The purpose of this systematic review is to assess the prevalence of complications following volar locking plate fixation of distal radial fractures. A computer-based search was carried out using EMBASE and PUBMED/MEDLINE. Only prospective comparative and prospective cohort studies that presented data concerning complications after treatment of distal radial fractures with a volar locking plate in human adults with a minimal follow-up of 6 months were included. Two quality assessment tools were used to assess the methodological quality of the studies (level of evidence rating according to the Oxford Centre of Evidence Based Medicine and the modified version of the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group's former quality assessment tool). Thirty three studies were eligible for final assessment. Most complications were problems with nerve and tendon function as well as complex regional pain syndrome. With an overall complication rate of 16.5%, most of which were 'minor' complications and low rates of nonunion and malunion, volar locking plate fixation can be considered a reasonably safe treatment option for patients with distal radial fractures.

Background: Textbook Outcome (TO) is a novel composite measure of clinical outcomes that can be used to measure the quality of surgical outcomes. TOs for pancreatic surgery were published by the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group (DPCG) in 2020. The aim of this study was to explore how a medium volume hepatopancreaticobiliary unit could use TO to benchmark local outcomes following pancreatic surgery. Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or distal pancreatectomy (DP) for all indications between March 2005 and February 2020 at Christchurch Hospital (CH). Analysis of TO items as defined by the DPCG was performed and compared to nationwide Dutch outcomes (2014-2017), including cumulative analysis using CuSum. Results: In total, 273 patients were included (median age 63 years; 51% female) of which 182 (67%) underwent PD and 91 (33%) underwent DP (median annual volume 12 PDs/6 DPs). Overall, 58% of patients undergoing PD and 74% of patients undergoing DP achieved TO, compared with 58% and 67%, P = 0.944 and P = 0.231, respectively, for the Netherlands (median annual volume 33 PDs/8 DPs per hospital). Conclusions: TO offers a useful quality measure to benchmark local outcomes following pancreatic surgery against an external nationwide analysis. The results show that as a medium volume centre performance was comparable to previously published Dutch results, which included high volume centres. Applying CuSum methodology to the TO metric allows a continuous measure of performance. This offers the potential to provide feedback for quality improvement strategies.

This study was conducted to evaluate expectant management in asymptomatic patients with an initial serum beta-hCG titer of <2,500 IU/l and to determine the independent ability of initial serum beta-hCG titers and trend of serum beta-hCG to predict successful expectant management. A cohort of patients (N = 418) with suspected ectopic pregnancy (EP) between January 1991 and July 2008 is described. Three groups were defined: group I (n = 182), immediate surgical intervention (<24 h); group IIa (n = 130), unsuccessful expectant management (surgical intervention during follow-up), and group IIb (n = 99), successful expectant management (spontaneous regression of trophoblast). Hospital protocol was not complied in 35 cases (Table 1). Beta-hCG levels >3,000 IU/l occur in our expectant management group; however, none of these cases were successful. Unnecessary surgery was prevented in 14% (n = 7) of asymptomatic patients with initial beta-hCG of >2,000 IU/l. The success rate of expectant management was 49%, without a rise in complication rate or number of acute cases. In conclusion, the initial serum beta-hCG cutoff level of 2,000 IU/l is not a rigid upper limit for accepting expectant management in suspected EP and best practice is case specific. In asymptomatic patients, the serum beta-hCG cutoff level of at least 2,500 IU/l can be used for expectant management. This cutoff could be higher, but interpretation is limited due to censure in follow-up inherent to the predefined clinical protocol. There is no gain in including patients for expectant management with initial serum beta-hCG level >3,000 IU/l.

Pathologic staging of oncologic specimens includes the identification of the accurate lymph node status. Retrieving more lymph nodes leads to a more reliable N0 status in the TNM classification. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate whether more lymph nodes can be retrieved from oncologic resection specimens when more time is invested in the search and if this contributes to a more reliable N-status in the individual patient. A total of 67 gastrointestinal oncologic specimens were reexamined for additional lymph nodes. The mean number of lymph nodes collected in the prospective group was compared against two retrospective groups, one before minima for lymph node counts were set (retrospective group 1) and one after (retrospective group 2). More lymph nodes were dissected per specimen in the prospective group (24.1 lymph nodes), compared to the retrospective group (14.3 lymph nodes, P = <0.001). During the study period, more patients were diagnosed as pN+ compared to the two retrospective groups (62.7 vs. 47.8 % respectively, P = 0.082). Significantly more lymph nodes can be found in oncologic specimens when more time is invested in the search. This will result in more accurate staging of the tumor.

Though the number of appendicectomies being performed in our institution has increased over the last decade, the negative appendicectomy rate remains fairly static and the increased use of CT scans did not further decrease the proportion of negative appendicectomies between 2009 and 2014.