Community-based prehabilitation in older patients and high-risk patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery.

INTRODUCTION: Prehabilitation before colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery is promising to prevent complications and to enhance recovery, especially in patients aged 70 or older or in patients with an American Society of Anaesthesiologist (ASA) physical classification score 3-4, for whom surgery is associated with higher postoperative complications and long-lasting adverse effects on functional performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cohort study was conducted in a large teaching hospital in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. Fifty CRC patients (≥70 years or ASA 3-4) underwent multimodal prehabilitation between September 2020 and July 2021. The reference group comprised 50 patients (≥70 years or ASA 3-4) from a historical cohort receiving CRC surgery without prehabilitation (March 2020-August 2020). The primary outcome was 90-day postoperative complication rate. Secondary outcomes were length of stay, 90-day readmission and mortality rates and functional outcome in the prehabilitation group. RESULTS: One patient in the prehabilitation group decided not to undergo surgery. Of the remaining 49 patients, 48 (98.0 %) received prehabilitation for at least 3 weeks. Of these patients, 32.7 % developed postoperative complications, compared to 58 % in the reference group (p = 0.015), and none were readmitted, in contrast to 6 reference group patients (12.0 %, p = 0.012). Length of stay and mortality did not differ significantly. Six weeks postoperatively, all functional outcomes in the prehabilitation group were significantly higher than at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Prehabilitation reduced postoperative complications and improved short-term functional outcomes in older and high-risk patients receiving CRC surgery. Further research should investigate the maintenance of long-term enhanced lifestyle and the effects of tailor-made programs.

[A sudden onset of groin pain]. / Plotselinge pijn in de lies.

We describe an 11-year-old boy with sudden onset of right groin pain which occurred during soccer. He was diagnosed with an avulsion fracture of the lesser trochanter, a hyperextension and rotation trauma due to traction on the iliopsoas tendon. The treatment was conservative and full function returned.

Dealing with indeterminate pulmonary nodules in colorectal cancer patients; a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs) are frequently encountered on staging computed tomography (CT) in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and they create diagnostic dilemmas. This systematic review and pooled analysis aims to estimate the incidence and risk of malignancy of IPNs and provide an overview of the existing literature on IPNs in CRC patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: EMBASE, Pubmed and the Cochrane database were searched for papers published between January 2005 and April 2020. Studies describing the incidence of IPNs and the risk of malignancy in CRC patients and where the full text was available in the English language were considered for inclusion. Exclusion criteria included studies that used chest X-ray instead of CT, liver metastasis cohorts, studies with less than 60 CRC patients and reviews. RESULTS: A total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria, involving 8637 patients. Pooled analysis revealed IPNs on staging chest CT in 1327 (15%) of the CRC patients. IPNs appeared to be metastatic disease during follow up in 16% of these patients. Regional lymph node metastases, liver metastases, location of the primary tumour in the rectum, larger IPN size and multiple IPNs are the five most frequently reported parameters predicting the risk of malignancy of IPNs. CONCLUSION: A risk stratification model for CRC patients with IPNs is warranted to enable an adequate selection of high risk patients for IPN follow up and to diminish the use of unnecessary repetitive chest CT-scans in the many low risk patients.