Reduced Time to Procedure for Gastrointestinal Bleeding After Warfarin Reversal With Four-Factor Complex Concentrate as Compared to Plasma.

Background: Bleeding is a serious adverse effect of vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). Anticoagulation reversal is required in some acute cases. This is usually accomplished by plasma transfusion or four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4F-PCC). The aim of this study was to gain insight into the clinical course of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding who require VKA reversal. Methods: Medical records were collected from two centers from patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) for GI bleeding and received 4F-PCC or plasma for VKA reversal between January 2015 and December 2020. ED, hospital, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS) as well as time from admission to GI procedure were determined. Results: 4F-PCC patients (n = 49) as compared to plasma (n = 63) patients were found to have a greater number of comorbidities (average of 4.2 vs. 2.7 comorbidities/patient) and more ICU admissions (47% vs. 21%). Time to GI procedure was significantly decreased in the 4F-PCC group (median (interquartile range (IQR)) 19.47 (9.23 - 30.25) vs. 27.88 (21.38 - 45.00) h; P = 0.01). When adjusting for comorbidities, differences in time to GI procedures were also significant in favor of 4F-PCC regardless of any comorbidities (P = 0.014), in atrial fibrillation (P = 0.045) and in hypertension (P = 0.02). The 4F-PCC patients had shorter LOS in the ED and ICU. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that compared to plasma, 4F-PCC was utilized in more acutely ill patients with higher rates of comorbidities and ICU admission. Nevertheless, the patients who received 4F-PCC had faster access to GI procedure and shorter ED and ICU LOS.

Complications of endourological procedures and their treatment.

Endourological treatment for urinary stones and other obstructive urinary tract diseases is minimally invasive but in some cases it involves serious complications. This collection of cases describes some complications of endourological procedures and how they were treated. Case 1: A case of right ultrasound-guided percutaneous nephrostomy found to be misplaced in the inferior vena cava. The case was safely managed, but it showed that ultrasound guidance alone may be insufficient so it is recommended that percutaneous nephrostomy should be always placed under fluoroscopic control, either alone or in combination with ultrasound guidance. Case 2: A case of renal subcapsular hematoma occurring on retrograde intrarenal surgery at high perfusion pressure. The hematoma was drained under combined ultrasonic and radiological guidance. Post treatment recovery was uneventful. Large stone size, severe ipsilateral hydronephrosis, long operation time, higher hydrostatic pressure of the irrigating solution and low ureteral wall compliance are supposed to be risks factors associated with renal subcapsular formation. Management strategy should be tailored to patient's clinical conditions. In hemodynamically stable patients, large hematoma drainage is recommended to prevent further complications and favours early recovery. Case 3: A case of double J stent fracture discovered one month after the insertion to relieve obstruction from a 1 cm stone in the right proximal ureter. The distal fragment of the stent was removed by cystoscopy while the proximal fragment was removed by semirigid ureteroscopy in two sessions due to fever and extensive calcification. Case 4: A mini-invasive technique for transurethral replacement of completely encrusted urinary stents in female patients. This technique allows the interventional radiologist to replace obstructed urinary stents by avoiding more invasive and traumatic urological procedures with sedation.

Perioperative Outcomes of Open Retrograde Extraperitoneal Versus Intracorporeal Robot-assisted Radical Cystoprostatectomy in Men: A Dual-center Comparative Study.

INTRODUCTION: We compared retrograde extraperitoneal open radical cystoprostatectomy (REORC) and robot-assisted radical cystoprostatectomy with intracorporeal diversion (iRARC) and have reported the early perioperative outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: REORC and iRARC were each performed at a different tertiary high-volume center in 2 countries. Men aged ≥ 18 years with precystectomy clinical stage T1-T3 disease were included. Patients with previous major pelvic and/or intra-abdominal surgery, those who had undergone previous pelvic and/or abdominal irradiation, women, and patients with clinical stage T4 disease were excluded. All cases were managed according to a standardized enhanced recovery after surgery protocol, and all the patients had undergone ileal conduit urinary diversion. Bowel recovery was one of the main endpoints; thus, the intervals to passing flatus, tolerating oral feeding, and bowel opening were determined. The operative time, estimated blood loss, intraoperative complications, length of hospital stay, postcystectomy tumor type, stage, margin status, lymph node yield, and 30- and 90-day complications were analyzed. RESULTS: We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from October 2016 to December 2018 of 99 patients, 50 of whom had undergone REORC and 49 iRARC. The demographic data and preoperative parameters were comparable between the 2 groups. REORC resulted in a significantly shorter mean operative time (P < .001), significantly greater mean estimated blood loss (P < .001), and greater percentage of patients requiring blood transfusion (98% vs. 12.24%). No significant differences in the length of stay were observed (P = .412). The rate of prolonged postoperative ileus was 16% and 18.4% in the REORC and iRARC groups, respectively (P = .3). Differences in the interval to passing flatus, tolerating solid oral intake, and bowel opening were not statistically significant between the 2 groups (P = .423, P = .770, and P = .700, respectively). No statistically significant difference was observed in the postcystectomy pathologic outcomes and overall and major complications rates at 30 and 90 days. CONCLUSION: REORC resulted in quicker bowel recovery and a shorter length of stay compared with conventional open procedures, with advantages comparable to those realized with iRARC. Thus, REORC can be adopted as the preferred open approach at institutions without surgical robots available.

Laparoscopic re-implantation of refluxing ureter in children: A feasibility study.

OBJECTIVE: To report our initial experience in the application of laparoscopy in the management of children with unilateral vesico-ureteric reflux (VUR) using the laparoscopic extravesical transperitoneal approach following the Lich-Gregoir technique, and to evaluate the results and benefits of this technique for such patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between February 2013 and August 2014, 17 children [13 girls and four boys, with a median (range) age of 60 (24-120) months] presented with recurrent febrile urinary tract infections and were diagnosed with unilateral VUR. They underwent transperitoneal extravesical laparoscopic ureteric re-implantation following the Lich-Gregoir technique. Postoperatively abdomino-pelvic ultrasonography was done at 1 month after surgery and voiding cystourethrography (VCUG) at 3 months after surgery, and in cases with persistent VUR or de novo contralateral VUR another VCUG was done at 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: The median (range) operative time was 90 (80-120) min and the postoperative hospital stay was 2 (2-5) days. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were minimal. Patients were followed-up for a median (range) of 6 (3-21) months. All the children had complete resolution symptomatically and on VCUG, without further intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The laparoscopic extravesical transperitoneal approach for ureteric re-implantation, following the Lich-Gregoir technique, is feasible and very effective in the management of VUR. Prospective randomised studies are eagerly awaited to define the benefits of this technique to patients, as well as to determine the cost-effectiveness of this approach.