Spontaneous rupture of the rectosigmoid colon with anal evisceration: a new complication of uterine prolapse.

Spontaneous large bowel perforations have been associated with chronic constipation. The previously reported episodes of anal evisceration of small intestine have occurred in patients with a rectal prolapse. An end-stage complication of chronic third degree uterine prolapse is presented. A laceration of the anterior rectosignoid colon wall permitted small bowel extrusion through the anus. The tearing effect exerted by the prolapsed uterus at the rectouterine fold presumably caused the rectosigmoid laceration.

Small bowel obstruction: the role of nonoperative treatment in simple intestinal obstruction and predictive criteria for strangulation obstruction.

The clinical presentation, treatment, and results of 405 patients with mechanical small intestinal obstruction admitted to the Montefiore Hospital and North Central Bronx Hospitals were reviewed. The etiology of obstruction was adhesions 74%, malignancy 8.6%, hernia 8.1%, inflammatory bowel disease 5.2%, and miscellaneous causes 4.1%. The overall mortality rate for the series was 6.7%, and the incidence of bowel strangulation was 10.1%. Strangulation occurred in 33.3% of the hernia group, 9.0% of the adhesions group, and 2.8% of the malignancy group. The largest single cause of death was related to malignant disease--12 cases (44.4%). Six deaths (22.2%) were caused by bowel strangulation. Of the patients who received more than 24 hours of nonoperative therapy, 46% had relief of obstruction. There was no statistically significant difference in successful results between patients managed with long tubes compared to patients managed with nasogastric tubes. Conservative therapy for malignant obstruction was not successful in 85% of cases. The presence of bowel strangulation shows a positive correlation with age (greater than 70 years), feculant vomiting, peristaltic sounds, and a white blood cell count higher than 18,000/mm3. It shows no correlation with onset, localization or type of pain, duration of symptoms, temperature, tachycardia, or x-ray findings. The results of the study indicate that accurate criteria for small bowel obstruction therapy have not been clearly defined except in patients with incarcerated hernias. Nonoperative management is successful in a significnt percentage of patients.

An improved technique for needle catheter jejunostomy.

A modification of the needle catheter jejunostomy technique employs a No. 11 needle and a 13-gauge catheter. Because it utilizes a larger tube, the new technique requires a subserosal saline injection and a small stab serosal incision. The large-needle catheter jejunostomy allows the administration of viscous whole liquid feedings as well as elemental diets. In addition, the larger catheter offers an opportunity to vary the constituents of the infusion solution to specific patient needs, thereby broadening the uses of jejunal catheter feeding.

A "Bikini" incision for appendectomy.

An incision is described for adaptation to the young female requiring an appendectomy. The incision is designed to allow the use of brief bathing suits and to preserve the normal contoured appearance of teh abdominal wall.

Fiberoptic intraoperative illumination of the stomach as an aid in the management of acute gastric hemorrhage.

Intragastric illumination using a flexible light source is described as a technical aid in the management of gastric bleeding. The flexible light source can be recommended for illumination of the proximal intragastric area to facilitate surgical control of bleeding from Mallory-Weiss lacerations, ulcers, varices, and mucosal erosions. The sterile sheath-covered flexible neck of the light allows exact positioning of the light in the surgical field by the operating surgeon.

Contrasting effects of identical nutrients given parenterally or enterally after 70% hepatectomy.

Based on clinical observations, we hypothesized that prolonged parenteral nutrition (in contrast to enteral nutrition) is detrimental after major hepatic resection. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (300 to 380 g) anesthetized with intraperitoneal sodium pentobarbital had 70% hepatic resection and jugular vein and gastrostomy catheterizations using aseptic techniques and were divided randomly into three groups: (1) total parenteral nutrition (TPN) (nutrients via central vein), (2) total enteral nutrition (TEN) (identical nutrients via gastrostomy), and (3) standard oral feeding (SOF) (chow and water ad libitum). Unused catheters were plugged. In the first set of experiments (n = 42), nutrient intake was formulated to approximate the nutritional intake of normal rats, 216 kcal/kg/d. Infusate was 15% glucose, 4.5% amino acids, electrolytes, trace minerals, vitamins, and 20% fat emulsion given half-strength the first day, three-fourths strength the second day, and full strength thereafter. On postoperative day 7, surviving rats were killed. Mortality prior to day 7 was very high (68%) in the TPN group and low in the TEN (9%) and SOF (9%) groups (p < 0.005). Among survivors, the serum albumin level was lowest (p < 0.002) and serum bilirubin level (p < 0.025) and wet weight of regenerated liver (p < 0.002) highest in the TPN group. However, the livers in TPN rats appeared pale and were found to be abnormal histologically with markedly diminished glycogen and amphophylic hepatocyte cytoplasm, and their spleens were enlarged (by a factor of two). The high mortality of TPN rats was seen whether the fat emulsion was given as a bolus daily, continuously as part of the infusate, or not included as part of the TPN regimen. In the next series (n = 70), nutrient concentrations, volumes, and rates of infusion were varied. There was a high correlation between caloric (r2 = 0.831, p < 0.0006), glucose (r2 = 0.598, p < 0.02), and amino acid (r2 = 0.619, p < 0.03) intakes and mortality in the TPN group: at 140 kcal/kg/d, none died; at 178 kcal/kg/d, 50% to 62% died; and at 230 kcal/kg/d, 80% died. No TEN rat died. In conclusion, 70% hepatectomized rats fed enterally with nutrients approximating the intake of normal rats do well and survive. In sharp contrast, mortality is very high when identical nutrients are infused parenterally. By reducing the levels of nutrients given parenterally, survival improves significantly.

Diagnostic tests for intestinal ischemia.

Mesenteric ischemia is a devastating disease. Without early diagnosis and intervention, the process proceeds to intestinal gangrene with its associated high morbidity and mortality rates. Although newer operative techniques and better intensive care unit management may improve patient outcome, it is only by obtaining an earlier diagnosis that greater patient survival rates will be possible. In an attempt to improve diagnostic accuracy, many modalities have been explored. These include serum biochemical markers, peritoneal fluid analysis, tonometry, radionuclide imaging, laparoscopy, and endoscopic techniques. At present, no single test has enabled the clinician to improve the patient's outcome. We are hopeful that the newer techniques, including radionuclide-labeled antibodies, tonometry, and reflectance spectrophotometry, may in the future be of assistance in improving the results for patients sustaining intestinal ischemia.

Contrasting effects of identical nutrients given parenterally or enterally after 70% hepatectomy: bacterial translocation.

High mortality occurs in rats with 70% hepatectomy fed intravenous (IV) total parenteral nutrition (TPN; 13.9% glucose, 4.17% amino acids, 1.46% fat, electrolytes, trace minerals, and vitamins providing 216 kcal.kg-1.d-1) but not when the identical nutrients are given at the same rate enterally (gastrostomy). We hypothesized that a difference in bacterial translocation (BT) was a contributing factor to this phenomenon. Forty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats (300-360 g) were divided into five groups and underwent the following: control (no operation), sham (intraperitoneal [IP] pentobarbital anesthesia, central venous and gastrostomy catheters, laparotomy, sham hepatectomy), standard oral feeding (SOF), TPN (IV nutrients), and total enteral nutrition (TEN; gastrostomy). The SOF, TPN, and TEN groups had IP pentobarbital anesthesia, central venous and gastrostomy catheters, and 70% hepatectomy. Postoperatively, control and SOF (both catheters plugged) rats ate a commercial rat chow and drank tap water ad libitum pre- and postoperatively. The sham, TPN, and TEN groups were given the identical infusate composition as above, but the nutrient concentrations were cut in half (110 kcal/kg) and three-quarters (165 kcal/kg) on postoperative days 1 and 2, respectively. At the end of postoperative day 2, all rats were euthanized. BT to mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), liver, spleen, and lungs was significantly higher in the TPN rats compared with all other groups, except that BT to the MLNs was similar in the TPN and TEN groups. Bacteremia was found only in the TPN rats. BT in TPN rats with 70% hepatectomy was significantly greater 48 h after operation than in those fed the identical nutrients enterally at the same rate; this correlates with the previously reported significantly greater mortality in rats with 70% hepatectomy receiving TPN.

Infusion of enteral vs parenteral nutrients using high-concentration branch-chain amino acids: effect on wound healing in the postoperative rat.

Starting total parenteral nutrition (TPN) the day after acute surgical stress has beneficial effects on body weight, nitrogen balance, and colonic anastomosis bursting pressure in normally nourished rats. In view of the reported favorable utilization of high-concentration branch-chain amino acids (BCAA) following severe stress, we compared enteral (TEN) to parenteral (TPN) nutrient infusions containing increased BCAA starting the day of operation. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats, in two groups paired by weight under IP pentobarbital anesthesia underwent jugular vein catheter (CVP) insertion, laparotomy, gastrostomy, colon anastomosis, dorsal skin incision and SC polyvinyl alcohol sponge insertion. The rats were maintained for 6 days with continuous IV infusion in the TPN group (gastrostomy plugged) and continuous gastric infusion for the TEN group (CVP plugged). Urine and feces were collected daily. The infusions contained 1000 to 1002 Kcal, 847 to 845 nonprotein Kcal, 38 to 39 g of amino acids, 206 to 209 g of carbohydrates, and 2.8 to 2.9 g of rat per liter in the TEN and TPN, respectively, with identical ratios of dietary essential amino acids to nonessential amino acids (52/48), and 28.34% BCAA in the TPN and 33.10% BCAA in the TEN. There were 491 mg/100 mL of glutamine in the TEN and 170 mg of glutamic acid in the TPN. Amino acids were infused at 8.59 g/kg per day for TEN and 8.34 g/kg per day for TPN. The vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals were essentially the same in the TEN and TPN except for the absence of iron, iodine, selenium, and molybdenum in the TPN.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effect of early postoperative nutritional support on skin wound and colon anastomosis healing.

Improved healing occurs in nutritionally depleted rats given early postoperative compared with delayed feeding. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that delay in postoperative feeding of rats normally nourished at the time of operation would also be detrimental to wound healing. Fully nourished rats weighing 288 to 342 g were divided into three groups (10 rats per group). All rats had central vein catheters inserted, celiotomy with division and reanastomsis of the colon and dorsal skin incisions, under ip pentobarbital anesthesia. With no oral intake allowed postoperatively, group 1 rats were maintained in iv 5% Dextrose electrolytes and vitamins (5% DSV); group 2 was given the 5% D/SV until the third postoperative day when they were placed on TPN (4.5% amino acids 15% Dextrose, 10% Intralipids); and group 3 was given TPN from the first postoperative day. Rats were sacrificed 6 days postoperatively and final weight, skin wound breaking strength (WBS) and colon anastomosis bursting pressure (CBP) were measured. Findings were % weight change -27.8 +/- 1.5 for Group 1, -12.6 +/- 1.0 for Group 2, and -6.9 +/- 8 for group 3 (p less than 0.0001). Wound measurements for STS on fresh specimens were 88.6 +/- 10.0 g for group 1, 89.1 +/- 8.4 g for group 2, and 87.1 +/- 11.1 g for group 3. WBS for formalin-fixed specimens were 313.5 +/- 29.7 g for group 1, 323.4 +/- 38.4 g for group 2, and 382 +/- 25.2 g for group 3 (NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)