Robotic Warshaw technique with special attention to prevent postoperative splenic infarction preserving splenic blood flow.

Prevention of postoperative splenic infarction in the robotic Warshaw technique requires rigorous evaluation of blood flow to the spleen. Shibuya and colleagues recommend checking: (1) conventional splenic color change, (2) intrasplenic artery waveform by ultrasound Doppler examination, (3) blood flow using indocyanine green, and (4) pulsatile regurgitation from the splenic artery.

A multi-institutional study designed by members of Tokyo Guidelines (TG) Core Meeting to elucidate the clinical characteristics and pathogenesis of acute cholangitis after bilioenteric anastomosis and biliary stent insertion with a focus on biliary obstruction: Role of transient hepatic attenuation difference (THAD) and pneumobilia in improving TG diagnostic performance.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical characteristics of acute cholangitis (AC) after bilioenteric anastomosis and stent-related AC in a multi-institutional retrospective study, and validate the TG18 diagnostic performance for various type of cholangitis. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 1079 AC patients during 2020, at 16 Tokyo Guidelines 18 (TG 18) Core Meeting institutions. Of these, the post-biliary reconstruction associated AC (PBR-AC), stent-associated AC (S-AC) and common AC (C-AC) were 228, 307, and 544, respectively. The characteristics of each AC were compared, and the TG18 diagnostic performance of each was evaluated. RESULTS: The PBR-AC group showed significantly milder biliary stasis compared to the C-AC group. Using TG18 criteria, definitive diagnosis rate in the PBR-AC group was significantly lower than that in the C-AC group (59.6% vs. 79.6%, p < .001) because of significantly lower prevalence of TG 18 imaging findings and milder bile stasis. In the S-AC group, the bile stasis was also milder, but definitive-diagnostic rate was significantly higher (95.1%) compared to the C-AC group. The incidence of transient hepatic attenuation difference (THAD) and pneumobilia were more frequent in PBR-AC than that in C-AC. The definitive-diagnostic rate of PBR-AC (59.6%-78.1%) and total cohort (79.6%-85.3%) were significantly improved when newly adding these items to TG18 diagnostic imaging findings. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic rate of PBR-AC using TG18 is low, but adding THAD and pneumobilia to TG imaging criteria may improve TG diagnostic performance.