Aim Emergency colorectal surgery is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Most general surgeons have a subspecialty, which forms the focus of their elective work, allowing development of specialist skill sets. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of consultant subspecialization on patient outcomes following emergency colorectal resections. Methods Data were requested for all emergency admissions under a general surgeon between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2016 within the north of England. These were acquired from individual Trusts following Caldicott approval. Data included demographics, diagnoses and any procedures undertaken. Patients were assigned to cohorts based on the subspecialist interest of the consultant they were under the care of. The primary outcome of interest was 30‐day postoperative mortality. Categorical data were compared with the chi‐squared test, and continuous data with the t test or ANOVA. A logistic regression model determined factors associated with 30‐day in‐hospital mortality. Results Overall, 7648 emergency colorectal resections were performed with a 30‐day postoperative mortality of 13.8%. This was significantly lower if the responsible consultant was a colorectal surgeon compared with other general surgery subspecialties (11.8% vs. 15.2%, P < 0.001). This was significant on univariate analysis (OR 0.75, P < 0.001); however, following multivariable adjustment, this was not statistically significant (P = 0.380). The colorectal specialists had a higher laparoscopy rate than their colleagues—9.8% versus 6.8% (P < 0.001). Stoma rates were also lower (46.9% vs. 51.0%, P = 0.001) and anastomosis rates higher (55.9% vs. 49.3%, P < 0.001) amongst colorectal surgeons. Conclusion These findings add to the growing body of evidence that patient outcomes may be improved by involving subspecialists in colorectal emergencies.

Background Biliary disorders make up a significant proportion of the acute general surgical workload. Effective management allows definitive treatment with relief of symptoms and reduced impact to patients due to recurrent admissions and complications. During the first COVID-19 wave and lockdown there were reduced surgical presentations to hospital and patients presented later. Surgical services were forced to implement different practices including more conservative/non operative management potentially increasing the possibility of recurrent presentations and greater complications in biliary-pancreatic presentations. Methods We performed a retrospective audit of patients presenting to our unit with ICD 10 codes: K80;Cholelithiasis, K81;Cholecystitis and K85;Acute pancreatitis. We used the period of the first wave of the COVID pandemic March – August 2020(COVID) and compared this to the same period in 2019(pre-COVID). On note review those with inaccurate coding were excluded. Patient demographics, admission details, investigations, surgical management, operative details, and post-operative complications were recorded. The primary outcomes were change in operative management, representation, and post-operative complications. χ2 test was used to test for significance of categorical variables. Results Conclusions The two groups were demographically similar with equal spread of primary diagnoses however there were significant differences in outcomes. Patients presenting with cholecystitis and gallstone pancreatitis had significantly reduced rates of definitive management. The increase in adverse operative findings is likely secondary to patients presenting later and initial conservative management. The increase in complications for the COVID cohort correlates with the increase in adverse findings/operative complexity. Conservative management with the aim of reducing COVID exposure inadvertently resulted in increased risk to patients with increased presentations/admissions. Despite this risk there were no COVID cases in our cohort.

Background: Abdominal wall hernia is a common surgical condition. Patients may present in an emergency with bowel obstruction, incarceration or strangulation. Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a serious surgical condition associated with significant morbidity. The aim of this study was to describe current management and outcomes of patients with obstructed hernia in the UK as identified in the National Audit of Small Bowel Obstruction (NASBO). Methods: NASBO collated data on adults treated for SBO at 131 UK hospitals between January and March 2017. Those with obstruction due to abdominal wall hernia were included in this study. Demographics, co-morbidity, imaging, operative treatment, and in-hospital outcomes were recorded. Modelling for factors associated with mortality and complications was undertaken using Cox proportional hazards and multivariable regression modelling. Results: NASBO included 2341 patients, of whom 415 (17⋅7 per cent) had SBO due to hernia. Surgery was performed in 312 (75⋅2 per cent) of the 415 patients; small bowel resection was required in 198 (63⋅5 per cent) of these operations. Non-operative management was reported in 35 (54 per cent) of 65 patients with a parastomal hernia and in 34 (32⋅1 per cent) of 106 patients with an incisional hernia. The in-hospital mortality rate was 9⋅4 per cent (39 of 415), and was highest in patients with a groin hernia (11⋅1 per cent, 17 of 153). Complications were common, including lower respiratory tract infection in 16⋅3 per cent of patients with a groin hernia. Increased age was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1⋅05, 95 per cent c.i. 1⋅01 to 1⋅10; P = 0⋅009) and complications (odds ratio 1⋅05, 95 per cent c.i. 1⋅02 to 1⋅09; P = 0⋅001). Conclusion: NASBO has highlighted poor outcomes for patients with SBO due to hernia, highlighting the need for quality improvement initiatives in this group. *Members of the National Audit of Small Bowel Obstruction (NASBO) Steering Group and NASBO Collaborators are co-authors of this study and are listed in Appendix S1 (supporting information) Funding information

Background Laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy (LSC) is a recognised option when the “critical view” cannot be safely delineated. It carries a high morbidity rate as there are increased frequencies of a bile leak occurring however reducing the risk of bile duct injury. LSC can be further divided into fenestrating or reconstituting cholecystectomy, the later entails closing the remnant. The literature state reconstituting cholecystectomy reduced rate of bile leak. We reviewed our cases to analyse the complication rates of LSC and there outcomes. Methods A retrospective review of patients who underwent a laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy (LSC) using electronic records between January 2015 to March 2021. A total of 160 patients, with a mean age of 65, 51% male and 49% female. Results 76% of LSC were performed as an emergency. Mean operation length was 96min and the mean blood loss 92ml. Complications occurred in 50% of patients. Post operatively 22% underwent an ERCP and the re-operation rate was 9%. The mean length of stay was 8 days. Conclusions Based on our results LSC carry a high rate of bile leak with the majority requiring intervention in the form of ERCP or laparoscopy and wash out. A reconstituting cholecystectomy, closing with an endoloop of suture seems to slightly reduce the rate of bile leak. LSC are only performed when managing a difficult gallbladder with a dense/ inflamed Calot's triangle. There were no mortalities associated with a LSC.

Introduction About 300,000 people living with Frailty undergo operations annually. Current evidence suggests that comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) pre-operatively enhances shared decision making (SDM), equity of access to surgery, length of stay (LOS) and mortality. Multiple NCEPOD reports, the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) and National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) programs have highlighted the unmet need in caring for these patients. Our aim was to introduce a novel combined Geriatrician/Anaesthetist pre-assessment clinic to provide better SDM and perioperative optimisation to improve outcomes for elective colorectal surgery. Method We performed combined CGA and Anaesthetic pre-operative assessment in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery aged ≥65 years between July 2021 to August 2022. Data including Clinical Frailty Score (CFS), LOS, Type of surgery, P-POSSUM Score, 30-day mortality and 90-Day mortality were analysed. Results We reviewed 48 patients in 14 months. 69% patients underwent surgery and 27% declined after a comprehensive SDM process. The median age of operated patients was 80 (65-94) compared with 74 in 2020-21. 58% of patients operated were over 80, compared to 24% in 2020-21, prior to clinic inception. The median CFS was 4. 55% of patients had a LOS ≤7days (73% in 2020-21), 32% was 8-14days (18%) and 13% was &gt;14days in hospital (9%) respectively. 32% had a P-POSSUM score of ≥5% whereas 10% had a score of &gt;15%. The overall 30-day and 90-day mortality rates for our cohort was 0%, compared with 0% and 3% respectively in 2020-21. Conclusion Our data suggests that our clinic has enhanced equity of access to curative colorectal cancer surgery for older adults. 90 days mortality remained 0% owing to excellent patient selection and enhanced perioperative care. Importantly, 27% of patients declined surgery after an extensive process of SDM. Further work needs to be completed assessing decision regret and satisfaction with SDM (SDMQ9).