Watchful Waiting After Radiological Guided Drainage of Intra-abdominal Abscess in Patients With Crohn's Disease Might Be Associated With Increased Rates of Stoma Construction.

Background: Management of spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) with radiologically guided percutaneous drainage (PD) was debated. Methods: This is a secondary analysis from a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of all the patients with CD who underwent PD followed by surgery at 19 international tertiary centers. Results: Seventeen patients (4.8%) who did not undergo surgery after PD were compared to those who had PD followed by surgical intervention 335/352 (95.2%). Patients who had PD without surgery were those with longer disease duration, more frequently had previous surgery for CD (laparotomies/laparoscopies), enteric fistula, on steroid treatment before and continue to have it after PD. Patients who had PD without subsequent surgical resection had a higher risk of stoma construction at later stages 8/17 (47.1%) versus 90/326 (27.6%) (P < .01). Patients with PD with no subsequent surgery had numerically higher rates of abscess recurrence 5/17 (29.4%) compared to those who had PD followed by surgery 45/335 (13.4%) the difference was not statistically significant (P = .07). Conclusions: Even with the low number of patients enrolled in this study who had PD of IAA without subsequent surgery, the findings indicate a markedly worse prognosis in terms of recurrence, length of stay, readmission, and stoma construction. Watchful waiting after PD to treat patients with spontaneous IAA might be indicated in selected patients with poor health status or poor prognostic factors.

Diagnostic laparoscopy through deep inguinal ring: a literature-based review on the forgotten approach to visualize the abdominal cavity during emergency and elective groin hernia repair.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the published literature on the role of diagnostic laparoscopy through deep inguinal ring (DL-DR) during groin hernia repair. METHODS: Standard electronic databases were searched reporting article in any language on the role of DL-DR during groin hernia repair regardless of the age and sex of patients. RESULTS: Thirty-one articles on 5745 patients undergoing DL-DR during groin hernia repair were retrieved from the electronic databases. There was 1 randomized, controlled trial, 7 case reports and 2 case series on 58 adult patients mainly targeting assessment of bowel viability following spontaneous reduction of the strangulated groin hernia. Twenty-one articles, either retrospective or prospective case series on 5687 were reported on pediatric patients aiming to detect a contralateral patent processus vaginalis or synchronous groin hernia. Overall, the laparoscopy group had a reduced operative time, reduced length of hospital stay, lower complication rate, and earlier return to normal activity. DL-DR success rates were reported in >95% of patients. Contralateral patent processus vaginalis indicative of inguinal hernia was found in >48% of children. There was no major morbidity reported in any group. CONCLUSIONS: DL-DR during groin hernia repair may be performed safely when indicated. The routine use of DL-DR is an established practice in pediatric surgery. There is still insufficient evidence to recommend the routine use of DL-DR in adults.

A meta-analysis examining the use of tacker mesh fixation versus glue mesh fixation in laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to systematically analyze the randomized trials comparing tacker mesh fixation with glue mesh fixation (GMF) in laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR). METHODS: Standard electronic database were searched to retrieve relevant randomized trials comparing tacker mesh fixation with GMF in LIHR, which were analyzed systematically using RevMan. RESULTS: Five randomized controlled trials encompassing 1,001 patients were retrieved from the electronic databases. In a random-effects model, operating time, postoperative pain, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay and risk for hernia recurrence were statistically comparable between the 2 techniques of mesh fixation in LIHR. However, GMF was associated with a reduced risk for developing chronic groin pain. CONCLUSIONS: GMF in LIHR does not increase the risk for hernia recurrence and reduces the risk for developing chronic groin pain. It is comparable with tacker mesh fixation in terms of operation time, postoperative pain, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, and risk for hernia recurrence.

Intra-abdominal collections following laparoscopic versus open appendicectomy: an experience of 516 consecutive cases at a district general hospital.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to evaluate the incidence of intra-abdominal collections (IACs) in all patients undergoing laparoscopic (LA) and open appendicectomy (OA) from April 2009 to October 2011 in a district general hospital with expertise in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients undergoing appendicectomy in the specified time period was carried out. IACs were identified from various in-hospital data resources. Severity of appendicitis was assessed from histology reports. RESULTS: 516 patients were identified, of whom 242 (47 %) underwent OA and 274 (53 %) LA. Twenty-six (5 %) patients were found to have IACs postoperatively. Fifteen (5.5 %) IACs were identified in the laparoscopic group and 11 (4.5 %) in the open group. There was no statistically significant difference in the risk of developing IACs in open versus laparoscopic groups [odds ratio (OR) 1.22, confidence interval (CI) 0.55-2.70, P = 0.63]. Patients were twelve times more likely to develop IACs with an appendix identified as being necrotic or perforated on histology (OR 12.24, CI 5.29-28.32, P < 0.0001). There was a trend towards shorter total hospital stay in the LA (3.58 days, CI 3.0-4.1 days) compared with OA (4.31 days, CI 3.7-4.9 days, P = 0.082) group, although this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Increased rates of IAC following LA have been identified in some studies. Our series shows that, in a centre with adequate MIS experience, the IAC rate following LA is comparable to that of the open approach and should not deter surgeons with adequate support and resources.

Single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy versus conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy: meta-analysis and systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to analyze systematically the randomized, controlled trials that compared single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC) and conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy (CLC). METHODS: The meta-analysis was conducted according to the Quality of Reporting of Meta-analysis (QUORUM) standards. The included studies were analyzed systematically using the statistical software package RevMan. The summated outcomes were expressed as the risk ratios (RR) for dichotomous variables and standardized mean differences (SMD) for continuous variables. RESULTS: Eleven randomized trials encompassing 858 patients were retrieved from the electronic databases. In the random effects model, postoperative pain, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, cosmesis score, conversion rate, and time to return to normal activities were statistically comparable between the two cholecystectomy techniques. SILC was associated with a longer operating time [SMD 0.71; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.38, 1.05; z = 4.18; p < 0.0001) and an increased requirement for additional port insertion (RR 6.54; 95 % CI 2.19, 19.57; z = 3.36; p < 0008). However, there was significant heterogeneity among the trials. CONCLUSIONS: SILC does not offer any advantage over CLC for treating benign gallbladder disorders. CLC may be used assiduously for this purpose.