Recommendations on the use of deep neuromuscular blockade by anaesthesiologists and surgeons. AQUILES (Anestesia QUIrúrgica para Lograr Eficiencia y Seguridad) Consensus. / Recomendaciones sobre el uso de bloqueo neuromuscular profundo por parte de anestesiólogos y cirujanos. Consenso AQUILES (Anestesia QUIrúrgica para Lograr Eficiencia y Seguridad).

INTRODUCTION: Neuromuscular blockade enables airway management, ventilation and surgical procedures. However there is no national consensus on its routine clinical use. The objective was to establish the degree of agreement among anaesthesiologists and general surgeons on the clinical use of neuromuscular blockade in order to make recommendations to improve its use during surgical procedures. METHODS: Multidisciplinary consensus study in Spain. Anaesthesiologists experts in neuromuscular blockade management (n=65) and general surgeons (n=36) were included. Delphi methodology was selected. A survey with 17 final questions developed by a dedicated scientific committee was designed. The experts answered the successive questions in two waves. The survey included questions on: type of surgery, type of patient, benefits/harm during and after surgery, impact of objective neuromuscular monitoring and use of reversal drugs, viability of a multidisciplinary and efficient approach to the whole surgical procedure, focussing on the level of neuromuscular blockade. RESULTS: Five recommendations were agreed: 1) deep neuromuscular blockade is very appropriate for abdominal surgery (degree of agreement 94.1%), 2) and in obese patients (76.2%); 3) deep neuromuscular blockade maintenance until end of surgery might be beneficial in terms of clinical aspects, such as as immobility or better surgical access (86.1 to 72.3%); 4) quantitative monitoring and reversal drugs availability is recommended (89.1%); finally 5) anaesthesiologists/surgeons joint protocols are recommended. CONCLUSIONS: Collaboration among anaesthesiologists and surgeons has enabled some general recommendations to be established on deep neuromuscular blockade use during abdominal surgery.

Transanal total mesorectal excision: a pure NOTES approach for selected patients.

BACKGROUND: The concept of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has stimulated the development of various "incisionless" procedures. One of the most popular is the transanal approach for rectal lesions. The aims of this study were to report how we standardized NOTES technique for transanal mesorectal excision without abdominal assistance, discuss the difficulties and surgical outcomes of this technique and report its feasibility in a small group of selected patients. METHODS: Three consecutive female patients underwent transanal NOTES rectal resection without transabdominal laparoscopic assistance for rectal lesions. Functional results were assessed with the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life scale and the Wexner score. RESULTS: The technical steps are described in details and complemented with a video. All procedures were completed without transabdominal laparoscopic help. The mesorectal plane was entirely dissected without any disruption, and distal and circumferential margins were tumor-free. No major complications were observed. Functional results show a significant impairment after surgery with improvement at 6 months to levels near those of the preoperative period. CONCLUSIONS: The performance and publication of NOTES procedures are subject to much discussion. Despite the small number of patients, this procedure appears feasible and can be accomplished maintaining fecal continence and respecting oncologic principles.

Intra-abdominal pulmonary secuestration as an exceptional cause of abdominal mass in the adult.

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary sequestration (PS) is an extremely rare malformation defined as a portion of lung tissue isolated from the pulmonary system. PSs are classified into intralobar type and intra-abdominal PS that represents only 2.5% of cases. There are 20 cases of PS reported in adults and only two were managed by laparoscopic approach. We report a case of intra-abdominal PS mimicking a gastroesophageal duplication cyst in an adult. Besides its rarity, this is the first intra-abdominal PS in an adult managed by an anterior laparoscopic approach. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 60-year-old female patient had had epigastric and left upper quadrant pain for several days. Physical examination was normal. Image test were consistent with a gastroesophageal duplication. The patient was taken to the operating room for laparoscopic exploration and resection. The pathological diagnosis was extralobar pulmonary sequestration. DISCUSSION: Less than 20 cases of PS have been reported in adults and only two cases were managed by a lateral laparoscopic approach. In contrast to these reports, we used an anterior approach due to the GEJ suspected origin of the mass. CONCLUSION: Extralobar intra-abdominal PS is an extremely rare condition during adulthood but this diagnosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of a left-sided suprarenal mass. Due to the difficulty in achieving a definitive preoperative diagnosis, surgery is recommended. Laparoscopic resection is safe and effective but careful preoperative imaging studies are recommended in order to plan the most suitable approach.

Pelvic reconstruction after abdominoperineal resection: a pilot study using an absorbable synthetic prosthesis.

BACKGROUND: Abdominoperineal resection (APR) is not free of complications, in particular complications due to the occupation of the pelvis by the small bowel after surgery. A number of surgical techniques have been described to prevent the small bowel from entering and adhering to the pelvis (pelvic partition), but there is no agreement concerning their use. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness and safety of using an absorbable synthetic prosthetic material for pelvic partitioning after APR. METHODS: A prospective non-randomised longitudinal pilot study was carried out on a series of 10 patients who underwent APR due to lower-third rectal cancer, in order to evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of pelvic partitioning with an absorbable synthetic prosthetic material. RESULTS: In all the patients, it was possible to perform a radical resection and to install the prosthesis. After a mean follow-up of 9 months (range: 4-18 months), no abdominal or perineal complications were detected. One patient (10%) suffered chronic pelvic pain. CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic partition after APR of the rectum with an absorbable synthetic prosthesis is feasible, effective and safe.

Laparoscopic liver surgery: 8 years of multicenter Spanish register.

BACKGROUND: To present the data of laparoscopy in liver surgery and to assess the real indications and outcomes of this kind of approach. METHODS: From February 2000 to March 2008, a prospective study was performed on 182 patients from 15 Spanish surgical centres. RESULTS: A total of 308 lesions was collected. The mean age was 57 years old, and 61.5% were female. Among patients with cystic lesions we found: 45 simple cysts, 19 policystic diseases, 12 hydatidic cysts and 2 cystoadenomas. Among solid lesions (n = 104), we found 34 patients with benign pathology (12 focal nodular hyperplasia, 10 adenomas, 7 haemangyomas and 5 other lesions) and 70 with malignant pathology (38 metastases, 29 hepatocellular carcinomas, 2 cholangiocarcinomas and 1 lymphoma). The global rate of conversion was 8.8%. The global morbidity rate was 14.8%, and 5 of them required re-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Nowadays there are strong criteria for patients being submitted to laparoscopy procedures based both on type and location features. The postoperative morbidity rate is low, also for hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic liver. In case of malignant pathology, we think the use of ultrasonography is mandatory to obtain a free margin, which implies a long-term survival rate.

[Initial results of the National Registry of Laparoscopic Liver Surgery]. / Resultados iniciales del Registro Nacional de Cirugía Hepática por Laparoscopia.

INTRODUCTION: Experience in laparoscopic liver surgery is limited, and multicenter studies with large series are required for a critical evaluation of this type of surgery. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the results of the National Registry of Laparoscopic Liver Surgery. Indications, technical features, conversion rates, morbidity, and mortality were analyzed. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Seventy-four patients from 10 centers who underwent surgery between February 2000 and April 2005 were included. There were 58 women and 16 men, with a mean age of 55 years. More than one lesion was present in 16 patients. Consequently, 74 patients with 156 lesions were treated. RESULTS: Forty-six patients had cystic lesions (26 simple cysts, 13 polycystic disease, five hydatid cysts and two cystic adenomas). Surgical treatment consisted of 37 fenestrations, five cystopericystectomies, two atypical resections, one segmentectomy and one bisegmentectomy of segments II-III. In 28 patients the lesions were solid (four adenomas, six focal nodular hyperplasias, three hemangiomas, four hepatocarcinomas, five colorectal metastases, two lung metastases, one breast metastasis, one malignant melanoma metastasis, one pancreatic vipoma metastasis, and one lymphoma). Ten bisegmentectomies of segments II-III, 17 atypical resections and one segmentectomy of segment III were performed. Other surgery was associated in 23 patients. The mean operating time was 160.5 minutes and the conversion rate was 8%. The mean length of hospital stay was 5.6 days and was less than 5 days in 78% of the patients. Analgesia was administered for less than 48 hours in 55%. Morbidity was observed in eight patients (10.8%). Reoperations were performed in three patients. There was no mortality in this series. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic hepatic resection is safe and feasible in selected patients. Large, controlled series are required to determine long-term outcomes. The national registry provides a good basis for evaluating laparoscopic liver surgery in Spain.

An approach to the rational use of steatotic donor livers in liver transplantation.

Steatosis or fatty change is a common finding in donor liver biopsies during liver transplantation, and seems to be more frequent than in the general population. Fat can be stored in hepatocytes within macrovacuoles (macrosteatosis) or microvacuoles (microsteatosis), with different degrees of severity. Higher degrees of both macro and microsteatosis may increase the severity of the ischemia-reperfusion lesion producing an initial poor function in the recipient. Different pathogenic mechanisms have been investigated. However, only severe macrosteatotic (> 60%) grafts have been associated with primary non-function, and are universally rejected for transplantation. While donor livers with any severity of microsteatosis do not influence recipient survival and can be safely implanted, donor livers with moderate to severe macrosteatosis (30-60%) have a relative risk of primary non-function and should be considered for transplantation in the absence of other known risk factors. A protocol with a rational use of these steatotic livers is suggested.

[Budd-Chiari syndrome: current medical-surgical management]. / Síndrome de Budd-Chiari: manejo médico-quirúrgico actual.

The Budd-Chiari syndrome or obstruction of the hepatic veins and/or suprahepatic inferior vena cava is a rare process, frequently associated with hypercoagulable states. There exist several clinical presentations, being most common the acute and subacute forms and rarely seen the fulminant and chronic forms (cirrhosis or fibrosis associated). We present here a female patient with Budd-Chiari syndrome produced by polycythemia, resolved by mesentericocaval interposition "H" shunt using internal jugular vein, after analyzing the current different modalities of medical-surgical treatment, specially portal system shunts and liver transplantation, related to presentation form.

[Effects of total gastrectomy on the nutritional status]. / Efectos de la gastrectomía total sobre el estado nutricional.

In this study, we have analyzed a series of 88 patients who underwent total gastrectomy followed by two different reconstructive procedures, Roux-en-Y jejunal interposition (57%) and interposition of a jejunal limb between the oesophagus and the duodenum (38%) (Henley procedure). We examined diet, intestinal transit, symptoms of dumping syndrome and body weight curves. Patients with Roux-en-Y reconstruction presented post-prandial sweating more often (48%) than patients with the Henley procedure (21%). Forty percent patients with Roux-en-Y reconstruction suffered post-prandial nausea whereas this finding was not associated with patients after the Henley procedure. The reconstructive method has to be chosen considering the age and general condition of the patient, stage of the neoplasia and its curability. We currently favor Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy. However, in selected patients the Henley procedure may prove useful in order to prevent reflux and dumping symptoms.

[The incidence, prognostic factors and survival in young adults with colorectal adenocarcinoma]. / Incidencia, factores pronósticos y supervivencia de los adultos jóvenes con adenocarcinoma colorrectal.

The incidence of colorectal cancer is low in young patients. Because of the infrequent occurrence of this disease in those less than 40 years of age many of the published reports give conflicting results. The aim of this report is to study colorectal cancer in patients < or = 45 years old, a group rarely considered by other authors. We analyzed retrospectively the clinical features of our patients with special reference to the clinical data, personal and family history, site of lesion, and Duke's classification. Potential risk factors were analyzed for their effect on the survival of these patients. Finally, to evaluate the prognostic influence of potential risk factors and detect any interaction, a multivariate analysis was performed. We found 26 (17.2%) patients less than 45 years old with colorectal cancer. The clinical presentation, tumor site, and Duke's grade were similar in the young adult and in the general population but morbidity, mortality and postoperative complications were lower. There were no differences in resection or survival rates. Potential risk factors were no different from those of the general population.