results previously up to 1 year after the operation. The aim of this study was to compare patient outcome in both groups at a median follow-up of 7.3 years after operation. ⋯ Overall, both groups showed good long-term results with low rates of recurrences. However, the TEP group was associated with a higher proportion of patients with long-term testicular pain, whereas impaired inguinal sensibility was more common in the open group.
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We conducted a retrospective study to assess the safety, cosmetic outcome, and patients' satisfaction after skin-sparing (SSM) and nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) for breast cancer with immediate reconstruction of the breast (SMIBR). ⋯ SMIBR is safe with a comparatively low local recurrence rate and the same distant recurrence rate as for BCS and MST. Moreover, it results in objective cosmetic outcome and patient satisfaction as good as those for BCS, and greater patient satisfaction with body image than that for MST.
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The utility of open lung biopsy (OLB) in mechanically ventilated patients with acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) of unknown origin has been questioned because of its potentially low diagnostic yield and possibly related morbidity. To quantify possible benefits and risks, and especially so for bedside lung biopsy, we reviewed retrospectively our 8-year, single unit experience with this procedure. ⋯ Bedside OLB can be performed safely in selected, mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients with ALI or ARDS. Our results support the concept that lung biopsy often leads to management alterations in patients where a standardized diagnostic workup failed to yield a definitive diagnosis.