The application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the management of compromised flaps.

INTRODUCTION: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy has been used to promote viability of compromised flaps despite a paucity of supportive clinical evidence. This study provides an in-depth characterization of hyperbaric medicine to promote flap survival and identifies treatment variables associated with positive clinical outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted of patients who received HBO2 therapy for a failing or threatened post-reconstructive flap from 5/30/2008 through 4/30/2012. Medical records were reviewed to collect patient characteristics, hyperbaric oxygen therapy details, and clinical outcomes. Descriptive and comparative statistics were utilized. RESULTS: Ninety-one patients underwent HBO2 therapy during this time period, with 15 patients meeting the selection criteria. Flap survival was achieved in 11 patients (73.3%). Of those successfully treated, four (36.4%) healed completely, and seven (63.6%) demonstrated marked improvement. Patients who were treated successfully demonstrated an average improvement in flap area of 68.3%. Variables significantly associated with a favorable treatment outcome included a high percentage of treatment completion (p = 0.022) and high pretreatment transcutaneous oxygen measurements (p = 0.05). Smoking was a negative factor (p = 0.011). CONCLUSION: This study provides clinical data characterizing and supporting the application of hyperbaric medicine to aid in the viability of compromised flaps.

Necrotizing pancreatitis: new definitions and a new era in surgical management.

BACKGROUND: Necrotizing pancreatitis is a challenging condition that requires surgical treatment commonly and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Over the past decade, new definitions have been developed for standardization of severity of acute and necrotizing pancreatitis, and new management techniques have emerged based on prospective, randomized clinical trials. METHODS: Review of English-language literature. RESULTS: A new international classification of acute pancreatitis has been developed by PANCREA (Pancreatitis Across Nations Clinical Research and Education Alliance) to replace the Atlanta Classification. It is based on the actual local (whether pancreatic necrosis is present or not, whether it is sterile or infected) and systemic determinants (whether organ failure is present or not, whether it is transient or persistent) of severity. Early management requires goal-directed fluid resuscitation (with avoidance of over-resuscitation and abdominal compartment syndrome), assessment of severity of pancreatitis, diagnostic computed tomography (CT) imaging to assess for necrotizing pancreatitis, consideration of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for biliary pancreatitis and early enteral nutrition support. Antibiotic prophylaxis is not recommended. Therapeutic antibiotics are required for treatment of documented infected pancreatic necrosis. The initial treatment of infected pancreatic necrosis is percutaneous catheter or endoscopic (transgastric/transduodenal) drainage with a second drain placement as required. Lack of clinical improvement after these initial procedures warrants consideration of minimally invasive techniques for pancreatic necrosectomy including video-assisted retroperitoneal debridement (VARD), minimally invasive retroperitoneal pancreatectomy (MIRP), or transluminal direct endoscopic necrosectomy (DEN). Open necrosectomy is associated with substantial morbidity, but to date no randomized trial has documented superiority of either minimally invasive or open surgical technique. Additional trials are underway to address this. CONCLUSIONS: Severe acute and necrotizing pancreatitis requires a multi-disciplinary treatment strategy that must be individualized for each patient. Optimal treatment of necrotizing pancreatitis now requires a staged, multi-disciplinary, minimally invasive "step-up" approach that includes a team of interventional radiologists, therapeutic endoscopists, and surgeons.

Fatal upper gastrointestinal bleed arising from duodenal varices secondary to undiagnosed portal hypertension.

Duodenal varices are an unexpected source of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage associated with high mortality. The prevalence of ectopic variceal bleeding accounts for 2-5% of all variceal bleeding; of this, only 17% occurs in the duodenum. Diagnosis is difficult, and insufficient evidence exists to demonstrate the best treatment option when haemorrhage occurs. We report the case of a 69-year-old man with a history of chronic alcoholism who presented to the emergency department (ED) with nausea, vomiting and several episodes of haematochezia. Diagnostic workup in the ED included CT with multiplanar reconstruction, which revealed a network of large tortuous blood vessels running near the second portion of the duodenum between the inferior vena cava and portal vein. The patient was emergently treated with endoscopic therapy and clipping of the vessel. This failed, and he was subsequently taken to the operating room for suture ligation of the bleeding duodenal varices.

Clostridium tertium isolated from a necrotizing soft tissue infection in a diabetic but otherwise nonimmunocompromised patient.

Clostridium tertium has historically been regarded as nonpathogenic, and its implication as the primary microbe in infectious etiologies remains unclear. Although there have been several reports of C tertium isolated from blood, tissue, and other specimens, largely this population has consisted of patients with neutropenia, hematologic malignancies, or gastrointestinal disorders. Here we describe a case of a 39-year-old nonimmunocompromised man with a history of type 1 diabetes mellitus and intravenous drug use who presented to our institution with a necrotizing soft tissue infection involving his right upper extremity. The infection had developed after the patient had injected methamphetamines. At surgery, tissue was obtained for Gram stain and culture, yielding C tertium, after an initial misidentification as Lactobacillus species. After undergoing extensive surgical debridement and treatment with an appropriate antibiotic regimen, the patient was able to be discharged home with retained function of his extremity. Although not common, infections involving C tertium can produce severe, potentially life- and limb-threatening disease processes, which may require aggressive therapy even in the nonimmunocompromised patient.