Successful management of the open abdomen with hydrocolloid dressing in a resource-constrained setting.

PURPOSE: To evaluate and detail the management of a difficult, long-term, open abdomen in a resource constraint setting with the use of Hydrocolloid dressing. METHOD: An observational retrospective study was conducted at a single level-1 trauma center. Over a 5-year period, all the open abdomen patients were evaluated and the cohorts who were treated with Hydrocolloid dressings were described in detail from their admission to their discharge. RESULTS: During this period, there were 147 open abdomens. 7.5% (11) patients required long-term open abdomen management, in which Hydrocolloid dressing was utilized. Of this group, there were no entero/colonic-atmospheric fistulas, and there was either de-novo complete skin coverage, successful skin graft placement, or definitive abdominal wall repair in all the patients. De-novo complete skin coverage took an average of 7.4 months. All the patients were discharged home after an average of 107 days hospitalized. CONCLUSION: Despite not being an optimal management of an open abdomen, there are always a small group of these patients who lose abdominal domain, are critically ill or injured, and have prolonged hospitalization with an open abdomen. In this cohort, and especially in resource constraint settings, Hydrocolloid dressing is a cost-efficient, simple, and effective method to treat the 'long-term' open abdomens.

Erratum to: 2016 WSES guidelines on acute calculous cholecystitis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13017-016-0082-5.].

2016 WSES guidelines on acute calculous cholecystitis.

Acute calculus cholecystitis is a very common disease with several area of uncertainty. The World Society of Emergency Surgery developed extensive guidelines in order to cover grey areas. The diagnostic criteria, the antimicrobial therapy, the evaluation of associated common bile duct stones, the identification of "high risk" patients, the surgical timing, the type of surgery, and the alternatives to surgery are discussed. Moreover the algorithm is proposed: as soon as diagnosis is made and after the evaluation of choledocholitiasis risk, laparoscopic cholecystectomy should be offered to all patients exception of those with high risk of morbidity or mortality. These Guidelines must be considered as an adjunctive tool for decision but they are not substitute of the clinical judgement for the individual patient.

A 5-year follow up of patients discharged with non-specific abdominal pain: out of sight, out of mind?

BACKGROUND/AIM: Acute non-specific abdominal pain (NSAP) is prevalent in 6-25% of the general population and is a common cause of admission to the emergency department (ED). Despite involvement of substantial financial and human resources, there are few data on long-term outcome after initial diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term outcome of patients initially admitted with NSAP to an ED. METHODS: The study involves a 5-year follow-up analysis of prospectively collected data on 104 patients admitted to our ED in 2003 with NSAP. Primary end-point was clinical outcome 5 years after initial ED admission. Predictive risk factors were assessed using a multivariate regression model. RESULTS: 29 patients (28%) had recurring NSAP 5 years after initial ED admission, 76% of these patients received (multiple) diagnostic examinations and 13% eventually required diagnostic (or therapeutic) surgery. Although approximately half of patients with recurring NSAP eventually received a definite diagnosis, 30% still suffered from recurrent abdominal pain. Using regression analysis, no single factor in our dataset could be identified as a predictor for NSAP persistence. CONCLUSION: The long-term impact for patients initially admitted to our ED with acute NSAP is significant--28% of patients continue to suffer from recurring NSAP after 5 years. NSAP therefore remains, despite more advanced diagnostic tools, a true and, as yet, unsolved problem.