Super-elderly, spinal surgery, evaluating the risks and benefits: a retrospective single-centre cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: An increasingly ageing population presents emerging healthcare challenges. Adequate clinical evaluation and understanding of outcome-predicting factors are integral to delivering safe spinal surgery to super-elderly patients. AIM: To evaluate spine surgery outcomes in patients aged 80 or above. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated patients 80 years and above who underwent elective or emergency spinal surgery between 2017 and 2022. The Eurospine Surgery Classification (ESC) was used to classify operations into Large, Medium, and Small. We calculated and compared Clinical Frailty Scores (CFS) pre- and post-operatively. RESULTS: Two hundred forty-five patients met the inclusion criteria. Most were male (n = 145). The age range was 80 to 99 (mean 83.3). Most operations were elective (n = 151, 62%). In our cohort, 211, 22, 10,2 and 1 patients had degenerative, trauma, tumour, infective and vascular pathologies, respectively. According to the Eurospine classification, 201 (82.0%) had Minor spine surgery (63 emergently and 138 electively), 38 had Medium surgery (15.5% - 30 emergently and 8 electively), and 6 had Large surgery (2.4% - 1 emergently and 5 electively). 163 (66.5%) were discharged or under follow-up. There were 11 in-patient mortalities (4.5%). Outpatient mortality was 51 (20.8%), with the median time from surgery to death being 504.5 days, all the outpatient mortalities were neither non-spinal pathology nor spinal surgical related. CFS improved across the cohort, from 5 pre-operatively to 4 post-operatively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Spine surgery in those over the 80s can be performed safely and improve their quality of life, as demonstrated by improvements in the CFS. Good patient selection and adequate pre-operative workup is essential, although it may not be possible in emergencies.

A retrospective cohort study of intra-corporeal versus extra-corporeal anastomosis for right hemicolectomy with cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to compare outcomes and cost effectiveness of extra-corporeal anastomosis (ECA) versus intra-corporeal anastomosis (ICA) for laparoscopic right hemicolectomy using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Programme data. METHODS: Patients who underwent elective laparoscopic right hemicolectomy for colon cancer from January 2018 to December 2022 were identified. Non-cancer diagnoses, emergency procedures or synchronous resection of other organs were excluded. Surgical characteristics, peri-operative outcomes, long-term survival and hospitalisation costs were compared. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was used to evaluate cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: A total of 223 patients (175 ECA, 48 ICA) were included in the analysis. Both cohorts exhibited comparable baseline patient, comorbidity, and tumour characteristics. Distribution of pathological TMN stage, tumour largest dimension, total lymph node harvest and resection margin lengths were statistically similar. ICA was associated with a longer median operative duration compared with ECA (255 min vs. 220 min, P < 0.001). There was a quicker time to gastrointestinal recovery, with a shorter median hospital stay in the ICA group (4.0 versus 5.0 days, P = 0.001). Overall complication rates were comparable. ICA was associated with a higher surgical procedure cost (£6301.57 versus £4998.52, P < 0.001), but lower costs for ward accommodation (£1679.05 versus £2420.15, P = 0.001) and treatment (£3774.55 versus £4895.14, P = 0.009), with a 4.5% reduced overall cost compared with ECA. The ICER of -£3323.58 showed ICA to be more cost effective than ECA, across a range of willingness-to-pay thresholds. CONCLUSION: ICA in laparoscopic right hemicolectomy is associated with quicker post-operative recovery and may be more cost effective compared with ECA, despite increased operative costs.

Improved rates of postoperative ischemia, completeness of aneurysm occlusion and neurological deficits in elective clipping of anterior circulation aneurysms over the past 20 years - association with technical improvements.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Several periprocedural adjuncts for elective surgical aneurysm treatment have been introduced over the last 20 years to increase safety and efficacy. Besides the introduction of IONM in the late-1990s, ICG-videoangiography (ICG-VAG) since the mid-2000s and intraoperative CT-angiography/-perfusion (iCT-A/-P) since the mid-2010s are available. We aimed to clarify whether the introduction of ICG-VAG and iCT-A/-P resulted in our department in a stepwise improvement in the rate of radiologically detected postoperative ischemia, complete aneurysm occlusion and postoperative new deficits. METHODS: Patients undergoing microsurgical clip occlusion for unruptured anterior circulation aneurysms between 2000 and 2019 were included, with ICG-VAG since 2009 and iCT-A/-P (for selected cases) since 2016. Baseline characteristics and treatment-related morbidity/outcome focusing on differences between the three distinct cohorts (cohort-I: pre-ICG-VAG-era, cohort-II: ICG-VAG-era, cohort-III: ICG-VAG&iCT-A/-P-era) were analyzed. RESULTS: 1391 patients were enrolled (n = 74 were excluded), 779 patients were interventionally treated, 538 patients were surgically clipped by a specialized vascular team (cohort-I n = 167, cohort-II n = 284, cohort-III n = 87). Aneurysm size was larger in cohort-I (8.9 vs. 7.5/6.8 mm; p < 0.01) without differences concerning age (mean:55years), gender distribution (m: f = 1:2.6) and aneurysm location (MCA:61%, ICA:18%, ACA/AcomA:21%). There was a stepwise improvement in the rate of radiologically detected postoperative ischemia (16.2vs.12.0vs.8.0%; p = 0.161), complete aneurysm occlusion (68.3vs.83.6vs.91.0%; p < 0.01) and postoperative new deficits (10.8vs.7.7vs.5.7%; p = 0.335) from cohort-I to -III. After a mean follow-up of 12months, a median modified Rankin scale of 0 was achieved in all cohorts. DISCUSSION: Associated with periprocedural technical achievements, surgical outcome in elective anterior circulation aneurysm surgery has improved in our service during the past 20 years.

PreScheck Team Study: prehabilitation clinic as an effective patient management tool in elective cardiac surgery.

INTRODUCTION: The main purpose of the study was to assess the impact of preoperative interdisciplinary assessment by the PreScheck Team on optimization of the final selection for elective cardiac surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a single-centre prospective observational study. The examined population consisted of 933 adult patients planned for cardiac surgery. After the exclusion of urgent operations, the study group consisted of 288 patients planned for elective cardiac surgery within 3 months from 1.01.2023 with PreScheck assessment (PreScheck Team group 2) and a control group of 311 patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery between 1.03.2022 and 30.06.2022 (4 months), without preoperative interdiscipli-nary assessment (No PreScheck Team group 2). RESULTS: Fifty-two patients (18.06%) from the study group were finally excluded from the surgery on the scheduled date. In 46 patients (88.46%) the temporary or permanent exclusion from surgery was a result of PreScheck Team assessment. In the control group 42 patients (13.5%) did not undergo surgery on the scheduled date. Twenty-seven of those patients (8.97%) were permanently excluded from cardiac surgery after admission to the hospital and required additional tests before the final clinical decision, with total hospitalization time of 146 days. CONCLUSIONS: Pre Surgery Check (PreScheck) Team is an original concept that combines classical preoperative assessment and an outpatient prehabilitation clinic. The approach we are proposing here should be a complementary stage in the process of selection for elective cardiac surgery, in addition to the Heart Team recommendation. This two-step decision-making enables real individual risk assessment, selection of the most suitable intervention and better use of medical resources.

Superiority trial for the development of an ideal method for the closure of midline abdominal wall incisions to reduce the incidence of wound complications after elective gastroenterological surgery: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The recent guidelines from the European and American Hernia Societies recommend a continuous small-bite suturing technique with slowly absorbable sutures for fascial closure of midline abdominal wall incisions to reduce the incidence of wound complications, especially for incisional hernia. However, this is based on low-certainty evidence. We could not find any recommendations for skin closure. The wound closure technique is an important determinant of the risk of wound complications, and a comprehensive approach to prevent wound complications should be developed. METHODS: We propose a single-institute, prospective, randomized, blinded-endpoint trial to assess the superiority of the combination of continuous suturing of the fascia without peritoneal closure and continuous suturing of the subcuticular tissue (study group) over that of interrupted suturing of the fascia together with the peritoneum and interrupted suturing of the subcuticular tissue (control group) for reducing the incidence of midline abdominal wall incision wound complications after elective gastroenterological surgery with a clean-contaminated wound. Permuted-block randomization with an allocation ratio of 1:1 and blocking will be used. We hypothesize that the study group will show a 50% reduction in the incidence of wound complications. The target number of cases is set at 284. The primary outcome is the incidence of wound complications, including incisional surgical site infection, hemorrhage, seroma, wound dehiscence within 30 days after surgery, and incisional hernia at approximately 1 year after surgery. DISCUSSION: This trial will provide initial evidence on the ideal combination of fascial and skin closure for midline abdominal wall incision to reduce the incidence of overall postoperative wound complications after gastroenterological surgery with a clean-contaminated wound. This trial is expected to generate high-quality evidence that supports the current guidelines for the closure of abdominal wall incisions from the European and American Hernia Societies and to contribute to their next updates. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN-CTR UMIN000048442. Registered on 1 August 2022. https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000055205.

Effect of Weighted Blanket Versus Traditional Practices on Anxiety and Pain in Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

Perioperative anxiety is common in surgical patients and linked to poor outcomes. This multicenter randomized controlled trial assessed the effect of the use of a warm weighted blanket on presurgical anxiety and pain, as well as postsurgical restlessness, nausea, and vomiting. Levels of anxiety and pain were measured in adult patients using a 100-point visual analog scale before elective surgery. Patients received either a warm weighted blanket (n = 74) or a traditional sheet or nonweighted blanket (n = 74). Patients in the intervention group had significantly lower preoperative anxiety scores (mean [SD] = 26.28 [25.75]) compared to the control group (mean [SD] = 38.73 [30.55], P = .008). However, the intervention had no significant effect on presurgical pain or postsurgical nausea, vomiting, or restlessness. These results suggest that weighted blankets reduce preoperative anxiety in adult patients.

Evolution of enhanced recovery for children undergoing elective intestinal surgery.

Enhanced recovery protocols (ERP) have been widely adopted in adult populations, with over 30 years of experience demonstrating the effectiveness of these protocols in patients undergoing gastrointestinal (GI) surgery. In the last decade, ERPs have been applied to pediatric populations across multiple subspecialties. The objective of this manuscript is to explore the evolution of how ERPs have been implemented and adapted specifically for pediatric populations undergoing GI surgery, predominantly for inflammatory bowel disease. The reported findings reflect a thorough exploration of the literature, including initial surveys of practice/readiness assessments, consensus recommendations of expert panels, and data from a rapidly growing number of single center studies. These efforts have culminated in a national prospective, multicenter trial evaluating clinical and implementation outcomes for enhanced recovery in children undergoing GI surgery. In short, this historical and clinical review reflects on the evolution of ERPs in pediatric surgery and expounds upon the next steps needed to apply ERPs to future pediatric populations.

The Effect of Dexmedetomidine as a Local Anesthetic Adjuvant for Iliac Fascia Compartment Block on Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients Undergoing Elective Hip Surgery.

INTRODUCTION: We analyzed the effect of dexmedetomidine (DEX) as a local anesthetic adjuvant on postoperative delirium (POD) in elderly patients undergoing elective hip surgery. METHODS: In this study, 120 patients undergoing hip surgery were enrolled and randomly assigned to two groups: fascia iliaca compartment block with DEX + ropivacaine (the Y group, n = 60) and fascia iliaca compartment block with ropivacaine (the R group, n = 60). The primary outcomes: presence of delirium during the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) period and on the first day (D1), the second day (D2), and the third day (D3) after surgery. The secondary outcomes: preoperative and postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), occurrence of insomnia on the preoperative day, day of operation, D1 and D2; HR values of patients in both groups before iliac fascia block (T1), 30 min after iliac fascia block (T2), at surgical incision (T3), 20 min after incision (T4), when they were transferred out of the operating room (T5) and after leaving the recovery room (T6) at each time point; VAS for T1, PACU, D1, D2; the number of patients requiring remedial analgesics within 24 h after blockade and related complications between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 97 patients were included in the final analysis, with 11 and 12 patients withdrawing from the R and Y groups, respectively. The overall incidence of POD and its incidence in the PACU and ward were all lesser in the Y group than in the R group (p < 0.05). Additionally, fewer cases required remedial analgesia during the PACU period, and more vasoactive drugs were used for maintaining circulatory system stability in the Y group as compared to the R group (p < 0.05). At the same time, the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative bradycardia in the Y group was higher than that in the R group, accompanied by lower postoperative CRP and ESR (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided high fascia iliaca compartment block with a combination of ropivacaine and DEX can reduce the incidence of POD, the use of intraoperative opioids and postoperative remedial analgesics, and postoperative inflammation in elderly patients who have undergone hip surgery, indicating that this method could be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of POD.

Is mechanical bowel preparation mandatory for elective colon surgery? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence demonstrates minimal impact of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) on reducing postoperative complications following elective colectomy. This study investigated the necessity of MBP prior to elective colonic resection. METHOD: A systematic literature review was conducted across PubMed, Ovid, and the Cochrane Library to identify studies comparing the effects of MBP with no preparation before elective colectomy, up until May 26, 2023. Surgical-related outcomes were compiled and subsequently analyzed. The primary outcomes included the incidence of anastomosis leakage (AL) and surgical site infection (SSI), analyzed using Review Manager Software (v 5.3). RESULTS: The analysis included 14 studies, comprising seven RCTs with 5146 participants. Demographic information was consistent across groups. No significant differences were found between the groups in terms of AL ((P = 0.43, OR = 1.16, 95% CI (0.80, 1.68), I2 = 0%) or SSI (P = 0.47, OR = 1.20, 95% CI (0.73, 1.96), I2 = 0%), nor were there significant differences in other outcomes. Subgroup analysis on oral antibiotic use showed no significant changes in results. However, in cases of right colectomy, the group without preparation showed a significantly lower incidence of SSI (P = 0.01, OR = 0.52, 95% CI (0.31, 0.86), I2 = 1%). No significant differences were found in other subgroup analyses. CONCLUSION: The current evidence robustly indicates that MBP before elective colectomy does not confer significant benefits in reducing postoperative complications. Therefore, it is justified to forego MBP prior to elective colectomy, irrespective of tumor location.

The impact of elective surgery postponement during COVID-19 on emergency bellwether procedures in a large tertiary centre in Singapore.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic drove many healthcare systems worldwide to postpone elective surgery to increase healthcare capacity, manpower, and reduce infection risk to staff. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an elective surgery postponement policy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical volumes and patient outcomes for three emergency bellwether procedures. A retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent any of the three emergency procedures [Caesarean section (CS), emergency laparotomy (EL), and open fracture (OF) fixation] between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2021 was conducted using clinical and surgical data from electronic medical records. The volumes and outcomes of each surgery were compared across four time periods: pre-COVID (January 2018-January 2020), elective postponement (February-May 2020), recovery (June-November 2020), and postrecovery (December 2020-December 2021) using Kruskal-Wallis test and segmented negative binomial regression. There was a total of 3886, 1396, and 299 EL, CS, and OF, respectively. There was no change in weekly volumes of CS and OF fixations across the four time periods. However, the volume of EL increased by 47% [95% confidence interval: 26-71%, P = 9.13 × 10-7) and 52% (95% confidence interval: 25-85%, P = 3.80 × 10-5) in the recovery and postrecovery period, respectively. Outcomes did not worsen throughout the four time periods for all three procedures and some actually improved for EL from elective postponement onwards. Elective surgery postponement in the early COVID-19 pandemic did not affect volumes of emergency CS and OF fixations but led to an increase in volume for EL after the postponement without any worsening of outcomes.

Bowel preparation for elective colectomy in Crohn's disease: results from a global cohort study using the NSQIP database.

AIM: The role of bowel preparation before colectomy in Crohn's disease patients remains controversial. This retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes associated with mechanical and antibiotic colon preparation in patients diagnosed with Crohn's disease undergoing elective colectomy. METHOD: Data were collected from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program participant user files from 2016 to 2021. A total of 6244 patients with Crohn's disease who underwent elective colectomy were included. The patients were categorized into two groups: those who received combined colon preparation (mechanical and antibiotic) and those who did not receive any form of bowel preparation. The primary outcomes assessed were the rate of anastomotic leak and the occurrence of deep organ infection. Secondary outcomes included all-cause short-term mortality, clinical-related morbidity, ostomy creation, unplanned reoperation, operative time, hospital length of stay and ileus. RESULTS: Combined colon preparation was associated with significantly reduced risks of anastomotic leak (relative risk 0.73, 95% CI 0.56-0.95, P = 0.021) and deep organ infection (relative risk 0.68, 95% CI 0.56-0.83, P < 0.001). Additionally, patients who underwent colon preparation had lower rates of ostomy creation, shorter hospital stays and a decreased incidence of ileus. However, there was no significant difference in all-cause short-term mortality or the need for unplanned reoperation between the two groups. CONCLUSION: This study shows that mechanical and antibiotic colon preparation may have clinical benefits for patients with Crohn's disease undergoing elective colectomy.

Cost saving in implementing ERAS protocol in emergency abdominal surgery.

INTRODUCTION: ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) protocol is now proposed as the standard of care in elective major abdominal surgery. Implementation of the ERAS protocol in emergency setting has been proposed but his economic impact has not been investigated. Aim of this study was to evaluate the cost saving of implementing ERAS in abdominal emergency surgery in a single institution. METHODS: A group of 80 consecutive patients treated by ERAS protocol for gastrointestinal emergency surgery in 2021 was compared with an analogue group of 75 consecutive patients treated by the same surgery the year before implementation of ERAS protocol. Adhesion to postoperative items, length of stay, morbidity and mortality were recorded. Cost saving analysis was performed. RESULTS: 50% Adhesion to postoperative items was reached on day 2 in the ERAS group in mean. Laparoscopic approach was 40 vs 12% in ERAS and control group respectively (p ,002). Length of stay was shorter in ERAS group by 3 days (9 vs 12 days p ,002). Morbidity and mortality rate were similar in both groups. The ERAS group had a mean cost saving of 1022,78 € per patient. CONCLUSIONS: ERAS protocol implementation in the abdominal emergency setting is cost effective resulting in a significant shorter length of stay and cost saving per patient.

What Role does Marital Status Play in the Outcome of Abdominoplasties? A Single-Surgeon Experience With 712 Cases.

BACKGROUND: Marital status is a commonly reported demographic variable in scientific literature. Numerous reports suggested difference in the medical outcomes of patients when stratified based on marital status. Although many reports suggested that married patient exhibit improved survival when compared to their counterparts, other reports could not replicate similar conclusions. PURPOSE: determine whether marital status plays a role in the postoperative outcomes of elective abdominoplasty patients. METHODS: The medical records of all abdominoplasty patients operated by a single surgeon over the course of 20 years were reviewed. Information regarding the preoperative state of patients, surgical procedure, and postoperative outcomes was evaluated in respect to the patients marital status. RESULTS: Seven-hundred and twelve patients were included in this study, of whom 516 (%) were married. No difference in preoperative characteristics, medical background, surgical procedure or concomitant surgeries was found. Analysis of adverse events did not demonstrate a statistically significant association with marital status. Additionally, when all unwed patients were grouped together, the results did not differ. CONCLUSION: Marital status does not play a critical role in the postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing elective abdominoplasties for cosmetic indications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on thyroidectomy for malignant diseases in high-volume referral centers.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has limited the availability of healthcare resources for non-COVID patients and decreased elective surgeries, including thyroidectomy. Despite the prioritization of surgical procedures, it has been reported that thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer (TCa) was adversely impacted. We assessed the impact of the pandemic on the surgical activities of two high-volume referral centers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients operated at two National Referral Centers for Thyroid Surgery between 03/01/2020 and 02/28/2021 (COVID-19 period) were included (P-Group). The cohort was compared with patients operated at the same Centers between 03/01/2019 and 02/29/2020 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic) (C-Group). RESULTS: Overall, 7017 patients were included: 2782 in the P-Group and 4235 in the C-Group. The absolute number of patients with TCa was not significantly different between the two groups, while the rate of malignant disease was significantly higher in the P-Group (1103/2782 vs 1190/4235) (P < 0.0001). Significantly more patients in the P-Group had central (237/1103 vs 232/1190) and lateral (167/1103 vs 140/1190) neck node metastases (P = 0.001). Overall, the complications rate was significantly lower (11.9% vs 15.1%) and hospital stay was significantly shorter (1.7 ± 1.5 vs 1.9 ± 2.2 days) in the P-Group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly decreased the overall number of thyroidectomies but did not affect the number of operations for TCa. Optimization of management protocols, due to limited resource availability for non-COVID patients, positively impacted the complication rate and hospital stay.

When should patients with T1N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma be considered for elective neck dissection?

AIMS: To identify adverse pathological features (APF) predicting nodal failure in clinically node negative T1 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). METHODOLOGY: This study evaluated patients with T1N0 (≤5 mm depth of invasion (DOI) and ≤2 cm diameter) oral cancers from a prospectively maintained database between 1988 and 2020. All patients underwent surgical excision of the primary lesion without neck dissection. Patients underwent three monthly clinical surveillance and salvage neck dissection was performed if nodal relapse was diagnosed. RESULTS: Overall, 141 patients were included. Nodal relapse was reported in 16/141 (11.3%) patients. Factors impacting regional recurrence-free survival were DOI ≥3 mm (HR: 2.4, P < 0.001), maximum tumour diameter ≥12 mm (HR: 1.1, P = 0.009), perineural invasion (PNI) (HR 7.5, P = 0.002) and poor differentiation (HR 5.3, P = 0.01). Rates of nodal relapse increased from 2% amongst patients with no APFs to 100% for those with four APFs. Patients with two or more APFs had significantly poorer 5-year regional recurrence-free survival (94.8% vs. 56.3%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with T1N0 OSCC with two or more APFs (DOI ≥3 mm, diameter ≥12 mm, PNI or poor differentiations) should be considered for elective neck dissection.

A nomogram to predict stoma creation in elective surgical resection for penetrating Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUNDS: The decision to perform a stoma during surgical resection of penetrating Crohn's disease (CD) is a critical consideration. The objective of this study was to identify factors that influence stoma creation and develop a predictive nomogram model to assist surgeons in making optimal surgical decisions. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary center from December 1, 2012, to December 1, 2021, involving consecutive patients with penetrating CD who underwent elective surgical resection. The LASSO regression method was used to select preoperative predictors, and a nomogram was constructed using multivariate logistic regression. The performance of the nomogram was validated in an internal cohort by assessing its discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness. RESULTS: The study included 405 cases in the training group and 135 cases in the validation group. Nine risk factors for stoma formation were identified, including disease location, fistula resulted from previous anastomosis, absence of preoperative exclusive enteral nutrition support, albumin levels below 35 g/L, C-reactive protein levels above 10 mg/L, hemoglobin levels below 100 g/L, perianal disease, internal fistula, and surgical approach. These risk factors were selected using the LASSO regression method, and a nomogram was developed based on them. The area under the curve and the coefficient of determination (R2) of the nomogram were 0.821 and 0.394, respectively. And the nomogram demonstrated good performance in the validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS: The nomogram exhibited good predictive ability for stoma formation during elective surgical resection for penetrating CD, which can assist surgeons in making informed clinical decisions.

Evaluating the safety profile of anti-platelet therapy in patients undergoing elective inguinal hernia repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: There remains no consensus surrounding the safety of prescribing anti-platelet therapies (APT) prior to elective inguinal hernia repair (IHR). AIMS: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the safety profile of APT use in patients indicated to undergo elective IHR. METHODS: A systematic review was performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Meta-analyses were performed using the Mantel-Haenszel method using the Review Manager version 5.4 software. RESULTS: Five studies including outcomes in 344 patients were included. Of these, 65.4% had APT discontinued (225/344), and 34.6% had APT continued (119/344). The majority of included patients were male (94.1%, 288/344). When continuing or discontinuing APT, there was no significant difference in overall haemorrhage rates (odds ratio (OR): 1.86, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.29-11.78, P = 0.130) and in sensitivity analysis using only RCT data (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.03-12.41, P = 0.760). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in reoperation rates (OR: 6.27, 95% CI: 0.72-54.60, P = 0.590); however, a significant difference was observed for readmission rates (OR: 5.67, 95% CI: 1.33-24.12, P = 0.020) when APT was continued or stopped pre-operatively. There was no significant difference in the estimated blood loss, intra-operative time, transfusion of blood products, rates of complications, cerebrovascular accidents, myocardial infarctions, or mortality observed. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates the safety of continuing APT pre-operatively in patients undergoing elective IHR, with similar rates of haemorrhage, reoperation, and readmission observed. Clinical trials with larger patient recruitment will be required to fully establish the safety profile of prescribing APT in the pre-operative setting prior to elective IHR.

A preoperative supervised exercise program potentially improves long-term survival after elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

OBJECTIVE: A preoperative supervised exercise program (SEP) improves cardiorespiratory fitness and perioperative outcomes for patients undergoing elective abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a preoperative SEP on long-term survival of these patients. A secondary aim was to consider long-term changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life. METHODS: Patients scheduled for open or endovascular AAA repair were previously randomized to either a 6-week preoperative SEP or standard management, and a significant improvement in a composite outcome of cardiac, pulmonary, and renal complications was seen following SEP. For the current analysis, patients were followed up to 5 years post-surgery. The primary outcome for this analysis was all-cause mortality. Data were analyzed on an intention to treat (ITT) and per protocol (PP) basis, with the latter meaning that patients randomized to SEP who did not attend any sessions were excluded. The PP analysis was further interrogated using a complier average causal effect (CACE) analysis on an all or nothing scale, which adjusts for compliance. Additionally, patients who agreed to follow-up attended the research center for cardiopulmonary exercise testing and/or provided quality of life measures. RESULTS: ITT analysis demonstrated that the primary endpoint occurred in 24 of the 124 participants at 5 years, with eight in the SEP group and 16 in the control group (P = .08). The PP analysis demonstrated a significant survival benefit associated with SEP attendance (4 vs 16 deaths; P = .01). CACE analysis confirmed a significant intervention effect (hazard ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.16-0.90; P = .02). There was no difference between groups for cardiorespiratory fitness measures and most quality of life measures. CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings suggest a long-term mortality benefit for patients attending a SEP prior to elective AAA repair. The underlying mechanism remains unknown, and this merits further investigation.

Development of a comorbidity index for patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

BACKGROUND: Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and open surgical repair (OSR) are two modalities to treat patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Alternative to individual comorbidity adjustment, a summary comorbidity index is a weighted composite score of all comorbidities that can be used as standard metric to control for comorbidity burden in clinical studies. This study aimed to develop summary comorbidity indices for patients who underwent AAA repair. METHODS: Patients who went under EVAR or OSR were identified in National Inpatient Sample (NIS) between the last quarter of 2015 to 2020. In each group, patients were randomly sampled into experimental (2/3) and validation (1/3) groups. The weights of Elixhauser comorbidities were determined from a multivariable logistic regression and single comorbidity indices were developed for EVAR and OAR groups, respectively. RESULTS: There were 34,668 patients underwent EVAR (2.19% mortality) and 4792 underwent OSR (10.98% mortality). Both comorbidity indices had moderate discriminative power (EVAR c-statistic, 0.641; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.616-0.665; OSR c-statistic, 0.600; 95% CI, 0.563-0.630) and good calibration (EVAR Brier score, 0.021; OSR Brier score, 0.096). The indices had significantly better discriminative power (DeLong P <.001) than the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI) (EVAR c-statistic, 0.572; 95% CI, 0.546-0.597; OSR c-statistic, 0.502; 95% CI, 0.472-0.533). For internal validation, both indices had similar performance compared with individual comorbidity adjustment (EVAR DeLong P = .650; OSR DeLong P = .431). These indices demonstrated good external validation, exhibiting comparable performance to their respective validation groups (EVAR DeLong P = .891; OSR DeLong P = .757). CONCLUSIONS: ECI, the comorbidity index formulated for the general population, exhibited suboptimal performance in patients who underwent AAA repair. In response, we developed summary comorbidity indices for both EVAR and OSR for AAA repair, which were internally and externally validated. The EVAR and OSR comorbidity indices outperformed the ECI in discriminating in-hospital mortality rates. They can standardize comorbidity measurement for clinical studies in AAA repair, especially for studies with small samples such as single-institute data sources to facilitate replication and comparison of results across studies.