Transhiatal isoperistaltic colon interposition without cervical oesophagostomy in long-gap oesophageal atresia.

BACKGROUND: Oesophageal colonic interposition in oesophageal atresia (OA) patients is almost exclusively done as a staged operation with an initial oesophagostomy and gastrostomy followed by the definitive surgery months later. This study presents a series of patients in whom a cervical oesophagostomy was not performed before the substitution surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Records of EA patients were evaluated for those who underwent colon interposition without cervical oesophagostomy. RESULTS: There were five patients: three with pure EA and two with proximal tracheo-oesophageal fistula. A delayed primary repair could not be performed because of intra-abdominally located distal pouch. The mean age at the time of definitive operation was 5.54 (±2.7) months and the mean weight was 6.24 (±1.3) kg. A right or a left colonic segment was used for interposition keeping the proximal anastomosis within the thorax. The post-operative results were quite satisfactory within a median follow-up period of 33.2 months. CONCLUSION: Avoiding cervical oesophagostomy and its inherent complications and drawbacks is possible in a subset of patients with long-gap EA who underwent colonic substitution surgery. This approach may be seen as an extension of the consensus that the native oesophagus should be preserved whenever possible, because it uses the native oesophagus in its entirety.

Long-term analysis of surgical treatment outcomes in chronic pilonidal sinus disease.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Chronic pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) is relatively common in adolescents and can be treated by various surgical techniques. This study aimed to evaluate the outcome in adolescents surgically treated for PSD in a single clinic. METHODS: PSD patients surgically treated over an 8-year period were retrospectively evaluated. Classical midline incision and excision with primary repair was performed in all. Regular follow up visits were scheduled. Evaluation of postoperative outpatient clinic records as well as telephone interviews for patients who were operated more than 6months ago were done for the long-term results, including coherence to regional hair care. RESULTS: There were 268 patients with a median age of 16years; 146 (54%) were males, and 122 (46%) were females. Outpatient follow up records were available for 249 (92.9%) patients with a median of postoperative 3months (7days-49months). Moreover, 114 (42.5% of total) patients were interviewed by telephone 6-63 (median 25) months after the surgery. In 36 (13.4%) patients, wound infection or dehiscence occurred within the first month of surgery and was treated by secondary healing. Recurrences were observed in 21 (7.8%) patients all having poor local hygiene. Laser epilation was employed in 32 (28%) patients, and none of these had recurrences. CONCLUSIONS: Classical midline incision and primary closure approach for surgical treatment of PSD in adolescents has similar results to adults. Postoperative hair removal seems to reduce recurrences. TYPE OF STUDY: Treatment study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV (Retrospective case series with no comparison group).

Surgical Approach to Ovarian Torsion in Children.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Ovarian torsion in children is a relatively rare cause of acute abdominal pain. This study evaluates the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian torsion with an emphasis on conservative treatment approaches including the long-term follow-up results. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Patients with surgically treated ovarian torsions between December 2006 and February 2014 were included in this retrospective study. The patient population consisted of 41 patients with 42 ovaries involved. The mean age was 11 ± 3.9 (range, 1-17) years. The most common presenting symptom was abdominal pain. INTERVENTION: All patients underwent preoperative pelvic color Doppler ultrasonography that identified torsion in 34 (81%) ovaries. RESULTS: During surgery, a right-sided torsion was detected in 25 (59.5%), and a left-sided one was detected in 17 (40.5%) ovaries. An excisional surgery was used for 16 (38%) ovaries, and detorsion with conservation of the ovary was used for 26 (62%). A trend toward conservative management was seen over the years. Regular follow-up for those patients who underwent conservative surgery was done in 22 patients for a mean of 25 months (range, 1.5-83 months). Control color Doppler ultrasonographic results were within normal limits in terms of ovarian size and blood supply in 17 (77%) patients. Despite normal parenchymal echogenicity, an involved ovary was smaller in size compared to the other ovary in five patients. Ovarian follicles were present in three of them. CONCLUSION: The ovary-sparing, conservative surgery is found to be highly successful in the presented series. Although malignancies are rarely encountered in torsed ovaries with associated masses, biopsy samples should be obtained in suspicious cases.

The Prevalence of Malnutrition and Effectiveness of STRONGkids Tool in the Identification of Malnutrition Risks among Pediatric Surgical Patients.

BACKGROUND: High prevalence of malnutrition along with the risk for the development of malnutrition in hospitalised children has been reported. However, this problem remains largely unrecognised by healthcare workers. AIMS: To determine the prevalence of malnutrition and effectiveness of STRONGkids nutritional risk screening (NRS) tool in the identification of malnutrition risk among pediatric surgical patients. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: A total of 494 pediatric surgical patients (median age 59 months, 75.8% males) were included in this prospective study conducted over 3 months. SD-scores <-2 for Body Mass Index (BMI) for age or weight-for-height (WFH) and height-for-age (HFA) were considered to indicate acute and chronic malnutrition, respectively. The STRONGkids NRS tool was used to determine risk for malnutrition. RESULTS: Malnutrition was detected in 13.4% in this group of pediatric surgical patients. Acute malnutrition was identified in 10.1% of patients and more commonly in patients aged ≤60 months than aged >60 months (13.4 vs. 6.6%, p=0.012). Chronic malnutrition was identified in 23 (4.6%) of patients with no significant difference between age groups. There were 7 (1.4%) children with coexistent acute and chronic malnutrition. The STRONGkids tool revealed that 35.7% of patients were either in the moderate or high risk group for malnutrition. Malnutrition, as revealed by anthropometric measurements, was more likely in the presence of gastrointestinal (26.9%, p=0.004) and inguinoscrotal/penile surgery (4.0%, p=0.031), co-morbidities affecting nutritional status (p<0.001) and inpatient admissions (p=0.014). Among patients categorized as low risk for malnutrition, there were more outpatients than inpatients (89.3 vs. 10.7%, p<0.001) and more elective surgery cases than emergency surgery cases (93.4 vs. 6.6%, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Providing data on the prevalence of malnutrition and risk of malnutrition in a prospectively recruited group of hospitalised pediatric surgical patients, the data acquired in the present study emphasise the need to raise clinician's awareness about the importance of nutritional status assessment among hospitalised pediatric patients and the benefits of identifying patients at the risk of nutritional depletion before malnutrition occurs. Our findings support the use of the STRONGkids tool among pediatric surgical patients to identify patients at risk for malnutrition and to increase the physician's awareness of nutritional assessment among hospitalised patients upon admission.

Mitotically active plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor.

Plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor is an intermediate malignant tumor situated in superficial soft tissues. It affects children and young adults. The tumor is most commonly located on upper extremities, whereas involvement of back region is rare. Mitotic activity is generally low (~3/10 HPF). It is rare, but it can exhibit aggressive behavior, so total excision with clear surgical margins and long-term followup is necessary to detect local recurrence and metastases. We report a child with a solid mass on back region which was found to be a mitotically active plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor (6/10 HPF) after excision. Plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor (PFT) is a mesenchymal neoplasm of children, adolescents, and young adults. It is characterized by fibrohistiocytic cytomorphology and multinodular growth pattern. Clinically it is usually a slow-growing mass of upper extremities with frequent local recurrence and rare regional lymphatic and systemic metastasis (Fletcher et al. (2002), Enzinger and Zhang (1988), Remstein et al. (1999)).

Symptomatic omphalomesenteric duct remnants in children.

BACKGROUND: The present study gathers a single institutional experience of symptomatic omphalomesenteric duct (OMD) remnants in children with an emphasis on the age and modes of presentation, the surgical intervention and the histopathological findings. METHODS: The data on children who underwent surgical treatment for symptomatic OMD remnants during a 17-year period were reviewed retrospectively, excluding incidental diverticulectomies. RESULTS: A total of 59 children with a median age of 36 months underwent operations for symptomatic OMD remnants. There were 48 boys and 11 girls. The presenting signs were gastrointestinal tract (GIT) obstruction in 21 (36%) patients, acute abdomen in 18 (31%), umbilical abnormalities in 17 (29%), and rectal bleeding in three (5%). Patients presenting with umbilical anomalies were significantly younger than others. At surgery, a wedge resection of the remnant was carried out in 32 cases and an ileal resection was carried out in 27. Children presenting with GIT obstruction underwent segmentary ileal resection more often than other groups. Histopathology revealed inflammation in 26 (44%) specimens, ectopic tissue in 18 (31%) and necrosis in four (7%). Ectopic gastric mucosa was detected in 15 specimens, pancreatic tissue in two and both gastric and pancreatic tissue in one. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic OMD remnants in children most commonly presented with GIT obstruction, acute abdomen and umbilical anomalies. Rectal bleeding was not a predominant finding in the present series. Surgery is curative and can safely be done either by way of wedge resection or ileal segmentary resection. Ectopic tissue is detected in approximately one third of symptomatic remnants.

Relationship between release of beta-endorphin, cortisol, and trauma severity in children with blunt torso and extremity trauma.

PURPOSE: To determine the levels of beta-endorphin and cortisol in children with multiple injuries and to determine whether there is any difference between and compare the severity of trauma and beta-endorphin and cortisol release as calculated using Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS). METHODS: During a 10-month period, 80 children with multiple injuries admitted to a University Hospital's Pediatric Surgery Department were studied. Blood samples were obtained immediately at admission and a PTS of each patient was calculated. The correlation between PTS and hormonal values were searched. The children were classified into two groups according to their PTS. Group 1 had PTS >8 and group 2 had PTS < or =8. The two groups were also compared with respect to their beta-endorphin and cortisol values. RESULTS: There was a linear correlation between beta-endorphin and cortisol values and the injury severity. The levels were higher in the patients with more severe injuries. There were 60 patients in group 1 and 20 patients in group 2. Their ages were 9.2 +/- 4.1 and 9.7 +/- 4.2 years, respectively (p > 0.05). The mean PTS for group 1 patients was 11 +/- 0.8 and for group 2 patients was 7.4 +/- 1.2 (p < 0.001). The mean plasma beta-endorphin concentrations were 124.4 +/- 114.4 pg/mL in group 1 patients and 261.6 +/- 231.2 pg/mL in group 2 (p < 0.001). The respective plasma cortisol concentrations in the two groups were 22.5 +/- 10.3 microg/dL and 30.8 +/- 17.2 microg/dL (p < 0.05), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that the plasma beta-endorphin and cortisol levels are elevated in children after blunt trauma and the degree of elevation is related to the injury severity.

Effects of prenatal flutamide on testicular development, androgen production and fertility in rats.

INTRODUCTION: To investigate the effects of blocking prenatal androgen with the anti-androgen flutamide on testicular weight (TW), seminiferous tubular diameter (STD), testicular biopsy score (TBS), testicular testosterone (TT), and fertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten pregnant Wistar albino rats were injected with flutamide (100 mg/kg) on gestational days 16 and 19. Rats injected with the solvent were used as controls. Male pups from these dams were evaluated for testicular descent on postnatal day 22. The ability of each male to produce offspring was tested when the animals were aged 130 days. The rats were killed when 180 days old, and the testes were removed. RESULTS: Sixteen of the 24 male rats (66.6%) exhibited cryptorchidism (6 unilateral, 10 bilateral) in the flutamide-treated group. Three of the rats with normally descended testicles were fertile, but none of the cryptorchid rats was fertile in flutamide-treated group. The average TW, mean STD, TBS and TT levels of the flutamide-treated rats was significantly lower than in the solvent-injected rats. However, there was no significant difference in these values between descended and undescended testes in flutamide-treated rats. CONCLUSION: Blocking of prenatal androgen with flutamide interferes with testicular development by inhibiting testicular descent, and also effects testicular morphology and function in both the descended and undescended testes of rats.

Renal effects of long-term leptin infusion and preventive role of losartan treatment in rats.

BACKGROUND: Leptin has direct and indirect effects on renal pathophysiological characteristics. In the present study, the effects of long-term leptin infusion on the renal hemodynamics, renal excretory functions, and the expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels, and preventive effects of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist, losartan, on these renal changes were evaluated. METHODS: The study was performed by using forty Wistar albino rats. On day 0, osmotic mini-pumps filled with leptin or placebo were intraperitoneally placed under sterile conditions. The rats in Group L (Leptin group, n=15) and Group LL (Leptin-losartan group, n=15) were given recombinant murine leptin at a rate of 250 ng per hour for 28 days. Control rats (Group C, n=10) were administered placebo at the same infusion rate. The rats in Group LL were also administered losartan (10 mg kg(-1) d(-1)) perorally for 28 days. On day 28, the rats were placed in metabolic cages, and the food and water intakes were determined, and the urine was collected for 24 h. At the end of the study, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were determined directly from the left femoral artery, and renal blood flow (RBF) was recorded indirectly using a laser Doppler flow module. RESULTS: Leptin infusion did not produce any changes in systemic arterial blood pressures and urinary flow rate. The rates of creatinine (Cr), sodium (Na), and protein excretions of the animals infused leptin were significantly increased. The urinary Cr and Na excretions were decreased, while the urinary protein excretion was normalized with the losartan treatment. The rats infused leptin had also higher circulating ET-1 levels. ET-1 levels were also reversed to the normal values with the losartan treatment. Renal TGF-beta1 expression was determined immunohistochemically, and it was more prominent in the renal tubules from the rats treated with leptin. The losartan treatment had no effect on renal TGF-beta1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that pathophysiological increases in plasma leptin concentrations cause enhanced renal Na, Cr and protein excretions, and high circulating ET-1 levels. Na and Cr excretions were decreased, while proteinuria and plasma ET-1 levels were normalized by losartan treatment, suggesting that renin-angiotensin system activation may have a role in leptin induced renal changes. TGF-beta1 may have an important role in leptin induced nephropathy.

The role of infection and free oxygen radical damage in reflux nephropathy: an experimental study.

PURPOSE: We compared the effects of sterile and infected urine on reflux nephropathy in rabbits with experimental vesicoureteral reflux. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used 2-month-old male New Zealand rabbits in this study. Group 1 (5 rabbits) served as the control, group 2 (7) was the vesicoureteral reflux plus sterile urine group and group 3 (8) was the reflux plus infected urine group. Cystography and 99mTc-dimercapto-succinic acid renal scintigraphy were performed before the reflux procedure. To create unilateral vesicoureteral reflux the roof of the right intravesical ureter was incised. Escherichia coli suspension (2 ml.), 105 E. coli in 1 ml.) was introduced into the bladder in addition to the reflux procedure in group 3. Right vesicoureteral reflux was confirmed by cystography 2 weeks after reflux. Dimercapto-succinic acid scintigraphy was performed at 3 weeks and the animals were sacrificed and examined. Free oxygen radical damage was investigated by measuring malondialdehyde levels in renal tissue. ANOVA and Scheffe's test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Histopathological evaluation of the right kidney from group 2 rabbits showed mild interstitial fibrosis and mononuclear cell infiltration. The right kidney from group 3 rabbits showed apparent periglomerular fibrosis, tubular atrophy and dilatation, severe interstitial scarring and fibrosis with mononuclear cell infiltrate. There were marked histopathological changes in the right kidney of group 3 rabbits. The absolute percent dose uptake was unchanged in group 2 rabbits (p >0.05). There was significantly decreased uptake in refluxing kidneys and increased uptake in the contralateral nonrefluxing kidneys after vesicoureteral reflux in group 3 rabbits. The malondialdehyde level in the right renal tissue of group 3 was significantly higher than that in controls and in group 2 (p <0.05). The malondialdehyde level in the sterile reflux group did not differ significantly from that in the control group (p >0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that free oxygen radical damage in the presence of infection has an important role in reflux nephropathy.