Necrotizing fasciitis: A life-threatening clinical disorder in uncontrolled type 2 diabetic patients.

We presented 23 patients with necrotizing fasciitis (NF), 15 of whom had uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM), for risk factors, clinical signs, laboratory findings and prognosis during the period 1998 and 2006 in Istanbul. A hospital incidence of NF was 14.2/100,000 admissions. Other risk factors were obesity in 9 and recent surgical trauma in 10 patients. The mean age of the patients with DM was higher than that of the patients with non-DM (58.6+/-12.8 vs 43.0+/-17.2 years, p=0.028). The most frequently isolated microorganisms from tissue cultures were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Group A streptococci. Of the 23 patients, 9 (39%), of whom 8 had DM, died between 2 and 29 days after admission. The mortality rate and length of hospitalization were longer in diabetic patients than in others (p=0.02 and p=0.286, respectively). The mean blood glucose levels and HbA1C were higher in non-survival group than in survival group (195.6+/-41.5 vs 133.7+/-22.1 and 10.6 vs 7.4) (p=0.04, r=0.39 and p=0.03, r=0.50, respectively). In the univariate analysis, the hospitalization time (r=0.72), white blood cell count (r=0.52) and surgical debridement count (r=0.47) were found to be prognostic risk factors. Our results showed that NF is a very serious life-threatening disorder in especially diabetic patients with bad metabolic control.

Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on anastomoses created under the influence of 5-FU.

AIM: This study investigates the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy on the healing capacity of colonic anastomoses under the influence of preoperative chemotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Forty male Wistar-Albino rats were divided into four groups of 10. Colonic resection and anastomosis were performed in each group. Group I (control) received no further treatment. In group II, 5-fluorouracil was administered intraperitoneally for five consecutive days preoperatively. Group III received HBO2 therapy for seven days after the anastomosis. Group IV received HBO2 therapy following the administration of preoperative 5-fluorouracil. On the seventh postoperative day, all the rats were examined to determine the bursting pressures of the anastomosis and to take tissue sample from the anastomotic line for hydroxyproline measurement. RESULTS: Bursting pressures of the anastomosis in group IV were increased significantly compared to group II. Hydroxyproline levels were significantly increased with the use of HBO2 in rats, independent of chemotherapy administration. CONCLUSION: HBO2 therapy strengthens anastomoses created under the influence of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This technique might have a future role in the care of colon cancer patients undergoing new multimodality cancer treatments.

Hyperbaric oxygen improves healing in experimental rat colitis.

This study was designed to investigate therapeutic effects of hyperbaric oxygen on experimentally induced colitis in rats by assessing oxidative tissue damage, neutrophil accumulation and histological changes. Six groups of animals were used. No procedures were done in the sham group. In the vehicle group, 50% ethanol-induced colitis, and in four other groups, 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid-induced colonic inflammation was achieved. In acute and chronic colitis non-treatment groups, no other procedure was done. In acute and chronic colitis hyperbaric oxygen treatment groups, rats underwent hyperbaric oxygen treatment for two or fourteen days. On the third and fifteenth days respectively tissue and blood samples were taken for microscopic and macroscopic damage assessment, myeloperoxidase activity and serum carbonyl content measurements. There was significant colonic tissue damage in non-treatment groups at 48 hours and 14 days. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment ameliorated the macroscopic damage significantly in chronic colitis. Amelioration of microscopic changes was not significant in each hyperbaric oxygen-treated group. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment significantly reduced tissue myeloperoxidase activity in acute colitis and decreased plasma carbonyl content in chronic colitis. In the present study, hyperbaric oxygen treatment significantly ameliorated trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid-induced chronic colitis in rats.

Hyperbaric oxygen prevents bacterial translocation in rats with obstructive jaundice.

This study was designed to demonstrate bacterial translocation following bile duct ligation and investigate preventive effects of hyperbaric oxygen on obstructive jaundice-related bacterial translocation in an animal model. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment significantly reduced the endogenous colony counts in distal ileum of normal rats both in the short (two days) and long (seven days) term. Endogenous bacteria in distal ileum significantly increased in bile duct ligated rats in the short and long term, and presence of bacterial translocation was proven by bacterial growth in mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and blood. Short- and long-term hyperbaric oxygen treatments significantly reduced the intestinal colony counts and prevented the bacterial translocation almost completely in rats with bile duct ligation. It is concluded that obstructive jaundice causes bacterial overgrowth and translocation, and hyperbaric oxygen treatment can prevent both bacterial overgrowth and translocation effectively.

Is helium insufflation superior to carbon dioxide insufflation in bacteremia and bacterial translocation with peritonitis?

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of CO2 or helium insufflation on bacteremia and bacterial translocation in rats with peritonitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty male Wistar-Albino rats were divided into four groups, each containing 10 rats. The rats in the first group were injected only with E. coli into their peritoneal cavities with no further manipulation. The second group, following E. coli injection, underwent midline laparotomy without manipulation of the viscera for 1 hour. After the injection of E. coli in the third and fourth groups, CO2 and helium pneumoperitoneum, respectively, were maintained for 1 hour under 14 mm Hg pressure. At the end of the sixth hour, tissue samples were taken from the liver, spleen, lung, and mesenteric lymph nodes in order to evaluate bacterial translocation. During the study, blood samples were taken from each rat at 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 hours to demonstrate bacteremia. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in bacteremia in the CO2 pneumoperitoneum group compared with the laparotomy-only and helium groups at 1 and 2 hours. Although all the blood samples at the fourth hour were positive for E. coli in every rat of all groups, helium was associated with a lower incidence of bacteremia at the sixth hour compared with other groups (P < 0.05). The CO2 pneumoperitoneum caused bacterial translocation to all organs from which tissue samples were taken. Although there was an insignificant decrease in translocation to the liver, spleen, and lung with helium compared with CO2 insufflation, helium did not increase bacterial translocation to the spleen compared with laparotomy alone, as did CO2 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Helium might be an alternative to CO2 insufflation in patients with peritonitis if these results are confirmed by further experimental and clinical trials.

Angiogenesis predicts poor prognosis in gastric carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: New prognostic factors in gastric carcinoma to determine the prognosis of the disease or to identify patients who will benefit from adjuvant therapy are being researched. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between microvessel count (MVC) and various clinicopathologic features in gastric carcinoma in order to evaluate the role of angiogenesis on the prognosis of gastric cancer. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients who underwent surgical intervention for gastric carcinoma between 1993 and 1997 were reviewed retrospectively. The relationship between MVC and various clinicopathological features was assessed. The effect of angiogenesis on overall survival and the role of MVC and other prognostic factors on distant metastases were assessed by multivariate analysis. Microvessels were outlined by anti-factor VIII, which is a specific monoclonal antibody to factor VIII in vessel endothelial cells, using the streptavidin-biotin method and counted under light microscopy x200 magnification. RESULTS: There was no correlation between MVC and age or sex of the patient, duration of symptoms or tumor size. Proximally located, undifferentiated, diffuse type, serosal invasion positive, lymph node invasion positive, advanced stage, or distantly metastasized tumors had higher MVCs. Higher MVCs affected the overall survival adversely. Lymph node metastasis, serosal invasion and MVC were found as independent prognostic factors affecting distant metastases. MVC was the sole factor affecting recurrent liver metastasis. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that MVC in gastric carcinoma may be a valuable prognostic factor to predict patients at high-risk for possible recurrences and to decide on postoperative adjuvant therapy.

Surgical management of hydatid disease of the liver: a military experience.

Hydatid disease of the liver is highly prevalent in oriental countries including Turkey, in which their population live mostly in rural areas. The outcome of surgical methods used in the management of a cystic cavity in patients with hepatic hydatid disease was evaluated. Three hundred and forty consecutive patients who presented to Department of General Surgery between 1988 and 1996 with hepatic hydatid disease were reviewed retrospectively. In the first group surgical methods without drainage such as cystectomy (n = 11), capitonnage (n = 55), omentoplasty (n = 91) and capitonnage + omentoplasty (n = 53), in the second group surgery with drainage such as external drainage (n = 74), internal drainage (n = 7), and combined methods (n = 21) were applied. Symptoms, physical findings, types of surgical management, complication rate, hospitalisation period, mortality and recurrence rates were evaluated. Complication rate, average hospitalisation period, recurrence and mortality rates were 12.5%, 9.5 days, 9.9% and 0% respectively in patients without drainage and 63.7%, 26.5 days, 12.7% and 0.9% respectively in patients with drainage. It is concluded that surgical treatment of hydatid disease of the liver without drainage decreases postoperative complication rate and average hospitalisation period, and drainage or nondrainage of cystic cavity has no effect on recurrence.