Background. The purpose of this study was to clarify the incidence and risk factors for incisional surgical site infections (SSI) in patients undergoing elective open surgery for colorectal cancer. Methods. We conducted prospective surveillance of incisional SSI after elective colorectal resections performed by a single surgeon for a 1-year period. Variables associated with infection, as identified in the literature, were collected and statistically analyzed for their association with incisional SSI development. Results. A total of 224 patients were identified for evaluation. The mean patient age was 67 years, and 120 (55%) were male. Thirty-three (14.7%) patients were diagnosed with incisional SSI. Multivariate analysis suggested that incisional SSI was independently associated with TNM stages III and IV (odds ratio [OR], 2.4) and intraoperative hypotension (OR, 3.4). Conclusions. The incidence of incisional SSI in our cohort was well within values generally reported in the literature. Our data suggest the importance of the maintenance of intraoperative normotension to reduce the development of incisional SSI.

The objective was to prepare guidelines to perform the current optimum treatment by organizing effective and efficient treatments of hemangiomas and vascular malformations, confirming the safety, and systematizing treatment, employing evidence-based medicine (EBM) techniques and aimed at improvement of the outcomes. Clinical questions (CQs) were decided based on the important clinical issues. For document retrieval, key words for literature searches were set for each CQ and literature published from 1980 to the end of September 2014 was searched in Pubmed, Cochrane Library, and Japana Centra Revuo Medicina (JCRM). The strengths of evidence and recommendations acquired by systematic reviews were determined following the Medical Information Network Distribution System (MINDS) technique. A total of 33 CQs were used to compile recommendations and the subjects included efficacy of resection, sclerotherapy/embolization, drug therapy, laser therapy, radiotherapy, and other conservative treatment, differences in appropriate treatment due to the location of lesions and among symptoms, appropriate timing of treatment and tests, and pathological diagnosis deciding the diagnosis. Thus, the Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Vascular Anomalies 2017 have been prepared as the evidence-based guidelines for the management of vascular anomalies.

Purpose: Vascularized lymph node transfer is becoming more common in the treatment of lymphedema, but suitable small animal models for research are lacking. Here, we evaluated the feasibility of pedicled vascularized inguinal lymph node transfer in mice.Methods: Twenty-five mice were used in the study. An inguinal lymph node-bearing flap with a vascular pedicle containing the superficial caudal epigastric vessels was transferred into the ipsilateral popliteal fossa after excision of the popliteal lymph node. Indocyanine green (ICG) angiography was used to confirm vascularity of the flap. ICG lymphography was performed to evaluate lymphatic flow at 3 and 4 weeks postoperatively. Patent blue dye was injected into the ipsilateral hind paw to observe staining of the transferred lymph node at 4 weeks postoperatively. All transferred lymph nodes were then harvested and histologically evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining.Results: In 16 of the 25 mice, ICG lymphography showed reconnection between the transferred lymph node and the afferent lymphatic vessels, as confirmed by patent blue staining. Histologically, these transferred lymph nodes with afferent lymphatic reconnection significantly regressed in size (0.37 AE 0.24 mm 2 ) and showed clear follicle formation, whereas those without afferent lymphatic reconnection showed less size regression (1.31 AE 1.17 mm 2 ); the cell population was too dense to allow identification of follicles. Conclusions:We established a mouse model of vascularized lymph node transfer with predictable afferent lymphatic reconnection. Both the vascularization and reconnection might be necessary for functional regeneration of the transferred lymph node.

The objective was to prepare guidelines to perform the current optimum treatment by organizing effective and efficient treatments of hemangiomas and vascular malformations, confirming the safety, and systematizing treatment, employing evidence‐based medicine (EBM) techniques and aimed at improvement of the outcomes. Clinical questions (CQs) were decided based on the important clinical issues. For document retrieval, key words for literature searches were set for each CQ and literature published from 1980 to the end of September 2014 was searched in Pubmed, Cochrane Library, and Japana Centra Revuo Medicina (JCRM). The strengths of evidence and recommendations acquired by systematic reviews were determined following the Medical Information Network Distribution System (MINDS) technique. A total of 33 CQs were used to compile recommendations and the subjects included efficacy of resection, sclerotherapy/embolization, drug therapy, laser therapy, radiotherapy, and other conservative treatment, differences in appropriate treatment due to the location of lesions and among symptoms, appropriate timing of treatment and tests, and pathological diagnosis deciding the diagnosis. Thus, the Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Vascular Anomalies 2017 have been prepared as the evidence‐based guidelines for the management of vascular anomalies.

Imogolite is a naturally occurring aluminosilicate clay mineral with a nanotube structure of 2 nm diameter and 60 nm−2 m length. In this study, synthetic imogolite nanotubes were applied to cell culture and the properties as a scaffold were compared with those of a conventional culture dish and a carbon nanotube (CNT) scaffold. The surface characteristics of the imogolite scaffold were drastically changed with the amount of coated imogolite on the dish. With the increase of imogolite concentration, the surface morphology of the scaffolds changed from an island-like shape in random orientation to a self-organized fiber texture aligned in the same direction, and finally full coverage in a random orientation with plural layers. Silicon releasability of the scaffolds was increased with the amount of coated imogolite. Mouse osteoblast-like cells (MC3T3-E1) cultured on imogolite showed a flat-form morphology and a cytoskeleton developed in all directions in contrast to a spindle-shaped morphology developed in one direction on cell culture dishes and CNT scaffolds. The proliferation and osteoblastic functions in ALP activity and mineralization showed similar increasing tendency. The largest values were obtained from the scaffold with a high concentration of imogolite. The results indicated good biocompatibility between the cells and imogolite scaffold and the enhancement effect of proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation.