Fistula development after anal abscess drainage-a multicentre retrospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: Anal abscesses are common and, despite correct treatment with surgical drainage, carry the risk of developing fistulas. Studies identifying risk factors for the development of anal fistulas are sparse. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for anal fistulas after anal abscess surgery. METHODS: This was a multicentre, retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing acute surgery for anal abscesses in the Capital Region of Denmark between 2018 and 2019. The patients were identified using ICD-10 codes for anal abscesses. Predefined clinicopathological factors and postoperative courses were extracted from patient records. RESULTS: A total of 475 patients were included. At a median follow-up time of 1108 days (IQR 946-1320 days) following surgery, 164 (33.7%) patients were diagnosed with an anal fistula. Risk factors for developing fistulas were low intersphincteric (OR 2.77, 95CI 1.50-5.06) and ischioanal (OR 2.48, 95CI 1.36-4.47) abscesses, Crohn's disease (OR 5.96, 95CI 2.33-17.2), a history of recurrent anal abscesses (OR 4.14, 95CI 2.47-7.01) or repeat surgery (OR 5.96, 95CI 2.33-17.2), E. coli-positive pus cultures (OR 4.06, 1.56-11.4) or preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) of more than 100 mg/L (OR 3.21, 95CI 1.57-6.71). CONCLUSION: Several significant clinical risk factors were associated with fistula development following anal abscess surgery. These findings are clinically relevant and could influence the selection of patients for specialised follow-up, facilitate expedited diagnosis, and potentially prevent unnecessarily long treatment courses.

Uterine rupture during vaginal birth misinterpreted as acute appendicitis postpartum.

This case report describes a uterine rupture initially misinterpreted as acute appendicitis. Uterine rupture is a rare but serious obstetric complication, whereas acute appendicitis is one of the most common causes of abdominal pain. The patient gave vaginal birth after previously having had a caesarean delivery. The following days she experienced persistent abdominal pain which was interpreted as acute appendicitis. Diagnostic laparoscopy found a normal appendix but a complete uterine rupture. The lesson to be learned from this case report is not to let the most common diagnoses overshadow the rare ones.

[Treatment of perianal fistulas with mesenchymal stem cells].

Treatment of perianal fistulas are challenged by insufficient healing and a high rate of relapse. Existing sphincter-sparing procedures have healing rates of around 50%. Treatment with mesenchymal stem cells of both autologous and allogenic origin and freshly collected autologous adipose tissue show both promising healing rates and few complications and may be offered to patients with complicated fistulas not suited for other treatment modalities.

[Cryptoglandular anal fistulas].

Cryptoglandular anal fistulas (AF) cause recurrent anal abscesses and patients risk multiple surgeries due to low healing rates of sphincter-saving procedures. Knowledge of anal anatomy and imaging with MRI or endoanal sonography is crucial to classify AF as simple or complex depending on risk of anal incontinence after fistulotomy as summarised in this review. Fistulotomy has healing rates of > 90%, risks incontinence, and the procedure is reserved for simple fistulas. Complex AF are treated with a draining seton and then with sphincter-saving procedures which have long-term healing rates of about 50%.

Fistula Laser Closure (FiLaC™) for fistula-in-ano-yet another technique with 50% healing rates?

PURPOSE: Treatment of ano-cutaneous fistulas remains a therapeutic challenge. Fistula Laser Closure (FiLaC™) is a relatively new technique for the treatment of ano-cutaneous fistulas. This study aimed to determine the success rate of fistula closure using FiLaC™. Secondary endpoints included adverse events and patient characteristics associated with treatment success. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients subjected to FiLaC™ at Digestive Disease Center, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, between March 2017 and July 2019. All patients had a one-track fistula not suitable for fistulotomy. All were treated with a draining seton for at least 8 weeks prior to laser closure. Fistulas were ablated with a 360-degree emitting 12-watt 1470 nm laser probe. The inner fistula opening was closed with absorbable suture. All patients were followed with clinical examination including MRI or EAUS 1 year after the procedure. RESULTS: In total, 66 patients with 68 fistulas were included. Two patients had a high intersphincteric, 20 had low transsphincteric, 41 high transsphincteric and 5 had suprasphincteric fistulas. Fistula aetiology was cryptoglandular in 83.8%, whereas the rest were due to Crohn's disease. Thirty-one (45.6%) were subjected to a second FiLaC™ procedure. Follow-up was median 19 months (12-26 months). Ultimately, 30 of 68 (44.1%) of the fistulas healed. No cases of incontinence following FiLaC™ were observed, but a single patient developed an abscess. CONCLUSION: Fistula closure with FiLaC™ had success rates comparable to that of other sphincter-sparing techniques. The technique seems safe with respect to adverse events and risk of incontinence.

Mortality after abdominal emergency surgery in nonagenarians.

PURPOSE: To search the pattern of diagnoses in nonagenarians undergoing emergency abdominal surgery between January 2009 and December 2013 in two hospitals. To test the hypothesis that pre-hospital functional status is an effective criterion for predicting postoperative mortality in nonagenarians after emergency abdominal surgery. METHODS: The study is an observational study on 157 patients. Patients were identified from the operation database and perioperative data were extracted as prospectively information supplied by retrospective data from patient electronic files. The primary endpoints were short, middle and long-term mortality and the secondary endpoint was to identify preoperative factors associated with postoperative mortality. RESULTS: The most frequent reason for operation was intestinal obstruction. Overall mortality in the cohort was 34% (n = 54) after 30 days and 54% (n = 84) after 1 year. Amongst patients developing a serious complication (classified as Clavien Dindo class III or greater) after surgery (n = 45) the mortality was 80% (n = 36) after 30 days and 89% (n = 40) after 1 year. In multivariate analysis, a high American Association of Anesthesiologists class (ASA) and a high Performance Status (PS) class (low performance) were significant predictors of post-operative mortality. CONCLUSION: Our data support pre-admission functional status for predicting postoperative mortality after emergency abdominal surgery in nonagenarians.

[Treatment of anal abscesses].

Anal abscesses are well-known conditions worldwide. The golden standard of acute treatment is incision and drainage. Knowledge of the anatomy of the anal area and the abscess involvement of perianal spaces is crucial in order to perform safe and correct surgical treatment as summarised in this review. Pre- and perioperative imaging with magnetic resonance imaging, endoanal ultrasonography or CT facilitates correct incision and drainage, while antibiotics as conservative approach have no place in the treatment of abscesses. One third of the patients have an underlying fistula, and if suspected referral to a fistula centre is warranted.

Treatment of chronic anal fissure: a feasibility study on Levorag® Emulgel versus Diltiazem gel 2.

PURPOSE: To compare the standard treatment, diltiazem gel 2%, with Levorag® Emulgel for chronic anal fissures. METHODS: This was a single-blinded, randomised, controlled, clinical trial with a non-inferiority design. Patients with a chronic anal fissure were randomised to treatment with diltiazem or Levorag® Emulgel twice daily for 8 weeks. Primary endpoint was complete healing of the anal fissure after 12 weeks. Secondary endpoints included incidence of adverse events and efficacy on pain relief. RESULTS: In total, 55 patients were included. Inclusion was terminated prematurely due to a slow inclusion rate. Complete fissure healing at 12 weeks follow-up was overall achieved in 31 of 55 (56%) patients, 18 of 29 (62%) in the diltiazem group compared with 13 of 26 (50%) in the Levorag® Emulgel group (P = 0.424). Pain relief was significantly better at day seven in patients treated with diltiazem (P = 0.040) compared with Levorag® Emulgel, whereas there were no differences in early (3 days) or late (12 weeks) pain relief. Three patients (10.3%) developed severe perianal exanthema during diltiazem treatment, whereas no side effects were observed in the Levorag® Emulgel group. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated statistical non-inferiority of Levorag® Emulgel compared with diltiazem in the treatment of chronic anal fissure. Diltiazem resulted in a more prompt pain relief and also in a substantial number of local allergic reactions. Levorag® Emulgel may therefore be an alternative in these patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov no. NCT02158013.

[Perianal abscess after anal intercourse should raise suspicion of rectal gonorrhoeae infection].

Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection is a sexually transmitted disease. Rectal gonorrhoea is often asymptomatic, the most common symptoms are anal pain, bleeding and purulent discharge. This case report describes a younger man, who experienced increasing anal pain and later fever after anal intercourse. N. gonorrhoeae infection was verified, before a clinical examination revealed a perianal abscess. During incision of the abscess an anal fistula was suspected, and six weeks after primary surgery and treatment with relevant antibiotics, transanal ultrasonography showed perianal scarring and no signs of anocutaneous fistula.

Renal function after elective total hip replacement.

Background and purpose - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with increased short-term and long-term mortality in intensive care populations and in several surgical specialties, but there are very few data concerning orthopedic populations. We have studied the incidence of AKI and the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in an elective population of orthopedic patients undergoing primary total hip replacement, hypothesizing that chronic kidney disease predisposes to AKI. Patients and methods - This was a single-center, population-based, retrospective, registry-based cohort study involving all primary elective total hip replacements performed from January 2003 through December 2012. Patient demographics and creatinine values were registered. We evaluated the presence of CKD and AKI according to the international guidelines for kidney disease (KDIGO Acute Kidney Injury Workgroup 2013 ). Results - 3,416 patients were included (2,064 females (60%)). AKI (according to KDIGO criteria) was seen in 75 patients (2.2%, 95% CI: 1.7-2.7) in the course of primary total hip replacement. Of these, 26 had pre-existing CKD of class 3-5. Pre-existing CKD of class 3-5, indicating moderately to severely reduced kidney function, was seen in 374 individuals (11%). Interpretation - Development of acute kidney injury appears to be a substantial problem compared to other complications related to elective total hip arthroplasty, i.e. luxation and infection. Patients with pre-existing chronic kidney disease may be especially vulnerable. The clinical impact of acute kidney injury in an elective orthopedic population remains to be elucidated.

Medication errors detected in non-traditional databases: types of errors in methotrexate dosing as listed in four different Danish registers.

AIMS: We have looked for medication errors involving the use of low-dose methotrexate, by extracting information from Danish sources other than traditional pharmacovigilance databases. We used the data to establish the relative frequencies of different types of errors. METHODS: We searched four databases for cases involving low-dose methotrexate between 1999 and 2011: the Danish Patient Safety Databases (DPSD), controlled by the Danish National Agency for Patients' Rights and Complaints, the Patient Compensation Association (PCA), the Danish Poison and Information Centre (DPIC), and the online database of the Department for Patient Complaints (DPC). We categorized the place where the error occurred, the processes and types of error involved, the person responsible, and the clinical outcome. RESULTS: We identified 173 errors. In 109 (63%), either harm resulted or could not be excluded; of these, 26 (15%) resulted in serious harm, including nine deaths (5%); 53 (31%) involved incorrect daily administration; and 107 (62%) involved a dosing error. Sixteen events (9.2%) concerned insufficient or faulty monitoring, with four serious outcomes and two deaths. Prescription errors involving daily rather than weekly administration, by hospital physicians, were most likely to result in serious outcomes, including deaths. The error mechanism was evaluated in 129 events. Action-based errors comprised 50 % and knowledge-based errors 34 %. Action-based errors were more likely to result in completed errors, whereas knowledge-based errors more often resulted in near misses. CONCLUSIONS: The medication errors in this survey were most often action-based (50%) and knowledge-based (34%), suggesting that greater attention should be paid to education and surveillance of medical personnel who prescribe and monitor methotrexate, particularly physicians, who accounted for 40% of the errors.