Single-dose cefotetan or cefoxitin versus multiple-dose cefoxitin as prophylaxis in patients undergoing appendectomy for acute nonperforated appendicitis.

OBJECTIVE: A prospective, double-blind study was performed to examine the effects of prophylactic cefotetan and cefoxitin in postoperative wound infection for patients with nonperforated acute appendicitis. METHODS: One hundred thirty-six of 179 patients with a clinical diagnosis of appendicitis were evaluated and divided into three groups: group 1 received 2 g cefotetan preoperatively, group 2 received 2 g cefoxitin preoperatively, and group 3 received 2 g cefoxitin preoperatively followed by three postoperative doses. RESULTS: The overall wound infection rate was 4.6 percent. Group 2 (single-dose cefoxitin) had a significantly higher wound infection rate (11.1 percent) than group 1 (single-dose cefotetan) (zero percent) or group 3 (multiple-dose cefoxitin) (1.9 percent). CONCLUSIONS: Single-dose cefotetan and multiple-dose cefoxitin are equally effective. However, because of the greater convenience and markedly decreased cost, single-dose cefotetan is the prophylaxis of choice in appendectomy for nonperforated appendicitis.

Surgical margins after needle-localization breast biopsy.

BACKGROUND: The use of needle-localization breast biopsy (NLBB) for the early diagnosis of breast cancer is common. The therapeutic adequacy of tumor-free margins following NLBB is unknown. We hypothesized that the presence of residual tumor after reexcision (mastectomy, tylectomy, or quadrantectomy) does not depend on the margin status following NLBB. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis was performed on 890 consecutive NLBBs executed between January 1990 and June 1994. Patients with invasive breast neoplasia were divided into two groups based on the tumor margins after NLBB. Group 1 were the women with positive margins, and group 2 had negative margins. Breast specimens after reexcision were reviewed for evidence of residual invasive carcinoma. RESULTS: Invasive neoplasia was present in 107 patients (12%). Surgical margins and definitive records of care were available for 96 of them (90%). All 45 patients in group 1 and 38 (75%) of 51 patients in group 2 underwent reexcision of the initial biopsy site (P = 0.36). Residual invasive carcinoma was present in 10 patients (22%) in group 1 and 3 (8%) in group 2 (P = 0.13). CONCLUSION: Invasive breast neoplasia diagnosed by NLBB requires reexcision regardless of tumor margins to achieve complete local surgical eradication of tumor.

The value of leadership in implementing and maintaining a successful health promotion program in the Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

A health promotion program called the "Green H Award" was implemented in 1996 for the SURFPAC commands, which represented 35,000 Navy and Marine personnel serving in the Naval Surface Force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, in an effort to reduce rates of smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, and poor fitness. Commands which had leadership involvement in their health promotion effort had higher levels of implementation, success, and maintenance. Measures of all these health risks improved substantially between 1996 and 1999; however, the response rates for the measures was highly variable.

Appendicitis. Improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

The results of therapy in cases of suspected acute appendicitis were reviewed in 844 consecutive cases of appendicitis occurring over a 3-year period. A diagnostic accuracy of 87.4 per cent was found as well as a perforation rate of 18.4 per cent. Complication rates varied with the clinical state of the appendix: 16 per cent in perforated, 5.6 per cent in nonperforated, and 11.3 per cent in normal appendices. Excellent results were routinely obtainable employing early operative intervention, perioperative antibiotics, and a systematic surgical approach.

Precholecystectomy esophagogastroduodenoscopy: is it of value?

Patients with cholelithiasis and history of atypical abdominal pain present the surgeon with a challenging clinical problem. We hypothesized that preoperative esophagogastroduodenoscopy before cholecystectomy would identify patients with concomitant upper gastrointestinal pathology. Retrospective review of 143 patients who presented with atypical abdominal pain, gallstones, and underwent EGD before their cholecystectomy between July 1989 and March 1994. A total of 1162 cholecystectomies were performed during the study period; 143 patients (12 per cent) underwent a preoperative EGD because of atypical abdominal pain. One hundred ten patients (77 per cent) had normal endoscopies. Thirty-three patients (23 per cent) had abnormal findings. Gastric polyps were found in three patients and esophageal varices in one patient. There were 36 findings in 29 patients, which included peptic ulcer disease, esophagitis, gastritis, and duodenitis. Seven patients had two abnormal findings. Moderate to severe disease was found in a total of 13 (9 per cent) patients. We recommend that patients who present with cholelithiasis and atypical abdominal pain undergo preoperative esophagogastroduodenoscopy, as we have found that at least 9 per cent of the patient population will have significant findings that may alter their management.

Colonoscopic evaluation of rectal bleeding in young adults.

The role of colonoscopy in the evaluation of blood loss per rectum has been studied extensively in older patients but not in the younger adult population. The objective of this study was to review the diagnostic yield of colonoscopy in patients 40 years of age or younger with passage of minimal amounts of bright red blood per rectum or occult blood positive stools. Retrospectively, 5924 colonoscopic examinations were reviewed. All patients, 40 years of age or younger, with rectal bleeding as the only indication for colonoscopy were selected. A total of 280 patients met these criteria and 59 (21%) had significant findings. Polyps were present in 25 (8.9%) of patients. Other findings included colitis, diverticular disease, and angiodysplastic lesions present in 8.6 per cent, 2.1 per cent, and 1.1 per cent, respectively. Adenocarcinoma was present in one patient (0.03%). These results suggest that colonoscopy in patients 40 years of age or younger with rectal bleeding may be justified because significant findings may be present in up to 21 per cent of patients.

Delayed splenic rupture: an unusual cause of the acute surgical abdomen.

The diagnosis of delayed rupture of the spleen may be difficult to make because of the presumed triviality of the precipitating injury, an unpredictable time lag between the injury and the development of symptoms, and the possibility of atypical signs and symptoms remote from the bleeding spleen. The clinician may confuse the signs and symptoms with those of acute appendicitis or with some other cause. The authors present two case histories to illustrate the diagnostic difficulties caused by delayed rupture of the spleen. Whenever the acute surgical abdomen is present with concomitant anemia, the diagnosis of delayed rupture of the spleen should be considered.

Common bile duct injury after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: report of two cases.

With a few exceptions, laparoscopic cholecystectomy has rapidly supplanted open cholecystectomy as the operation of choice for symptomatic cholelithiasis. The risk of bile duct injury using the laparoscopic technique is almost twice that of the open technique (0% to 1% vs 0% to 0.5%). There appears to be a direct correlation between the number of cases an individual surgeon performs and the frequency of bile duct injury. The nature of bile duct injuries following the laparoscopic technique tends to be more serious than those seen following the open procedure. In addition, more than 50% of bile duct injuries go undetected at the time of operation. A number of technical steps can be taken to help prevent bile duct injuries when using the laparoscopic technique. This article reports two such cases to alert the surgeon that a high index of suspicion must always be maintained concerning the possibility of bile duct injury following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Unplanned splenectomy--harbinger of complications.

Splenectomy alone or in combination with other major operative procedures has been implicated as the cause of excessive morbidity and mortality. We retrospectively studied 151 consecutive patients with splenectomy performed between 1985 and 1992. Subsets of patients according to indication for splenectomy were compared with a cohort of patients having elective open cholecystectomy. Morbidity with elective splenectomy (11.5%) was not significantly increased over that with elective open cholecystectomy (6.8%). Morbidity with nonelective splenectomy (40.4%) was increased when compared with that of elective splenectomy (11.5%) or with elective open cholecystectomy (6.8%). Mortality was significantly worse for nonelective (10.6%) than for elective splenectomy (1%). Nonelective splenectomy should be recognized as one event in a cascade of events leading to excessive morbidity and mortality. Splenectomy should not be implicated as the sole or primary cause of such excesses.

The contributions of Alexis Carrel to the management of contaminated wounds.

Wound care through the ages has ranged from good to bad, and at times has been disgusting, with little scientific approach. von Eiselsberg's dictum of no touch for military wounds proved disastrous to patients with gunshot and shrapnel wounds in the First World War. Alexis Carrel, a brilliant experimental surgeon, spearheaded the research that led to the development and application of débridement and irrigation for combat wounds. Early in his career, Carrel reported on a miraculous cure that he had observed in Lourdes, France. However, this report resulted in a strained professional environment in his homeland of France, which persisted in spite of his subsequent moves to Canada and then to the United States. There he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

An evaluation of multiple clinical variables for hypoxia during colonoscopy.

One hundred consecutive patients undergoing routine colonoscopy were evaluated for changes in arterial oxygen saturation levels. All of the patients were monitored with the Nellcor N-200 pulse oximeter (Nellcor Incorporated) by finger probe and received supplemental oxygen when SaO2 levels decreased below 90 per cent. Forty patients demonstrated a decrease in SaO2 to less than 90 per cent after intravenous sedation but prior to colonoscopy, 14 patients demonstrated a decrease in SaO2 to less than 90 per cent during colonoscopy, and 46 patients maintained SaO2 levels greater than 90 per cent at all times. No statistical differences were found when these three groups were compared for age, body surface area, drug dosage, smoking history and a history of pre-existing hypertension, diabetes, arrhythmias, angina or myocardial infarction and pulmonary disease. These data indicate that all patients undergoing colonoscopy should be placed on supplemental oxygen. We further recommend continuous cardiac and pulse oximetry monitoring when available.

Fiberoptic endoscopy of the gastrointestinal tract in surgical training.

In 1981, the American Board of Surgery encouraged applicants for board certification to be familiar with a variety of endoscopic techniques upon the gastrointestinal tract. In 1983, the Department of General Surgery at Naval Hospital, San Diego established a surgical gastrointestinal endoscopy unit to train physicians to perform endoscopic procedures. Since its inception, more than two thousand procedures have been performed. The results of esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy performed between January 1986 and October 1987 provide the numeric basis in our evaluation of our program for endoscopic training and support training in endoscopy as integral to the education of the resident in general surgery.