No abstract

Background: Laparotomy (open surgery) is considered the standard approach for acute small bowel obstruction (ASBO). However, with the advent of minimally invasive surgery, the laparoscopic approach is gaining popularity. There is no consensus on the appropriate setting for laparoscopic therapy for small bowel obstruction (SBO).Aim and objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of laparoscopic surgery for ASBO.Patients and methods: We retrospectively evaluated the prospectively collected data of all the 38 patients who had undergone laparoscopy for ASBO, performed by a single surgeon at our institution, due to adhesions (30 patients), internal hernias (five patients), midgut malrotation (one patient), ileo-ileal intussusception (one patient), and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome (one patient) from 2012 to 2020. Data were extracted from the hospital electronic medical records (EMR) for the following parameters of each individual patient: age, sex, clinical presentation, preoperative investigation findings, final diagnosis, surgical details, operating time, time to postoperative oral feeds, length of hospital stay, complications, recurrences, and time taken to resume normal activity. A preoperative abdominal contrastenhanced computed tomography (CECT) was performed in all the cases. Patients with peritonitis and septic shock were excluded from the study.Results: The mean age of the 38 patients was 58 years (ranged between 33 and 83 years) with a standard deviation (SD) of 16.5. The mean age of the female patients in the study was 60.5 years with an SD of 16.6, while the mean age of the male patients was 54.9 years (SD = 16.2). The age difference between male and female patients in the study was not statistically significant (p = 0.36). The mean operating time was 74.4 minutes (range: 60-90 minutes, with an SD of 7.2). The mean time to oral liquid/soft diet was 2.5 days. The mean postoperative stay was 5.7 days. Three patients (8%) underwent conversion to open surgery, out of which two patients had multiple complex bowel-to-bowel and bowel-to-parietes adhesions, and in one patient, massive distension of small bowel caused technical difficulties.Conclusion: Laparoscopic management of ASBO is feasible, effective, and safe. Optimum surgical techniques, the surgeon's experience with the procedure, and stringent patient selection criteria enable a high probability of success.

Introduction Broad ligament hernia (BLH) is a rare but potentially life threatening condition. One of the two cases described here is the only reported case of BLH in recent literature, where marsupialisation was done. These two case reports comprise the only reported side by side pictorial comparison of the two laparoscopic surgical therapeutic options for BLH. Presentation of cases Both patients presented with classical symptoms and signs of acute intestinal obstruction. Imaging confirmed obstructed left BLH in case 2 and indicated a complete small bowel obstruction in case 1. Both cases were successfully managed laparoscopically. Both patients had an uneventful immediate postoperative recovery and have not had recurrence over a mean follow up period of 34.5 months. Discussion BLH is rare among all types of internal herniae. It accounts for only 4% of internal herniae and is a difficult condition to diagnose. The advent of computed tomography has increased chances of accurate preoperative diagnosis. Conclusion BLH can be successfully managed by minimally invasive surgery, even in the acute setting. When tightly entrapped bowel is unyielding; it is better not to risk injury to it by aggressive attempts at its reduction. It is safer to attempt widening of the defect into which it is entrapped, whenever feasible.

Background This study aimed to identify the most common causes of non-cancer mortality in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) and compare their mortality risk with the general population. Methodology This study analyzed PAC patients’ data registered in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We studied the causes of death and investigated their association with age, sex, race, tumor stage at presentation, and treatment modality according to the time interval from diagnosis during which death events occurred. We used the standardized mortality ratio (SMR). Results A total of 67,694 PAC patients’ data were analyzed; of these patients, 64,347 (95.06%) died during the follow-up. Most deaths occurred due to cancer (61,685; 95.86% of deaths), while non-cancer mortality represented only 4.14%. The most common causes of non-cancer mortality were heart diseases (SMR = 2.79), cerebrovascular diseases (SMR = 3.11), and septicemia (SMR = 8.2). PAC patients had a higher mortality risk for all studied mortality causes except Alzheimer’s disease (SMR = 0.5) and homicide and legal intervention (SMR = 2.29). Conclusions Approximately 96% of PAC patients’ deaths are due to cancer. While the dominant non-cancer causes of death include heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and septicemia, with a higher risk of mortality for most non-cancer causes than the general population.

No abstract