A rare case of ectopic retrosternal goiter.

It is important for the clinician to be familiar with interpreting a variety of radiological modalities that provide vital information that will aid in the preoperative planning, counseling, and subsequent management of patients with retrosternal goiter.

Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy by a dedicated emergency surgical unit confers excellent outcomes in acute cholecystitis presenting beyond 72 hours.

BACKGROUND: Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy (ELC) within 72 h of symptom onset is preferred for management of acute cholecystitis (AC). Beyond 72 h, acute-on-chronic fibrosis sets in rendering surgery challenging. This study aims to compare the outcomes of ELC for AC within and beyond 72 h of symptom onset by a dedicated acute surgical unit. METHODS: This is a single-centre retrospective study of 217 patients with AC who underwent ELC by an acute surgical unit from January 2017 to August 2018. Outcomes collected include post-operative morbidity, length of hospitalization and operation duration. A subgroup analysis for the same outcomes was performed for elderly patients. RESULTS: Of the 217 patients, 88 were operated within 72 h of symptom onset while 129 were operated beyond 72 h. Twenty-six patients received ELC after 7 days. There was no occurrence of bile duct injury. There was no statistical difference in conversion rates, wound infections and post-operative collections. Patients receiving ELC beyond 72 h had longer duration of operation (125.4 versus 116 min, P = 0.035) and length of hospitalization (4.59 versus 3.09 days, P = 0.001) without increase in morbidity. Patients older than 75 years had a higher incidence of post-operative collection (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with AC undergoing ELC by a dedicated acute surgical unit can have good outcomes even beyond 72 h of symptom onset. Meticulous haemostasis should be performed for the elderly subgroup of patients.

Assessing adequacy of informed consent for elective surgery by student-administered interview.

BACKGROUND: Studies show that patients often sign consent documents without fully comprehending the risks, benefits and potential complications. There is currently no Asian study performed analysing adequacy of informed consent. This study aims to assess adequacy of informed consent by evaluating patient understanding and retention of key information and complications pertaining to surgery via medical student-administered interview. METHODS: A prospective study was performed on 48 patients undergoing groin hernia surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and total thyroidectomy from 2017 to 2018 in a teaching hospital. Standardized assessment forms including major common complications and key details of the surgery were prepared. Structured one-to-one interviews between students and patients were performed and recorded on the morning of surgery. RESULTS: Although 93.8% of the patients claimed to have understood the information regarding their surgery, only 19.4%, 44.4% and 62.5% of the patients could actually recall the serious complications of groin hernia surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and thyroidectomy, respectively. Elderly patients (>65 years) had poorer understanding of surgical procedure compared to the young (80% versus 100%, respectively, P = 0.008) with 26.7% of elderly patients claiming that they did not understand the indication for surgery. High satisfaction rates with this preoperative interview were reported by both patients and students (95.8% and 97.9%, respectively). Time interval from informed consent to surgery did not make any difference. CONCLUSION: Understanding of information and key complications was generally low, especially in the elderly population. The structured preoperative interview achieved the dual goal of reinforcing patient gaps in knowledge and improving student communication skills.

Does diabetes mellitus affect presentation, stage and survival in operable pancreatic cancer?

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study is to investigate differences in clinical presentation, disease stage and survival of operable pancreatic cancer patients with new onset DM compared to long standing diabetes mellitus (DM) and non diabetics. METHODS: A prospectively maintained pancreatic cancer surgery database of a tertiary care teaching hospital from January 2006 to August 2012 was reviewed. Only patients with a histological diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma (PC) were included in final analysis. DM was defined as HbA1c >6.5% or any patient on anti-diabetic treatment regardless of HbA1c value. New onset DM was defined when diagnosed within two preceding years of surgery. Patients were stratified into two groups: DM and non DM. Among the DM patients, patients with new onset DM were further stratified and studied separately. Staging of PC was performed according to the 6(th) edition of AJCC. Survival of patients with PC was determined by reviewing medical records. Patients and their families were contacted if there was no existing follow-up. RESULTS: Eighty-six patients (n=55, 63.9% male) with a mean age of 62 years (range, 29-85 years) underwent pancreatic cancer surgery during the study period. Of the 86 patients, 30 (34%) had DM of which eight patients (9% overall) had new onset DM. DM patients tended to be older compared to non DM patients (67.8 vs. 58.5 years, P=0.0005). The majority of non DM patients were symptomatic (98.2%), and there was a tendency for DM group patients to be asymptomatic at presentation (13.3% vs. 1.8%, P=0.05). Abdominal pain was less common in DM patients compared to non DM patients (30% vs. 53.6%, P=0.04). The median duration of new onset DM prior to diagnosis of PC was 2 months (range, 1-23 months). There was a tendency for DM patients to present at an early stage (stage I and stage II) (P=0.08). There was no difference in survival (P=0.17) for new onset DM compared to long standing DM and non DM patients. CONCLUSIONS: DM patients tend to be older and are less likely to present with abdominal pain. Asymptomatic presentation and early stage disease tends to occur in DM patients. A larger sample size is required to determine if survival of new onset DM patients differs from long standing and non DM patients.

Percutaneous drainage for giant pyogenic liver abscess--is it safe and sufficient?

BACKGROUND: Large size is a predictor of failure of percutaneous drainage (PD) for pyogenic liver abscess (PLA). This article serves to establish the safety and sufficiency of PD in giant PLA (GPLA). METHODS: A retrospective review of all GPLA patients treated at a tertiary care academic hospital from 2001 to 2011 was performed. A GPLA is defined as an abscess greater than or equal to 10 cm size based on imaging. RESULTS: Forty patients (24 men, 60%) were treated for GPLA. All but 1 patient (98%) was managed with PD and the mean duration of drainage was 9 days (range 1 to 23 days). One patient underwent operative drainage. Three patients (7.7%) needed secondary procedures after the initial PD. One patient (2.6%) failed PD and subsequently underwent operative drainage. Among the patients who underwent PD, the overall morbidity was 25%; the median length of hospital stay was 13 days (range 5 to 31 days) and 1 (2.6%) mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Large size itself is not a contraindication for PD. PD is safe and sufficient even in GPLA patients.

Pyogenic Liver Abscess: Does Escherichia Coli Cause more Adverse Outcomes than Klebsiella Pneumoniae?

BACKGROUND: This paper aims to demonstrate if Escherichia coli pyogenic liver abscess (ECPLA) results in adverse outcomes compared to Klebsiella pneumoniae PLA (KPPLA). METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients admitted at a tertiary hospital in Singapore from 2003 to 2011 was performed. Patients with age <18 years, amoebic liver abscess, infected liver cyst, culture negative abscess or ruptured liver abscess requiring urgent surgical intervention were excluded. Only patients with blood or pus culture confirmation of ECPLA (n = 24) or KPPLA (n = 264) were included. Median length of hospital stay, failure of non-operative therapy and 30-day mortality are the reported outcomes. RESULTS: ECPLA affects older patients (68 vs. 62 years, p = 0.049). Ischemic heart disease was more common in ECPLA (29 vs. 14 %, p = 0.048) and there was no difference in diabetic state (42 vs. 38 %, p = 0.743). ECPLA is more commonly associated with hyperbilirubinemia (60 vs. 34 µmol/L, p = 0.003), increased gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (236 vs. 16 IU/L, p = 0.038) and gallstones (58 vs. 30 %, p = 0.004). KPPLA are larger in size (6 vs. 4 cm, p = 0.006) and had percutaneous drainage (PD) more frequently (64 vs. 42 %, p = 0.034). There was no difference in median hospital stay (14 vs. 14 days, p = 0.110) or 30-day mortality (17 vs. 10 %, p = 0.307) between ECPLA and KPPLA. Among patients with ECPLA, antibiotic treatment with PD appeared to have higher mortality compared to antibiotic treatment alone (30 vs. 7 %) but this was not significant (p = 0.272). CONCLUSION: In the setting of multimodal care, outcomes of ECPLA are comparable to KPPLA.

Endoscopic pilonidal sinus treatment in the Asian population.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to evaluate the early results of endoscopic pilonidal sinus treatment (EPSiT) in the Asian population and illustrate the surgical technique and its modifications by a video presentation (Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/SLE/A115). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of 9 patients with pilonidal sinus disease treated with EPSiT is performed in a single institution. Surgical outcomes of sinus healing, pain, and discharge were reviewed in the outpatient clinic and patient satisfaction levels were assessed through a standardized phone interview. RESULTS: The median age was 24 years (range, 16 to 41 y). The median duration of follow-up was 2.5 months (range, 1 to 5 mo). Median duration of sinus healing is 6 weeks (range, 2 to 7 wk). One patient had pain despite sinus healing. Satisfaction rate was 78% (7/9). CONCLUSIONS: EPSiT is a minimally invasive and cosmetically favorable procedure. A larger sample size and a longer follow-up is required to determine if it improves healing time and long-term recurrence rate.

Strict Selection Criteria During Surgical Training Ensures Good Outcomes in Laparoscopic Omental Patch Repair (LOPR) for Perforated Peptic Ulcer (PPU).

Application of minimal access surgery in acute care surgery is limited due to various reasons. Laparoscopic omental patch repair (LOPR) for perforated peptic ulcer (PPU) surgery is safe and feasible but not widely implemented. We report our early experience of LOPR with emphasis on strict selection criteria. This is a descriptive study of all patients operated on for PPU at academic university-affiliated institutes from December 2010 to February 2012. All the patients who were operated on for LOPR were included as the study population and their records were studied. Perioperative outcomes, Boey score, Mannheim Peritonitis Index (MPI), and physiologic and operative severity scores for enumeration of mortality and morbidity (POSSUM) scores were calculated. All the data were tabulated in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using Stata Version 8.x. (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). Fourteen patients had LOPR out of a total of 45 patients operated for the PPU. Mean age was 46 years (range 22-87 years). Twelve patients (86%) had a Boey score of 0 and all patients had MPI < 21 (mean MPI = 14). The predicted POSSUM morbidity and mortality were 36% and 7%, respectively. Mean ulcer size was 5 mm (range 2-10 mm), mean operating time was 100 minutes (range 70-123 minutes) and mean length of hospital stay was 4 days (range 3-6 days). There was no morbidity or mortality pertaining to LOPR. LOPR should be offered by acute care surgical teams when local expertise is available. This can optimize patient outcomes when strict selection criteria are applied.

The use of Collatamp G, local gentamicin-collagen sponge, in reducing wound infection.

We conducted a retrospective study to examine the role of Collatamp G in reducing postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) in patients with different wound classes. Ninety-two patients (62 men and 30 women; mean age, 58 years; range, 29-88 years) who had undergone surgery between December 2009 and November 2011 in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and who had application of Collatamp G in their wound before closure were included in the study. The primary endpoint was the development of any superficial wound infection within 1 month postoperatively. Of 92 patients studied, 9 (10%) developed a superficial wound infection. Two of 43 patients with clean-contaminated wounds (5%), 2 of 19 with contaminated wounds (11%), and 5 of 30 with dirty-infected wounds (16%) developed infection. Use of the larger size Collatamp G (10 × 10 cm) also appears to have a lower incidence of SSI compared with the smaller Collatamp G (5 × 5 cm); 4% and 12%, respectively. Our data suggest that postoperative SSI was reduced in the group of patients with dirty-infected wound class. SSI appears to be decreased with use of the larger size Collatamp G.