Proctological disorders: psychometrics assessment of personality features and clinical evaluation.

Patients with gastrointestinal diseases have been shown to report greater stress, anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive characteristics. The aim of our study is to investigate personality characteristics and general distress of adult patients suffering from common coloproctological conditions. We conducted a retrospective observational study including patients aged 18 years or older, with diagnosis of haemorrhoidal disease (HD group) or anal fissure (AF group). The final sample was composed of 64 participants, who were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires. They were compared with a control group of healthy volunteers. In terms of general distress, HD group scored higher than both the CG and AF groups. The two proctological groups had higher scores in neuroticism/emotional lability compared to the CG group. In the MOCQ-R scale (obsessive-compulsive tendency), HD group had significantly higher scores compared to the CG group in the total score (p < 0.01,) and also scored higher in the doubting/ruminating subscale compared to the AF group. We support the importance of taking a multidisciplinary perspective and incorporating psychometric tools to assess the psychological and personality dimensions of patients into proctological clinical practice. The correct early evaluation and management of these conditions may result in an improvement in patients' quality of life and better response to treatment.

Sarcopenia and visceral fat in patients with incisional hernia after urgent laparotomy.

PURPOSE: Various risk factors have been associated with the development of incisional hernia (IH). Some recent papers underlined that visceral fat could be a reliable indicator. Another risk factor which is of increasing clinical interest is sarcopenia. Recent studies have identified it as an independent predictor of poor postoperative outcomes following abdominal surgery. We aimed to investigate the role of visceral fat and skeletal muscle as emerging risk factors for IH after urgent laparotomy. METHODS: Patients aged 18 years or older who underwent urgent median laparotomy and with continuous direct suturing of the laparotomy were included. They were categorized into two groups: those with a median IH and those without IH at 12-month follow-up. Demographic data were prospectively collected while CT scans were retrospectively reviewed. The data were compared among two groups. RESULTS: From January 2018 to May 2021, 364 patients underwent urgent surgery in our Department, of whom 222 were aged >18 years old and underwent median laparotomy. Forty-four patients had diagnosis of median IH, while 41 patients without IH were identified as the control group. Statistically significant differences emerged for BMI and for the area of visceral fat. The association with the presence/absence of sarcopenia was not significant. CONCLUSION: Even when surgery is performed in urgent settings, it could be important to identify patients at risk, especially as CT scans are generally available for all patients with urgent abdominal disease.