An unusual etiology of acute intestinal occlusion: The swallowed missing dentures a case reports and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Denture swallowing is an uncommon incident. However, it should be suspected in edentulous elderly patients who wear removable dentures which are poorly cared for and maintain. The existence of neuro-psychiatric disorders may contribute to the occurrence of this adverse event. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of an 85-years-old woman admitted to emergency with acute intestinal occlusion. The investigations concluded that the bowel was obstructed by a foreign body blocked in the terminal ileum. There was a high suspicion that his dental prosthesis had been swallowed. Removal of the dental prosthesis was achieved surgically after laparotomy. DISCUSSION: Foreign bodies in the esophagus could be responsible of a variety of symptoms, including dysphagia, airway obstruction and even perforation. In the gastrointestinal tract foreign bodies may be responsible of fewer specific symptoms, including abdominal pain, melena or perforation. The blockage will occur in anatomical strictures. At the most appropriate situations, removal should be performed through endoscopy, although in case of failure of procedure or complication, surgery will be unavoidable. CONCLUSION: Ingestion of a dental or other foreign object is a clinical condition that is more common in pediatric populations, but is very rare in healthy individuals. Denture swallowing is insidious in itself and may lead to a complicated course, if not properly managed. Although most of these can be conservative, careful monitoring is necessary to avoid such adverse event.

Quality of life in Tunisian colorectal cancer patients: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Quality of life (QOL) of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients has been little studied in Tunisia. The aim of this work was to evaluate the QOL of CRC patients and to identify factors that may influence it. METHODS: A cross-sectional, study spread was made over a period of 6 months on patients with CRC treated in the department of Medical Oncology of Farhat Hached University Hospital of Sousse. The EORTC questionnaires translated and validated in Arabic (QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR29) were used. RESULTS: 142 patients diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer were enrolled. The overall QOL score was 58.5 ± 29.1. The emotional and sexual functional dimensions were the most affected, especially in women and patients under 50 years of age. QOL scores were higher in patients who were in complete remission (71.4 ± 24.7) and in good general condition (63.7 ± 26.6) physical activity may have a significant influence on all functional dimensions of QOL (p < 0.001). Fatigue was significantly (p < 0.001) more present when there was a sedentary lifestyleradiotherapy, palliative chemotherapy (1st and 2nd line) and targeted therapy. CONCLUSION: Evaluating quality of life of patients with colorectal cancer in Tunisia is necessary especially those under 50 years old and in women. Laparoscopic surgery with restoration of intestinal continuity, less toxic palliative chemotherapy protocols, more accessibility to new radiotherapy technics will improve QOL of CRC patients. Physical activity and nutrition support are also essential in promoting QOL of these patients.

Contextual Validation of the Prediction of Postoperative Complications of Colorectal Surgery by the "ACS NSQIP ® Risk Calculator" in a Tunisian Center.

Context: Models for predicting individual risks of surgical complications are advantageous for operative decision making and the nature of postoperative management procedures. Objective: Validate the "ACS NSQIP® Risk Calculator" in the prediction of postoperative complications during colorectal cancer surgery, operated during the years 2015 to 2019. Methods: this is a prognostic validation study of the "ACS NSQIP®" applied retrospectively to patients operated on for colorectal cancer in the surgical department of Farhat Hached hospital, during the 2015 and 2019 5-year term. Three levels of adjustment. Discrimination and calibration were carried out mainly by ROC curves (AUC ⩾ 0.8). Results: In this study, 129 patients were included with a sex ratio of 1.22 and a median age of 62 years. The most common operative procedure was low segmental colectomy with colorectal anastomosis. Thirty-seven patients (28.7%) had at least one postoperative complication. The prediction and cuts-off points values of mortality (AUC = 0.858; CI95% [0.570-0.960]; Cuts-off points = 1.8%), cardiac complications (AUC = 0.824; CI95% [0.658-0.990]; Cuts-off points = 1.8%), thromboembolic complications (AUC = 0.802; CI95% [0.617-0.987]; Cuts-off point = 3.1%), and renal insufficiency (AUC = 0.802; CI95% [ 0.623-0.981]; Cuts-off point = 1.2%) were adjusted according to level 1 of the calculator. Conclusion: This work contextualized the prediction of postoperative complications in colorectal surgery in the university general surgery department of Farhat Hached in Sousse (Tunisia), making it possible to improve the quality and safety of surgical care. The application of the Tunisian mini calculator is recommended as well as the generalization of validation following the development of a generic calculator for all operating procedures.

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the stomach: A very rare and extremely aggressive tumor; a case report.

Introduction: Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the stomach is a very rare type of malignant gastric tumor characterized by distinct cell morphology.Only six cases have been reported in the literature. We report a case which illustrates the great rapidity of evolution and the aggressiveness of this histological type. Case presentation: A 80-year-old patient was explored for loss of 20 kg and epigastralgia. The explorations showed a non-metastatic antral sarcomatoid carcinoma with celiac necrotic lymphe node. The oncologic comitee decision was surgery straight away without perioperative chemotherapy.4 weeks after his first CT scan the patient was admitted for preparation for surgery. Clinical and morphological examination showed a clear increase in tumor size with associated tumor infection.The patient had distal gastrectomy. The tumor was perforated and locally advanced.The final pathological exams confirmed the histological type. Surgery was R0, but 4 months after surgery, local recurrence compressing gastro intestinal anastomosis was occurred. Clinical discussion: Operative difficulties and rapid recurrence after surgery would have been avoided by faster surgery after diagnosis. However, the surgery time was only 1 month, which illustrates the rapid evolution of sarcomatoid tumors. Conclusion: Sarcomatoid carcinoma is a rare tumor. These tumors can be aggressive with a large tumoral voulume and high rate of locoregional lymph node involvement. Our case illustrate the aggressiveness of this tumor. The benefit of peri-operative treatment is unknown.

Prolonged survival with systemic chemotherapy in an advanced malignant mesothelioma: A case report.

Peritoneal mesotheliomas are very rare tumors. Their prognosis is poor, average survival does not exceed 1 year after peritoneal cytoreduction. Systemic chemotherapy is considered to have no proven value in the management of peritoneal mesotheliomas. Objective responses with systemic chemotherapy are very rare. We report here a case of an advanced peritoneal mesothelioma which achieved an unexpected partial response with chemotherapy, allowing the patient to have a right colectomy. The patient was referred to a specialized center on HIPEC, but taking in account the long awaiting interval, the HIPEC was judged to be inefficient and then the poursuit of 6 cycles of systemic chemotherapy was decided. The patient is still alive without any symptom and with a good performance status at 59 months after diagnosis. Throughout our case, we provide an encouraging evidence of the role of initial systemic chemotherapy in the downstaging of initially unresectable primary malignant mesothelioma and in the improvement of overall survival.

Pancreatic metastases and first reported gallbladder metastasis from phyllodes tumor of the breast.

Distant metastases from breast phyllodes tumor (PT) are very rare. They usually occur in lung and bones. We report a case of a 51-year-old woman who was hospitalized in the digestive surgical department for atypical epigastric pain. Her medical history started 2 years ago when she underwent a curative left mastectomy for a malignant PT of the breast. Radical surgery was indicated to her resectable pancreatic tumor diagnosed on computed tomography. Histological exam confirmed that it was pancreatic metastases of her breast PT. Adjuvant chemotherapy was indicated. Three months after the surgery, the patient developed gallbladder and brain metastases. She died 5 weeks later. With this case, we enrich the literature with another example of pancreatic metastasis from PT and we report, for the first time, gallbladder metastasis. The very high aggressiveness of this tumor suggests that markers of tumor malignancy need to be sought after by subsequent studies.

Soft tissue leiomyosarcoma-diagnostics, management, and prognosis: Data of the registry cancer of the center of Tunisia.

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue leiomyosarcomas are rare, accounting for almost 5%-10% of all soft tissue sarcomas; they account for almost 1% of all sarcomas. They are aggressive tumors where location, size, and management require a multidisciplinary approach. Since there are few series published, we here analyze epidemiological pattern, clinical and pathologic features of soft tissue leiomyosarcomas. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 29 consecutive cases of histologically proven soft tissue leiomyosarcoma extracted from the database of the Cancer Registry of the Center of Tunisia and the Department of Pathology of Farhat Hached University Hospital of Sousse of Tunisia, during a 10-year period (from January 1996 to December 2005). Epidemiologic details, clinico-pathological features, and treatment modalities were assessed with focus on patients' 5-year overall survival, tumor relapse, and metastases. RESULTS: Soft tissue leiomyosarcoma accounted for 17.5% of all soft tissue sarcomas diagnosed at our pathology department. Most of patients were of advanced age (median: 52 years), with extremes ranging from 12 and 87 years. There was a slight male predominance (sex-ratio = 1.07). Tumors were located mostly in the lower limbs (45%). Deep sites as retroperitoneum was found only in two cases. Tumor size was more than 5 cm in 83% of cases (average size = 9.4 cm). Five cases had metastasis on initial staging. For 24 patients, the disease was locally limited at the moment of diagnosis. Palliative chemotherapy was indicated for four patients and surgery was performed for 20 patients. Local recurrence occurred in 11 patients (55% of operated patients) and metastasis in 6 patients. Overall, 5-year survival was about 24%. CONCLUSION: Our study results highlight the scarcity of soft tissue leiomyosarcoma. Unfortunately, unusual tumor sites, disease's advanced stages, and intralesional resection made the prognosis poorer than in other series. Clinical course of soft tissue leiomyosarcoma was highly marked by local recurrence and metastasis.

Unusual complication of seroma after ventral hernia mesh repair: Digestive perforation by tacks. A case report.

Intraperitoneal meshes are actually widely used in ventral hernia repair. They can reduce operative time, parietal prejudice and postoperative pain. One of the most well-known complications of intraperitoneal mesh is seroma, but it usually subsides without any therapeutic problems. These meshes can be fixed by tackers, suture or glue. Few complications related to the fixation technique are known. We report the case of a patient who underwent a laparoscopic mesh repair for incisional hernia. He developed an infected bulky seroma for which he had to undergo medical treatment and percutanous drainage in order to avoid the mesh removal. The evolution seemed to be favorable until the occurrence of an unusual and unexpected complication: a digestive fistula of the small bowel in the seroma cavity via a tack adhering to the intestines. The possibility of digestive lesions by a tack is reported by some cases reports. It seems most often to be related to a technical problem. In our case, this adhesion seems to be secondary to the pressure exerted by the seroma. The complicated seroma can be conservatively treated to save the mesh. However the delay before deciding to remove the mesh when using tackers for its fixation may be shortened.

Gastric Adenocarcinomas in Central Tunisia: Evolution Specificities through Two Decades and Relation with Helicobacter pylori.

INTRODUCTION: In developed countries, authors have reported variations over time in the seat and histological type of gastric adenocarcinomas, which were explained by Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI) incidence changes. In North-African countries and the Arabic world, epidemiological changes in gastric adenocarcinomas are still unknown. Our study aims to explore and to describe those changes in central Tunisia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective observational and descriptive study including 876 cases based on the National Central Tunisian Register of Cancers over a period of 21 years. Two groups were formed and compared (group A: 337 patients from 1995 to 2005; group B: 539 patients from 2006 to 2015). RESULTS: HPI decreased from 32.6% in group A to 11.2% in group B (p < 0.05). Signet ring cell carcinomas increased in 2 decades from 14% in group A to 36% in group B (p < 0.05). Proximal cancers were 16.61% in group A and increased to 19.66% in group B (p = 0.3). Total gastrectomy rate was 10.4% in group A versus 23.2% in group B (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study has shown a significant increase of signet ring cell carcinomas with a simultaneous decrease in HPI in the last decade in central Tunisia.

Partial spontaneous anal expulsion of the right colon lipoma: An exceptional diagnostic circumstance.

INTRODUCTION: Lipomas are most common benign tumors of the colon. They are asymptomatic and fortuitously discovered on a morphological examination. Rarely, they cause complications such as acute intussusception. In this article, we reported an exceptional discovery mode of right colon lipoma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 54-year-old woman has consulted for acute abdominal pain relieved by the anus emission of a fat ball that she brought back with her. Abdominal computed tomography scan showed the remaining part of a lipoma developed in her right colon. Laparoscopic right colonic resection was performed. DISCUSSION: Colic lipomas are usually asymptomatic and surgical indication in these cases is debated, but it is indicated whenever complications occur such as acute intestinal intussusception. In this case, discovery mode was not considered as a complication because lipoma evacuation could have been complete. Radiological explorations and colonoscopy could evaluate the lesional state. When surgery is decided, intersecting therapeutic strategy of a short colonic resection guided by a colonization during colonoscopy should be considered. CONCLUSION: The spontaneous expulsion of a colonic lipoma is very rare. Our observation showed that this expulsion may be partial. +The changes that the lipoma undergoes can evoke a malignant cause. a supplement to take care of this eventuality is necessary.

Jejunal diverticulosis: a rare case of intestinal obstruction.

Small bowel diverticulosis represents an uncommon pathology that is often misdiagnosed, since it causes non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms. It is defined by the existence of multiple diverticula, which are located most frequently in the jejunum. Diagnosis often occurs following the presentation of related complications such as diverticulitis, haemorrhage, perforation or obstruction. Intestinal obstruction can be caused by inflammatory stenosis due to repeated episodes of diverticulitis, volvulus, intussusception or the presence of enteroliths. Here, we report a case of multiple jejunal diverticula causing acute intestinal obstruction.

Upper digestive stenosis due to a hydatid cyst of the liver.

UNLABELLED: The complications of the hydatid cyst of the liver are dominated by infection and rupture. The compression of adjacent organs (mainly the inferior vena cava, the portal vein and the bile ducts) can be seen, when the cyst is located in the dome, in the hilum or within the hepatic parenchyma. Upper digestive stenosis by compression of the duodenum by the hydatid cyst is an exceptional complication. CASE REPORT: A 63 year-old patient had, for two months, upper digestive stenosis associated with a sensation of weight in the right hypochondrium. Digestive endoscopy showed an extrinsic compression of the second portion of the duodenum. Biopsies were negative. Abdominal CT showed up a hydatid cyst in the segment VI of the liver, adhering to the duodenum, with an exo-vesiculation compressing it. The patient was operated on: There was a hydatid cyst of the right lateral sector compressing the duodenum. A partial intralamellar pericystectomy was performed. CONCLUSION: Hydatid cyst of the liver, a parasitic disease described as benign, may give mechanical complications related to compression of adjacent organs (especially the bile ducts and veins). Compression of the digestive tract is exceptional. This is due to the proximity of the cyst to the duodenum and the thickness of the cyst wall.