Foreign body ingestion represents a frequent reason for emergency endoscopy. The endoscopic procedure is a successful technique which allows the removal of the foreign bodies in almost all cases without significant complications. Surgery is rarely required.

The prognosis of a consistent group of liver cirrhosis patients with variceal bleeding remains poor. The current treatment is highly effective in controlling variceal bleeding, but mortality is related mainly to the severity of liver failure.

In 2013, four Italian Gastroenterological Societies (the Italian Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, the Italian Society of Hospital Gastroenterologists and Endoscopists, the Italian Society of Endoscopy, and the Italian Society of Gastroenterology) formed a joint panel of experts with the aim of preparing an official statement on transition medicine in Gastroenterology. The transition of adolescents from paediatric to adult care is a crucial moment in managing chronic diseases such as celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease and liver transplantation. Improved medical treatment and availability of new drugs and surgical techniques have improved the prognosis of many paediatric disorders, prolonging survival, thus making the transition to adulthood possible and necessary. An inappropriate transition or the incomplete transmission of data from the paediatrician to the adult Gastroenterologist can dramatically decrease compliance to treatment and prognosis of a young patient, particularly in the case of severe disorders. For these reasons, the Italian gastroenterological societies decided to develop an official shared transition protocol. The resulting document discusses the factors influencing the transition process and highlights the main points to accomplish to optimize compliance and prognosis of gastroenterological patients during the difficult transition from childhood to adolescence and adulthood.

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No difference was observed between patients treated with meropenem and those treated with imipenem in terms of incidence of pancreatic infection (11.4% versus 13.6%) and extrapancreatic infections (21.6% versus 23.9%) and clinical outcome. Meropenem is as effective as imipenem in preventing septic complications of patients with severe acute pancreatitis.