Outpatient curettage and electrocautery as an alternative to primary surgical closure for pediatric gastrocutaneous fistulae.

BACKGROUND: The development of a gastrocutaneous fistula (GCF) after gastrostomy tube removal is a frequent complication that occurs 5%-45% of the time. Conservative therapy with chemical cauterization is frequently unsuccessful, and surgical GCF repair with open primary layered closure of the gastrotomy is often required. We describe an alternative approach of GCF closure that is an outpatient, less invasive procedure that allows patients to avoid the comorbidities of general endotracheal anesthesia and intraabdominal surgery. METHODS: This is an Institutional Review Board approved retrospective review of all patients who underwent GCF closure from January 2010 to July 2016 at a tertiary care children's hospital. Demographics including age, weight, body mass index, comorbidities, and initial indication for gastrostomy tube were recorded. Operative details such as ASA score, operative duration, type of anesthesia, and airway were noted. Based on surgeon preference, two types of operative closure were used during that time frame: primary layered closure or curettage and cautery (C&C). The latter is a procedure in which the fistula tract is first scraped with a fine curette, and then the fistula opening and tract are cauterized circumferentially. Finally, the presence of a persistent fistula and the need for formal reoperation were determined. RESULTS: Sixty-five unique patients requiring GCF closure were identified. Of those, 44 patients (67.6%) underwent primary closure and 21 patients (32.3%) underwent C&C. The success rate of primary closure was 97% with one patient experiencing wound breakdown with persistent fistula. The overall success rate of C&C was 66.7% (14/21). Among those 14 patients, 11 (52.4%) GCF patients were closed by 1 mo. An additional two patients' gastrocutaneous fistulae were closed by 4 mo (61.9%). One GCF was successfully closed with a second C&C procedure. Seven of the 21 patients (33.3%) required subsequent formal layered surgical closure. C&C had significantly shorter operative times (13.5 ± 14.7 min versus 93.4 ± 61.8, P <0.0001) and significantly shorter times in the postanesthesia care unit (101.8 ± 42.4 min versus 147 ± 86, P <0.0001). Patients were intubated with an endotracheal tube 88.6% of the time for primary closure and 23.8% of the time for C&C.Among patients admitted for an elective procedure, the average length of stay for primary closure was 1.9 d as compared to 0 d for the C&C group. Among patients who underwent C&C with a persistent fistula, there were no significant differences in time since initial creation of gastrostomy, age, body mass index, or ASA score. CONCLUSIONS: Our study verifies that primary closure remains the gold standard for persistent GCF. However, C&C is a safe, outpatient procedure that effectively treats a GCF the majority of the time in children. We suggest that in select patients, it may be an appropriate initial and definitive procedure for GCF closure.

Treatment of suspected acute perforated appendicitis with antibiotics and interval appendectomy.

BACKGROUND: Initial antibiotics with planned interval appendectomy (interval AP) have been used to treat patients with complicated perforated appendicitis; however, little experience exists with this approach in children with suspected acute perforated appendicitis (SAPA). We sought to determine the outcome of initial antibiotics and interval AP in children with SAPA. METHODS: Over an 18-month period, 751 consecutive patients underwent appendectomy including 105 patients with SAPA who were treated with initial intravenous antibiotics and planned interval AP ≥ 8 weeks after presentation. All SAPA patients had symptoms for ≤ 96 hours. Primary outcome variables were rates of readmission, abscess formation, and need for interval AP prior to the planned ≥ 8 weeks. RESULTS: Intraabdominal abscess rate was 27%. Appendectomy prior to planned interval AP was 11% and readmission occurred in 34%. All patients underwent eventual appendectomy with pathologic confirmation confirming the previous appendiceal inflammation. White blood cell (WBC) count >15,000, WBC >15,000 plus fecalith on imaging, and WBC >15,000 plus duration of symptoms >48 hours were all significantly associated with higher rates of readmission (p=0.01, p=0.04, p=0.02) and need for interval AP prior to the planned ≥ 8 weeks (p=0.003, p=0.05, p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of SAPA with antibiotics and planned interval AP is successful in the majority of patients; however, complications such as abscess formation and/or readmission prior to planned interval AP occur in up to one-third of patients. Certain clinical variables are associated with increased treatment complications.