Clostridium difficile-associated pseudomembranous colitis is an increasingly common nosocomial infection that usually responds to oral antibiotics. Presentation as an acute abdomen occurred in 12 patients, leading to 14 laparotomies. A distinctive clinical picture was observed: advanced age, recent treatment with antibiotics, fever, abdominal pain, tenderness, marked leukocytosis, and ileus. Only six of the 12 patients had diarrhea. Five were immunosuppressed. Abdominal computed tomographic scans revealed ascites and a massively thickened colonic wall. All four patients treated by subtotal colectomy survived. Four of 10 patients treated only with laparotomy or segmental colectomy died, four responded to medical therapy, and the conditions of two deteriorated but were salvaged by subtotal colectomy. Early diagnosis via endoscopy or computed tomography should obviate the need for exploratory operations. However, progressive toxic effects indicate failure of medical therapy and the need for subtotal colectomy.

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This experiment evaluated the influence of blood on the weld strength of laser-assisted microvascular anastomoses (LAMA). Rat femoral arteries were anastomosed end-to-end by either direct laser welding (group I) or by a blood-bonded technique (group II) whereby fresh blood was applied to the vessel edges before laser exposure. Bursting strength was measured at 0, 1, and 24 hours and at 3 and 7 days by infusing methylene blue into the vessel while pressure was monitored. The results showed significantly increased bursting strength in group II compared with group I at 0 hour and 7 days (P less than 0.05). There was a significant increase in bursting strength in group I from 0 hour to 1 hour (P less than 0.05). It is concluded that blood-bonding enhances the early bursting strength of LAMAs and may facilitate arterial wall healing.

We compared the mechanical integrity of microvascular anastomoses created with a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser with conventional suture anastomoses. Seventy rat femoral artery segments (35 lased and 35 sutured) were harvested at 1, 24, and 72 hours, and 1, 3, 6, and 12 weeks postoperatively. These segments were subjected to increasingly higher in vitro intraluminal hydrostatic pressures (bursting pressure). Conventionally sutured anastomoses exhibited significantly increased ability (p less than 0.05) to withstand greater bursting pressures than the laser-welded tissue up to 3 weeks postoperatively. After the third postoperative week, the laser anastomoses demonstrated increased bursting pressures compared with the conventional anastomoses. At the end of the 12-week period both groups demonstrated an ability to withstand supraphysiologic pressures in excess of 2000 mm Hg.