Right-sided acute diverticulitis in a North African country: Presentation and management in one surgical center.

PURPOSE: Right-sided diverticulitis is a rare entity in North Africa. Therefore, it is usually misdiagnosed, and the management of cecal diverticulitis is aggressive in most cases, whereas nowadays, most studies recommend a conservative approach with promising results. This study aims to describe the presentation, management, and outcomes of right-sided diverticulitis (RSD) and to present the experience of one surgical center in Tunisia. METHODS: This is a retrospective study including all patients presented with RSD, in the Department of Surgery "A" of the Charles Nicolle Hospital between 2007 and 2021. RESULTS: Forty patients were included in our study. The mean age was 42 years with a standard deviation of 14. The sex ratio was 1.1. Only 2 patients had chronic constipation. All patients presented right-sided abdominal pain, and only 3 patients had diarrhea. Twenty one patients were diagnosed during surgery. Fourteen patients were treated successfully by conservative management. An operative procedure was performed in 26 cases: 21 had a diverticulectomy (80%), two had an ileal resection (8%), and three had a right colectomy (11.5%). No postoperative events occurred with a short hospital stay (5 ± 3 days). Follow-up showed no recurrences. CONCLUSION: Right-sided diverticulitis has a lower incidence and complication rate compared to left-sided diverticulitis. Conservative treatment has demonstrated favorable outcomes in managing RSD, although the available evidence remains limited.

Can we predict mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis in esophagogastric junction cancer? Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to define clinical indicator that predicts mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis (MLNM) in patients with Esophagogastric junction cancer (EGJC) to select patient population requiring esophagectomy. METHODS: A systematic and electronic search of several electronic databases was performed up to August 2020. Studies containing information on risk factors for MLNM in patients diagnosed with EJGC and who underwent curative surgery were included. RESULTS: Two predictors, including undifferentiated type (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.07-3.10, p = 0.03) and esophageal invasion length (EIL) (OR = 10.95, 95% CI = 6.37-18.82, p < 0.00001) were identified as significant predictors for the risk of MLNM. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of the associations of these clinicopathological features with MLNM can be useful in determining operative strategy for EGJC.

Surgical site infection in mesh repair for ventral hernia in contaminated field: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Given the risk of surgical site infection (SSI), the use of mesh in contaminated ventral hernia repair (VHR) is not standardized and still a clinical dilemma. This meta-analysis aimed to assess whether mesh use increased the risk of SSI in patients following VHR in contaminated field. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of published literature. Studies comparing the mesh repair and anatomic repair, the use of mesh in different Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wound classes and mesh repair with synthetic mesh or other type of meshes to treat complicated and contaminated VHR were considered for analysis. The main outcome was SSI incidence. RESULTS: Six studies compared mesh and suture repairs. No significant difference in SSI incidence was observed between patients with complicated VHR in the mesh and suture repair groups.Five studies analyzed mesh repair in patients by field contamination level. There was no significant difference between the use of mesh in clean-contaminated, contaminated and dirty field versus clean wound class. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the use of mesh in clean-contaminated and contaminated cases.Four studies compared mesh repair technique with synthetic mesh or other type of meshes were included. The incidence of SSI was significantly lower in the synthetic mesh group. CONCLUSIONS: The use of mesh repair in the management of complicated VHR compared to suture repair is not associated with an increased incidence of SSI even in potentially contaminated fields.

Intussusception through an ileostomy: A case report and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Intussusception through an ileostomy is one of the rarest complications of stomas. In this study we report a case and a brief update of the literature to focus on the clinical level of this pathology and the therapeutic attitudes. PRESENTATION OF CASE: a 44-year-old man who underwent a small bowel resection with double stoma for tuberculosis peritonitis presented with stomatal prolapse. On examination of the stoma, small bowel mucosa appeared to have evident rather than serosa. The patient had an elective reduction of the proximal stoma under anesthesia. CONCLUSION: A review of the literature shows that Intussusception through an ileostomy can occur at any time after the first surgery. The cause is still unclear. Urgent conservative surgical management based on manual reduction should be preferred.

Internal transfistulary drainage for intrabiliary rupture of hydatid cyst of the liver: Analysis of the indications and the results. Report of 50 cases.

BACKGROUND: The rupture of hydatid cyst of the liver into the biliary tracts through a large fistula is one of the most difficult complications to treat. The techniques are various and each has its own morbidity. Internal transfistulary drainage is a surgical method of treatment of hydatid cysts of the liver opening in the biliary tract. AIMS: The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors of specific postoperative complications of this surgical technique Methods: During the period's study, 823 patients with liver hydatid cyst were operated. 86 (11 %) of them were opened in the bile ducts through a large fistula. 50 patients (58 %) had internal transfistulary drainage. RESULTS: The sex ratio was 1.6. The population was young with an average age of 40.8 years. The most frequent clinical feature of the opening in the biliary tract was acute cholangitis (42 %). The most common location of hydatid cyst was at the hepatic dome. The pericyst was flexible in only 62 % of cases. Thick pericysts were made flexible in 20% of cases and partly resection of protruding dome was made in 36 % of cases. Specific morbidity rate was 16% with no mortality. The uni and multivariate analysis had identified as risk factors for specific complications: the thick pericyst (P = 0.04), a size of the residual cavity ≥ 9cm; non visualization of the residual cavity on the post operative cholangiography was of borderline statistical significance (P = 0.049). CONCLUSION: The internal transfistulary drainage is an easy and reliable surgical technique, its morbidity is low. It's indicated in the cases of large fistula with a thin pericyst and a diameter of the residual cavity less than 09 cm. Making thick pericyst flexible is a false security for the indication of internal transfistulary drainage and the non visualization of the residual cavity on the post operative cholangiography impose more frequent control for these patients since they are at risk of complications.

Multiple bile duct stones: Comparison of two surgical techniques done at laparotomy.

BACKGROUND: Biliary lithiasis is the most common surgical disease in Tunisia. Multiple bile duct stones are one of his most rare complications.It poses real problems with the best therapeutic approach. AIMS: To analyze the results of conventional surgery for multiple bile duct stones by comparing two techniques: The choledochotomy for stoneextraction followed by external biliary drainage and biliary-enteric anastomosis, to identify and to analyze the factors influencing the therapeuticchoice. METHODS: During study period spanning 16 years, 137 choledochotomy were made for multiple bile duct stones. These patients had either acholedochotomy with stone extraction and then drained through a T-tube or a biliary-enteric anastomosis. RESULTS: Preoperative diagnosis of multiple bile duct stones has been made in 32.1 % of patients. Cholangiography was found in all casesmultiple bile duct stones and had demonstrated an association with intrahepatic stones in 18.2 %. External drainage by a Kehr drain wasperformed in 39.4 % and biliary-enteric anastomosis in 60.6 %. Univariate and multivariate analysis had identified three factors significantlyassociated with external drainage: age ≤ 65 years, bile duct diameter < 15 mm and the existence of a pronounced inflammatory reaction of thecholedochal wall. No factors had influenced the choice between different bilio-enteric anastomosis techniques. These three techniques did notdiffer from the post operative morbidity (p = 0.84) or mortality (p = 58). CONCLUSION: Basing on the analysis of our series and the comparison with other series reported in the literature, we recommend biliary drainagewith a T-tube in young people under 65 years who have a little dilated bile duct, not exceeding 15mm. In patients aged over 65 years or thosewith a CBD dilated more than 15 mm, even with intrahepatic stones, in cases of distal bile duct stricture or periampullary diverticulum, biliaryentericanastomosis seems to be the safest technique.