Intestinal ischemia in patients with incarcerated groin hernia: proposal and validation of a score.

PURPOSE: Intestinal ischemia (II) is the most critical factor to determine in patients with incarcerated groin hernia (IGH) because II could be reversible, and it is considered as a "time sensitive condition." Although predictive factors of II were identified in several previous studies, preoperative diagnosis of II cannot be reliably made or excluded by any known parameter. The aims of this study were: to devise and to validate a clinic-biologic score, with a strong discriminatory power, for predicting the risk of II in patients with IGH. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective bicentric study including 335 patients with IGH. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictive factors of II. We assigned points for the score according to the regression coefficient. The area under the curve (AUC) was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The scoring system was then prospectively validated on a second independent population of 45 patients admitted for IGH in the same departments (internal validation). RESULTS: Four independent predictive factors of II were identified: heart rate, duration of symptoms before admission, prothrombin, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). A predictive score of II was established based on these independent predictive factors. Sensitivity was 94.50%; specificity was 92.70%. The AUC of this score was 0.97. The AUC was 0.96 when the score was applied on the second population of patients. CONCLUSIONS: We performed a score to predict the risk of intestinal II with a good accuracy (the AUC of our score was 0.97). This score is reliable and reproducible, so it can help a surgeon to prioritize patients with II for surgery (especially at this time of COVID-19 pandemic), because ischemia could be reversible, avoiding thus intestinal necrosis.

Predicting Intestinal Ischaemia in Patients with Adhesive Small Bowel Obstruction: A Simple Score.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Intestinal ischaemia (II) is the most critical factor to determine in patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO) because intestinal ischaemia could be reversible. The aim of this study was to create a clinicoradiological score to predict II in patients with ASBO. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study including 124 patients with ASBO. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictive factors of II. We assigned points for the score according to the regression coefficient. The area under the curve (AUC) was determined using receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: Six independent predictive factors of II were identified: age, pain duration, body temperature, WBC, reduced wall enhancement and segmental mesenteric fluid at CT scan. According to the regression, coefficient points were assigned to each of the variables associated with II. The estimated rates of II were calculated for the total scores ranging from 0 to 24. The AUC of this clinicoradiological score was 0.92. A cut-off score of 6 was used for the low-probability group (the risk of II was 1.13%). A score ranging from 7 to 15 defined intermediate-probability group (the risk of II was 44%). A score ≥16 defined high-probability group (100% of patients in this group had II). CONCLUSIONS: We performed a score to predict the risk of intestinal II with a good accuracy (the AUC of our score exceeded 0.90). This score is reliable and reproducible, so it can help surgeon to prioritize patients with II for surgery because ischaemia could be reversible, avoiding thus intestinal necrosis.

Intraperitoneal migration of hydatid cyst of the liver with intact proligerous membrane: Hydatid delivery.

•Intra-peritoneal migration of hydatid cysts is a rare complication.•Intact proligerous membrane is a protective factor.•Surgery is the best treatment and should be performed timely.

Spontaneous rupture of an infected pseudocyst of the pancreas: A case report.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: A pancreatic pseudocyst is a known complication of acute and chronic pancreatitis. A pseudocyst rupture into the abdomen causes peritonitis, which can be fatal if surgical treatment is delayed. Here in we report the case of a 46-year-old woman presenting with a pancreatic pseudocyst doubly complicated with infection and rupture causing sepsis shock. CASE PRESENTATION: A 46 year-old-woman, with a history of chronic pancreatitis four years prior complicated with a pancreatic pseudocyst of 3 cm, presented to our emergency department with clinical signs of generalized peritonitis. After a brief resuscitation, we performed a midline laparotomy. It showed purulent peritonitis due to a rupture of an infected pseudocyst of the pancreas. We performed an abundant peritoneal toilet with drainage. The patient was discharged after 25 days. In the one month follow-up, there were no unfavourable outcomes. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: In presence of ruptured and infected pancreatic pseudocyst, surgical treatment should be performed as soon as possible after brief resuscitation. Laparotomy is the gold standard treatment. The main objective of surgical treatment is to perform abundant peritoneal toilet with large external drainage. In our case, the pancreatic pseudocyst didn't communicate with the Wirsung duct allowing us to withdraw the drainage. Otherwise, the drainage should be retained longer to treat the pancreatic leakage. CONCLUSION: Rupture and infection of pancreatic pseudocysts is a rare situation. Diagnosis is assessed via computed tomography scan. Emergency laparotomy should be performed timely to make the peritoneal toilet and drain the pancreatic pseudocyst.

Are biopsies during endoscopic ultrasonography necessary for a suspected esophageal leiomyoma? Is laparoscopy always feasible?

The present letter to the editor is related to the work entitled "Large leiomyoma of lower esophagus diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasonography-fine needle aspiration: A case report." Although endoscopic ultrasonography seems necessary in a suspected leiomyoma of the esophagus, the performance of biopsies via fine needle aspiration is controversial as it increases the risk of complications such as bleeding, infection, and intraoperative perforations. Laparoscopy is the best treatment strategy for small tumors. Laparotomy with tumor enucleation or esophageal resection can be considered in large leiomyomas.

Gallstone ileus: A case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Gallstone ileus (GI) is defined as the occlusion of the intestinal lumen due to the impaction of one or more gallstones. The optimal management of GI is not consensual. We report a rare case of GI with a successful surgical treatment for a 65 year-old-female. CASE PRESENTATION: A 65 year-old-woman, presented with biliary colic pain and vomiting for three days. On examination, she had a distended tympanic abdomen. A computed tomography scan revealed signs of small bowel obstruction due to a jejunal gallstone. She had pneumobilia due to a cholecysto-duodenal fistula. We performed a midline laparotomy. We found a dilated and ischemic jejunum with false membranes regarding the migrated gallstone. We performed a jejunal resection with primary anastomosis. We performed cholecystectomy and closed the cholecysto-duodenal fistula at the same operative time. The postoperative course was uneventful. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: We reported successful surgical treatment for GI. It was a one-step procedure. GI is a rare situation. Due to their restricted lumen, the terminal ileum and the ileocaecal valve are where GI occurs most commonly. GI appears usually in elderly patients with comorbidities. The clinical presentation is not specific. CT scan evokes the diagnosis with high specificity. The surgical management of GI is not consensual. In our case, we performed bowel resection due to the presence of an ischemic intestine. CONCLUSION: GI is a rare situation. It appears usually in elderly patients with comorbidities. The clinical presentation is not specific. The surgical management of GI is not consensual.

Gastrointestinal bleeding due to jejunal metastasis of pleomorphic lung carcinoma: a case report.

Gastrointestinal metastasis of pleomorphic lung cancer presents with nonspecific manifestations, leading to delayed diagnosis. Herein, the authors report the case of a 56-year-old patient who presented with gastrointestinal bleeding due to pleomorphic lung carcinoma. Case presentation: A 56-year-old patient presented to the emergency department with melena. On examination, he was hemodynamically stable. He had a sensitive and mobile mass in the periumbilical region. A thoracoabdominal computed tomography scan showed a mass of the right apical superior lobe measuring 4 cm and a lobulated jejunal mass measuring 10 cm. A percutaneous biopsy of the lung tumor revealed primary pleomorphic lung carcinoma. The authors performed a midline laparotomy and made a bowel resection with an end-to-end anastomosis. The postoperative course was marked by severe nosocomial pneumonia, leading to septic shock and death. The histopathologic examination concluded with a metastatic lesion of pleomorphic lung carcinoma. Clinical discussion: The authors reported a rare case of jejunal metastasis of pleomorphic lung cancer. Pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung is a rare pathology that accounts for 0.1-0.4% of nonsmall-cell lung cancer. The prognosis is poor. In the presence of gastrointestinal bleeding caused by small bowel metastases of pleomorphic lung cancer, surgery is the treatment of choice. Conclusions: Small bowel metastasis of pleomorphic lung cancer is rare. Surgical treatment is the treatment of choice. The authors highlight the importance of suspecting gastrointestinal metastases in patients with pleomorphic lung cancer in the presence of nonspecific digestive symptoms.

Ileal gastrointestinal stromal tumor causing mesenteric gangrene.

To our knowledge, this is one of the rare literature reports of an ileal GIST complicated with mesenteric gangrene. We reported successful surgical treatment. Infection of GIST is an extremely rare complication that should be treated with no delays to avoid rupture and peritonitis.

Myxofibrosarcoma of the abdominal wall : A case report and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) is a subtype of soft tissue sarcoma characterized by diffuse infiltration patterns. Myxofibrosarcoma arises often in extremities. Its occurrence in the abdominal wall is extremely rare. Herein, we present here a case of high-grade MFS of the abdominal wall discovered in a 58-year-old woman complaining of an abdominal mass. PRESENTATION OF CASE: This report illustrates the case of a female who presented a mass in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a well-circumcised, heterogeneous soft tissue mass. We performed a wide margin excision of the mass. Histology concluded in myxofibrosarcoma of the abdominal wall. Adjuvant radiotherapy was performed. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: We reported successful surgical treatment for myxofibrosarcoma of the abdominal wall. To our knowledge, this is the second report in English literature. MFS is a subtype of soft tissue sarcoma with a locally infiltrative behavior. To ensure the best curative treatment, It is important to excise the tumor with wide margins. Knowing that MFS has a propensity for local recurrence (16 to 57 %), adjuvant radiotherapy has emerged as an efficient treatment for improving local control. The role of chemotherapy is controversial and has not shown effects on survival. CONCLUSION: Myxofibrosarcoma is a connective tissue neoplasm. Its occurrence in the abdominal wall is extremely rare. Surgical treatment with large negative margins is the cornerstone of the treatment. Adjuvant radiotherapy is essential in preventing local recurrences.

Collision tumor of the appendix incidentally discovered in a patient diagnosed with an adenocarcinoma of the colon: a case report.

Collision tumor of the appendix is an extremely rare entity, defined as the coexistence of two independent tumors located in the same site without transitional changes. We describe in this report the case of a 75-year-old man who presented with an acute abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Physical examination revealed an abdominal distension with a hypogastric mass. Abdominal computed tomography showed colonic obstruction related to a sigmoid tumor. Therefore, a total colectomy was made. Macroscopic specimen examination showed a sigmoid tumor associated to a cystic dilatation of the appendix tip with mucoid content. Histological examination of the appendix showed the co-existence of two independent tumors located in the tip, without transitional changes: pTis low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasia and grade 1 neuroendocrine tumor. The latter was discovered incidentally during histological examination. We draw attention through our presentation to the importance of a thorough macroscopic and histological examination of the appendix.

Stump appendicitis, a rare but serious complication of appendectomy: A case report.

Stump appendicitis is a rare delayed post-appendectomy complication. This diagnosis must be considered in case of right iliac fossa pain in a patient with a history of appendicectomy.

Acute Gangrenous Cholecystitis: Proposal of a Score and Comparison with Previous Published Scores.

BACKGROUND: Gangrenous cholecystitis (GC) is a particularly severe form of acute cholecystitis (AC) and is associated with an increased risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Recent reports show that surgeons are remarkably unsuccessful in diagnosing GC. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study involving 587 patients with AC. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictive factors of GC. We assigned points for the score according to the regression coefficient. The area under the curve (AUC) was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The scoring system was then prospectively validated on a second population. We validated 2 previously published scoring models. RESULTS: Six independent predictive factors of GC were identified: [3-]4 ASA score, temperature, duration of symptoms, WBC, male gender, and pericholecystic fluid. A predictive score of GC was established based on these independent predictive factors. Sensitivity was 81.4%; specificity was 70%. The AUC of this clinicoradiological score was 0.83. The AUC of our score was higher than that of the first published score (the AUC was 0.75 in the original report and 0.78 in the validation model using our dataset) and that of the second published score (the AUC was 0.77 in the original report and 0.72 in the validation model using our dataset). CONCLUSIONS: The AUC of our score exceeded 0.80, indicating that this score can help in diagnosing patients with GC, and thus in prioritizing these patients for surgery or choosing the adapted technique of drainage in critically ill patients.

C-reactive Protein Is the Best Biomarker to Predict Advanced Acute Cholecystitis and Conversion to Open Surgery. A Prospective Cohort Study of 556 Cases.

BACKGROUND: White blood cell levels (WBC) is the only biologic determinant criterion of the severity assessment of acute cholecystitis (AC) in the revised Tokyo Guidelines 2018 (TG18). The aims of this study were to evaluate the discriminative powers of common inflammatory markers (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and C-reactive protein (CRP)) compared with WBC for the severity of AC, and the risk for conversion to open surgery and to determine their diagnostic cutoff levels. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study. Over 3 years, 556 patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for AC. Patients were classified into two groups: 139 cases of advanced acute cholecystitis (AAC) (gangrenous cholecystitis, pericholecystic abscess, hepatic abscess, biliary peritonitis, emphysematous cholecystitis), and 417 cases of non-advanced acute cholecystitis (NAAC). Multiple logistic regression and receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis were employed to explore which variables (WBC, CRP, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR)) were statistically significant in predicting AAC and conversion to open surgery. RESULTS: On multivariable logistic regression analysis, male gender (OR = 0.4; p = 0.05), diabetes mellitus (OR = 7.8; p = 0.005), 3-4 ASA score (OR = 5.34; p = 0.037), body temperature (OR = 2.65; p = 0.014), and CRP (OR = 1.01; p = 0.0001) were associated independently with AAC. The value of the area under the curve (AUC) of the CRP (0.75) was higher than that of WBC (0.67) and NLR (0.62) for diagnosing AAC. CRP was the only predictive factor of conversion in multivariate analysis (OR = 1.008 [1.003-1.013]. Comparing areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves, it was the CRP that had the highest discriminative power in terms of conversion. CONCLUSION: CRP is the best inflammatory marker predictive of AAC and of conversion to open surgery. We think that our results would support a multicenter-international study to confirm the findings, and if supported, CRP should be considered as a severity criterion of acute cholecystitis in the next revised version of the Guidelines of Tokyo.

Should acute cholecystitis be operated in the 24 h following symptom onset? A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the gold standard for management of acute cholecystitis (AC). Nevertheless, the definition used for early phase remained unclear. We aimed to compare the clinical outcome and cost of immediate (patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy within 24 h following symptom onset) versus early laparoscopic cholecystectomy (patients managed 25-72 h following symptom onset) for acute cholecystitis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed. The outcomes of 143 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy within 24 h (ICG) were compared to 350 patients managed 25-72 h following symptom onset (ECG) for acute cholecystitis. RESULTS: There were significantly more diabetic patients in the early laparoscopic group (ECG). All other characteristics were comparable (demographic, clinical, biologic and ultrasonographic characteristics) between the two groups. The rate of conversion to open surgery was significantly higher in the ECG. Overall postoperative morbidity and specific morbidity did not differ significantly between the groups. Total hospital stay was longer in the ECG. Direct medical costs were higher in the ECG. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, for acute cholecystitis, during the first 24 h of onset of symptoms, significantly reduced conversion to open surgery and total hospital stay without increasing postoperative complications.

Usefulness of Laparoscopy in Gangrenous Cholecystitis.

BACKGROUND: Gangrenous cholecystitis (GC) is a rare and severe condition requiring immediate cholecystectomy. The aim of this study was to compare outcomes of laparoscopic cholecystectomy with open cholecystectomy in patients with GC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 278 patients with GC who underwent cholecystectomy, for acute cholecystitis were compared with those of 531 patients with nongangrenous cholecystitis. In patients with GC, the outcomes of laparoscopic cholecystectomy were also compared with the outcomes of open cholecystectomy. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis demonstrated an independent association of diabetes mellitus, temperature, muscle rigidity on examination, white cell blood count, gallbladder wall thickening, gallbladder wall interruption, detection of pericholecystic exudate on ultrasonography, with the development of acute GC. The rate of conversions in the GC group was higher than in nongangrenous cholecystitis group. In patients with GC morbidity did not differ between patients operated using laparoscopic technique or open technique. Total and postoperative hospital stays were shorter in patients operated using laparoscopic technique. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a safe procedure in patients with GC. Although the conversion rate to open surgery was elevated, the number of other complications was comparable to open surgery. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy significantly reduced total hospital stays and medical costs.