Early Versus Delayed Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy for Acute Cholecystitis: A Single Center Experience.

Introduction: Acute cholecystitis (AC) represents a public health problem, increasing hospitalization costs, especially determined by the surgical treatment of these patients. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has become the therapeutic gold standard, the timing of the intervention: early (ELC) versus late (DLC), is still debated, impacting the results. The primary objective of the study was to compare postoperative outcomes between ELC and DLC. Secondary objectives assessed surgical outcomes from the pre-pandemic period with those from the Covid-19 pandemic. Material and methods: A retrospective observational study is presented of 266 patients diagnosed with AC who were admitted to Clinic I of General Surgery, County Emergency Clinical Hospital of T #226;rgu Mure #351;, from 2018 to 2022. They were classified into the ELC group ( 72 hours from the onset of symptoms) and DLC ( 72 hours from symptom onset) and were further stratified into prepandemic and pandemic cohorts. Data on clinical symptoms, paraclinical data, surgical details, and postoperative course were collected and analyzed. Discussion: The results confirm fewer conversions to open surgery and reduced hospitalization in the ELC group. The pandemic did not significantly alter the timing of surgeries or patient demographics. Conclusion: In conclusion, ELC for AC patients offers significant advantages, justifying its preference over DLC Despite the decrease in the incidence of AC hospitalizations during the pandemic, postoperative outcomes are comparable to those in the pre-pandemic period. Future multicenter studies are recommended for a broader analysis of the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery in emergency settings.

Prognosis Evaluation for Patients with Abdominal Trauma Using Usual Biological Parameters.

Introduction: Abdominal injuries are responsible for approximately 20% of all post-traumatic deaths, 45-50% of which occurring in the first 60 minutes. Currently there are several prediction scores for the evolution of these patients, which take into account degrees of anatomical lesion, clinical signs and imaging and paraclinical explorations. AIM: The aim of the study was to develop a scoring system to predict mortality in patients with abdominal trauma by using the usual biological parameters. METHOD: A retrospective, descriptive, correlational and non-interventional multicenter study was performed on a sample of 157 patients with abdominal traumata, hospitalized between 2015- 2021, in the General Surgery and the Emergency III clinics of the Emergency University Hospital Bucharest, respectively in the Surgery I Clinic of the Mures County Emergency Clinical Hospital. The following biochemical parameters were analyzed: hemoglobin, hematocrit, leukocyte and platelet counts, coagulogram, glycemia, urea, creatinine, AST, ALT with the intent to have the correlation with the ISS and NISS mortality and traumatic scores. Microsoft Excel and MedCalc applications were used for the statistical analysis of the data. Results: The studied sample presented a sex ratio M:F = 2.82:1, the mean age was 47.45 +- 17.37 years. The elements that presented a correlation with a value greater than 0.3 (and p 0.01) were: age, ALT, AST, urea, hemoglobin, platelet count and glycemia. The cut-off values for these parameters in reference to mortality were established by analyzing the ROC curves. This fact allowed the outline of a predictive score that correlates well with the value of ISS and NISS, the obtained ROC curve using as parameters the value of the proposed risk score and mortality highlighting a good predictive power of the mortality with an AUC of 0.930 (p 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of our study showed that a number of biochemical parameters may contribute to shaping a score with predictive value in terms of the evolution of abdominal trauma patients.

Clinical-Pathological Correlations in the Acute Surgical Abdomen in the Pre and Post-Pandemic Period Covid-19.

Background: In the case of patients admitted with acute abdomen at the emergency department, interstitial pulmonary pathology (Covid-19 infections) represents a significant operative risk for the patients. The rate of postoperative complications is high with increased morbidity and mortality, a real challenge for the medical staff and surgical/intensive care unit teams. In emergency settings, patients were examined with targeted clinical and paraclinical parameters that assure a fast diagnosis to optimize a rapid medical and surgical treatment. Methods: We conducted a retrospective comparative study that included patients enrolled and diagnosed with an acute surgical abdomen in Surgical Clinic 1 Tg. Mures Emergency County Hospital. Patients were examined and analyzed at the emergency department UPU-SMURD. We included patients admitted over the two years (2019 and 2020) and divided them into two groups. Results: The total number of patients admitted in the UPU-Smurd emergency department Surgical Clinic I over the two years was 1033. There was a significant reduction in total cases diagnosed with the acute surgical abdomen in the pandemic period (p=0.033). The average time from the admission to the surgical procedure was significantly higher in the pandemic period 380Ã+-2 min in comparison with 222+-3 min (p=0.001) and also with an increased average operative time 223+-3 min versus 145+-2 min (p=0.002). Average hospitalization time was higher in the pandemic period 10+-1 (p=0.031) with no significant difference between the groups regarding Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission (p=0.122). Overall mortality has more than doubled, with 31 cases (19%) in the pandemic and 28 (9%) in the non-pandemic. (p=0.001). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has played an essential role in treating acute surgical abdomen cases. The high solicitation rate of the emergency department delayed the diagnosis and treatment of severe surgical cases. As the scale of this pandemic is unprecedented, standard protocols with minor changes do not provide adequate results.

Monobloc Total Thyroidectomy Using Sealing Devices: Preliminary Results and Comparative Analysis.

Background: The desire for perfect haemostasis has led the medical equipment industry to produce ideal instruments for safe thyroidectomy. Thus, haemostasis and sealing instruments such as the LigaSureTM Small Jaw, ThunderbeatTM Open Fine Jaw and HarmonicTM Focus have been indicated for thyroid surgery. Aim: The purpose of this study is to present the initial results of using these three surgical instruments for performing monobloc thyroidectomy. Material and Methods: We performed a prospective study between January 2014 and July 2019 in which we included all the patients operated by same surgeon using those 3 sealing devices. Thyroidectomies were performed using LigaSureTM Small Jaw (group 1), the ThunderbeatTM Open Fine Jaw (group 2) and HarmonicTM Focus (group 3). The groups were statistically compared in term of duration of surgery and hospitalisation, early postoperative complications as well as voice alteration or acute respiratory failure. Results: No significant differences were observed among groups in terms of patient demographics, pathological diagnoses, postoperative complications, length of hospitalization, and clinical outcomes. Operating time was shorter in group 1. Conclusions: New surgical instruments have beneficial properties, including shortening the operative time, maintaining a clean operating field, and minimising smoke released during the operation.

Comparative oncological outcomes and survival following surgery for low rectal cancer - a single center experience.

In patients with low rectal cancer, intersphincteric resection (ISR) technique is a better alternative of abdominoperineal resection (APR), but is recommended to be done in non-locally advanced stages (=T2) only. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term oncological outcome and survival rate in patients with early and locally advanced stages that underwent ISR, as compared to APR. In order to assess the quality of life and prognosis of patients with low rectal cancer, the 5-year follow-up was done in 72 consecutive cases diagnosed in pT1-T4 stage that underwent ISR or APR. Histopathological and clinical parameters were compared between the two included groups. Although the quality of life was better in patients which underwent ISR, the 5-year overall survival rate was not found to be influenced by the used surgical technique (71% for ISR and 58% for APR) either by the histological grade of differentiation (p=0.62), independently from the T stage (p=0.61). Regardless of the type of surgery, the independent prognostic factors proved to be lymph node status (p=0.001), lymph node ratio (p=0.001), and clinical stage (p=0.0001). Lymph node status remains the most important prognostic factor of patients with low rectal cancer. Independently from the histological subtype and depth of tumor infiltration, good oncological results can be obtained when performing ISR in selected cases.