The Best Approach for Laparoscopic Fluorescence Cholangiography: Overview of the Literature and Optimization of Dose and Dosing Time.

BACKGROUND: Fluorescence cholangiography using indocyanine green (ICG) can enhance orientation of bile duct anatomy during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. To ensure clear discrimination between bile ducts and liver, the fluorescence ratio between both should be sufficient. This ratio is influenced by the ICG dose and timing of fluorescence imaging. We first systematically identified all strategies for fluorescence cholangiography. Second, we aimed to optimize the dose of ICG and dosing time in a prospective clinical trial. METHODS: PubMed was searched for clinical trials studying fluorescence cholangiography. Furthermore, 28 patients planned to undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy were divided into 7 groups, receiving different intravenous doses (5 or 10 mg ICG) at different time points (0.5, 2, 4, 6, or 24 hours prior to surgery). RESULTS: The systematic review revealed 27 trials including 1057 patients. The majority of studies used 2.5 mg administered within 1 hour before imaging. Imaging 3 to 24 hours after ICG administration was never studied. The clinical trial demonstrated that the highest bile duct-to-liver ratio was achieved 3 to 7 hours after administration of 5 mg and 5 to 25 hours after administration of 10 mg ICG. Up to 3 hours after administration of 5 mg and up to 5 hours after administration of 10 mg ICG, the liver was equally or more fluorescent than the cystic duct, resulting in a ratio ≤1.0. CONCLUSION: This study shows for the first time that the interval between ICG administration and intraoperative fluorescence cholangiography should be extended. Administering 5 mg ICG at least 3 hours before imaging is easy to implement in everyday clinical practice and results in bile duct-to-liver ratios >1.0.

Contemporary Insertion of Central Venous Access Catheters in Pediatric Patients: A Retrospective Record Review Study of 538 Catheters in a Single Center.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the rate of infections and complications after surgeon-performed, largely ultrasound-guided, central venous catheter (CVC) placement in a pediatric population and to identify patients at high risk of complications. METHODS: All children aged between 4 months and 19 years with a percutaneous CVC inserted between January 1, 2000, and July 31, 2013, were included. Patient records were reviewed retrospectively for the occurrence of infection and other complications until CVC removal or the last outpatient clinic visit and compared between patient groups and with the recent literature. RESULTS: A total of 538 CVCs were placed in 345 patients. Eight patients (1.5%) suffered complications during placement. There were 84 cases of a suspected CVC infection (15.6%). Catheter-related infections with a positive catheter tip culture occurred in 25 cases (4.6%). Older patients (odds ratio [OR] 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.98) or patients with a double-lumen 7 French Bard-Hickman catheter (OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.11-1.00) had a significantly lower risk of infection. Older patients (OR 0.94; 95% CI 0.89-0.99) and patients with beta-thalassemia (OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.17-0.71) also had a significantly lower risk of suspected infection. CONCLUSION: In general, infection rates in our series were similar to those in the recent literature. Younger patients seem to be at higher risk for CVC removal because of infection prior to the end of treatment. Patients with beta-thalassemia or receiving a double-lumen 7F Bard-Hickman catheter had a lower risk of infection.

Optimization of near-infrared fluorescence cholangiography for open and laparoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUND: During laparoscopic cholecystectomy, common bile duct (CBD) injury is a rare but severe complication. To reduce the risk of injury, near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent cholangiography using indocyanine green (ICG) has recently been introduced as a novel method of visualizing the biliary system during surgery. To date, several studies have shown feasibility of this technique; however, liver background fluorescence remains a major problem during fluorescent cholangiography. The aim of the current study was to optimize ICG dose and timing for NIR cholangiography using a quantitative intraoperative camera system during open hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery. Subsequently, these results were validated during laparoscopic cholecystectomy using a laparoscopic fluorescence imaging system. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients who underwent NIR imaging using the Mini-FLARE image-guided surgery system during open HPB surgery were analyzed to assess optimal dosage and timing of ICG administration. ICG was intravenously injected preoperatively at doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg, and imaged at either 30 min (early) or 24 h (delayed) post-injection. Next, the optimal doses found for early and delayed imaging were applied to two groups of seven patients (n = 14) undergoing laparoscopic NIR fluorescent cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. RESULTS: Median liver-to-background contrast was 23.5 (range 22.1­35.0), 16.8 (range 11.3­25.1), 1.3 (range 0.7­7.8), and 2.5 (range 1.3­3.6) for 5 mg/30 min, 10 mg/30 min, 10 mg/24 h, and 20 mg/24 h, respectively. Fluorescence intensity of the liver was significantly lower in the 10 mg delayed-imaging dose group compared with the early imaging 5 and 10 mg dose groups (p = 0.001), which resulted in a significant increase in CBD-to-liver contrast ratio compared with the early administration groups (p < 0.002). These findings were qualitatively confirmed during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. CONCLUSION: This study shows that a prolonged interval between ICG administration and surgery permits optimal NIR cholangiography with minimal liver background fluorescence.

Choosing a hospital for surgery: the importance of information on quality of care.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether patients use information on quality of care when choosing a hospital for surgery compared with more general hospital information. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study in 3 Dutch hospitals, questionnaires were sent to 2122 patients who underwent 1 of 6 elective surgical procedures in 2005-2006 (aorta reconstruction [for treatment of aneurysm], cholecystectomy, colon resection, inguinal hernia repair, esophageal resection, thyroid surgery). Patients were asked which information they had used to choose this hospital and which information they intended to use if they would need similar surgical treatment in the future. RESULTS: In total, 1329 questionnaires were available for analysis (response rate 62.6%). Most patients indicated having used the hospital's good reputation (69.1%) and friendly hospital atmosphere (63.3%) to choose a hospital. For future choices, most patients intended to use the fact that they were already treated in that hospital (79.3%) and the hospital's good reputation (74.1%). Regarding quality-of-care information, patients preferred a summary measure (% patients with ''textbook outcome'') over separate more detailed measures (52.1% v. 38.0%, χ2 = 291, P < 0.01). For future choices, patients intend to use more information items than in 2005-2006, both in absolute terms (9 v. 4 items, t = 38.3, P < 0.01) as relative to the total number of available items (41.3% [40.1%-42.5%] v. 29.2% [28.1%-30.2%]). CONCLUSION: Patients intended to use more information for future choices than they used for past choices. For future choices, most patients prefer a summary measure on quality of care over more detailed measures but seem to value that they were already treated in that hospital or a hospital's good reputation even more.