Open or Not Open the Retroperitoneum: A Pandora’s Box for High-grade Pancreatic Trauma?

Background: The management strategy associated with the optimal clinical outcomes for patients with pancreatic trauma remains ambiguous. We sought to determine whether transitioning from initial laparotomy (LAP) to the nonoperative management strategy based on initial percutaneous drainage (PCD) without opening the retroperitoneum would improve clinical outcomes in patients with blunt high-grade pancreatic trauma.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of pancreatic trauma at a single tertiary referral center. Blunt high-grade pancreatic trauma patients with stable hemodynamics and no diffuse peritonitis were enrolled consecutively in the study. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of severe complications (Clavien-Dindo classification ≥ Ⅲb) for patients who underwent initial LAP vs PCD. To study effect modification by different initial strategies and to adjust for confounding, modified Poisson regression and sensitivity analysis based on propensity score matching and weighting were performed to estimate adjusted relative risks (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: Among 119 patients with blunt grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ pancreatic trauma (107 male [89.9%] and 12 female [10.1%]; mean age, 35.7 [SD, 12.7] years), 29 underwent initial PCD and 90 underwent initial LAP (January 2009 through October 2021). Compared with initial LAP, patients underwent initial PCD were significantly lower risk of severe complicates (9/29 [31.0%] vs 65/90 [72.2%]; aRR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.30-0.90]). Consistent results are also observed in sensitivity analysis models. The relative risk of severe complications for the PCD group in propensity score matching model was 0.53 (95% CI, 0.28-0.99; P = 0.035), 0.37 (95% CI, 0.18-0.75; P = 0.006) in inverse probability of treatment weighting model, and 0.55 (95% CI, 0.31-0.99; P = 0.046) in overlap weighting model. In addition, the mean number of reinterventions per patient was 1.8 in the PCD group and 2.6 in the LAP group (P = 0.067). Conclusions: For blunt high-grade pancreatic trauma patients with stable hemodynamics and no diffuse peritonitis, initial PCD strategy without open the retroperitoneum has a significantly lower rate of severe complications and does not increase reinterventions compared with initial LAP. Further randomized controlled trials are warranted to validate these results.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03681041(Sept. 21 2018).

Using Nomograms to Predict the PPCs of Patients With Diffuse Peritonitis Undergoing Emergency Gastrointestinal Surgery

Objective: To develop and validate a nomogram model for predicting postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) in patients with diffuse peritonitis undergoing emergency gastrointestinal surgery.Methods: We used the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model to analyze the independent risk factors for PPCs in patients with diffuse peritonitis who underwent emergency gastrointestinal surgery. Using R, we developed and validated a nomogram model for predicting PPCs in patients with diffuse peritonitis undergoing emergency gastrointestinal surgery.Results: The LASSO regression analysis showed that AGE, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification (ASA), DIAGNOSIS, platelets (on the 3rd day after surgery), cholesterol (on the 3rd day after surgery), ALBUMIN (on the first day after surgery), and preoperative ALBUMIN were independent risk factors for PPCs in patients with diffuse peritonitis undergoing emergency gastrointestinal surgery. The area under the curve (AUC) value of the nomogram model in the training group was 0.8240; its accuracy was 0.7000, and its sensitivity was 0.8658. This demonstrates that the nomogram has a high prediction value. Also in the test group, the AUC value of the model established by the variables AGE, ASA, and platelets (on the 3rd day after surgery), cholesterol (on the 3rd day after surgery), ALBUMIN (on the first day after surgery), and preoperative ALBUMIN was 0.8240; its accuracy was 0.8000; and its specificity was 0.8986. In the validation group, the same results were obtained. The results of the clinical decision curve show that the benefit rate was also high.Conclusion: Based on the risk factors AGE, ASA, DIAGNOSIS, platelets (on the 3rd day after surgery), cholesterol (on the 3rd day after surgery), ALBUMIN (on the first day after surgery), and preoperative ALBUMIN, the nomogram model established in this study for predicting PPCs in patients with diffuse peritonitis undergoing emergency gastrointestinal surgery has high accuracy and discrimination.

Acute Diffuse Peritonitis Due to Spontaneous Rupture of an Infected Endometrioma: A Case Report

Background. Endometriosis is defined as a chronic, inflammatory, estrogen-dependent gynaecologic disease. It affects approximately 5–10% of reproductive-age women worldwide. Ovarian endometriosis is the most frequent form of this condition. Endometriotic cysts are found in about 17–44% of women diagnosed with endometriosis. It is well known, that ovarian endometriomas can cause infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Enlarging cysts can also cause ovarian torsion. In addition, ovarian endometriosis slightly increases the risk for ovarian cancer. The rupture of endometriotic ovarian cysts is an exceptional complication. According to the literature, the prevalence is less than 3% among women with endometriosis. The rupture of an ovarian endometrioma can cause acute peritonitis, which can lead to sepsis, septic shock and can be lethal. The occurrence of abscesses within an ovarian endometrioma is an extremely rare complication. Generally, the origin of infected endometriotic ovarian cysts is related to the previous invasive procedures involving pelvic organs or the use of intrauterine devices. Also, ovarian abscesses can be caused by the hematogenous or lymphatic spread of bacteria. Although, the literature points out that infection of endometriotic ovarian cysts can develop spontaneously. In these rare cases, reservoir and route of infection remains an enigma.Case report. A 49-year-old female was brought to the emergency room with severe generalized lower abdominal pain (6/10) and three days lasting fever. Abdominal examination revealed diffuse abdominal pain with anterior abdominal wall muscle tension. Painful solid masses were felt on both sides of the uterus during the pelvic examination. Cystic masses were detected in both ovaries during transvaginal sonography. Computer tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis revealed abnormal changes in both ovaries. A small amount of free fluid was found in the pelvic cavity along with thickened pelvic peritoneum. Suspecting acute peritonitis and bilateral tubo-ovarian abscesses, surgical treatment was performed. Lower midline laparotomy with bilateral adnexectomy and abdominal lavage with 4000 ml normal saline were done. The outcome of peritonitis was evaluated using the Mannheim peritonitis index (MPI=17 – low risk of morbidity and mortality). The histopathological examination revealed the diagnosis of bilateral endometriotic cysts complicated with acute inflammation, with associated acute inflammation of both fallopian tubes. Microbiological cultures from the purulent fluid were negative.Conclusions. Although the occurrence of abscesses within an ovarian endometrioma is an extremely rare finding in clinical practice, it has to be considered by gynaecologists because it might result in a surgical emergency that can be life-threatening. Being aware of the risk factors of abscesses within an endometrioma can lead to an early diagnosis of this rare condition and help to avoid serious complications.

Resection of a large area of the small intestine in conditions of diffuse peritonitis

I., 10 years old, was admitted to the surgical department 21 / 1-61, with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

The Management of Acute Colonic Diverticulitis in the COVID-19 Era: A Scoping Review

Background and Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health systems worldwide made major changes to their organization, delaying diagnosis and treatment across a broad spectrum of pathologies. Concerning surgery, there was an evident reduction in all elective and emergency activities, particularly for benign pathologies such as acute diverticulitis, for which we have identified a reduction in emergency room presentation with mild forms and an increase with more severe forms. The aim of our review was to discover new data on emergency presentation for patients with acute diverticulitis during the Covid-19 pandemic and their current management, and to define a better methodology for surgical decision-making. Method: We conducted a scoping review on 25 trials, analyzing five points: reduced hospital access for patients with diverticulitis, the preferred treatment for non-complicated diverticulitis, the role of CT scanning in primary evaluation and percutaneous drainage as a treatment, and changes in surgical decision-making and preferred treatment strategies for complicated diverticulitis. Results: We found a decrease in emergency access for patients with diverticular disease, with an increased incidence of complicated diverticulitis. The preferred treatment was conservative for non-complicated forms and in patients with COVID-related pneumonia, percutaneous drainage for abscess, or with surgery delayed or reserved for diffuse peritonitis or sepsis. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic we observed an increased number of complicated forms of diverticulitis, while the total number decreased, possibly due to delay in hospital or ambulatory presentation because of the fear of contracting COVID-19. We observed a greater tendency to treat these more severe forms by conservative means or drainage. When surgery was necessary, there was a preference for an open approach or a delayed operation.

New System For Predicting The Outcome Of Secondary Peritonitis

Despite improvements in the methods of diagnostics, surgical interventions and intensive care, the problem of treating patients with diffuse peritonitis remains relevant. Diffuse peritonitis is a major contributor to mortality in all urgent care settings and the second leading cause of sepsis in critically ill patients. At the same time, even in developed countries, the number of patients with peritonitis does not tend to decrease, and mortality rates remain high, reaching 90-93% with the development of abdominal sepsis and toxic shock syndrome. One of the ways to reduce mortality in peritonitis is the use of objective systems for prognosis of the peritonitis outcome, allowing to compare the results of patient treatment and to choose the optimal treatment tactics for each particular patient. The objective — To develop a new system for predicting the outcome of secondary peritonitis (survival or death) focused on the criteria of abdominal sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (associated or not associated with peritonitis), and to analyze its accuracy versus the most common comparable systems. Material and Methods — Our study was based on analyzing the treatment outcomes in 352 patients with secondary diffuse peritonitis. On admission, sepsis was diagnosed in 15 (4.3%), and toxic shock in 4 (1.1%) patients. The main causes of death were purulent intoxication and/or sepsis (51 cases or 87.9%), cancer intoxication (4 cases or 6.9%), and acute cardiac failure (3 cases or 5.2%). We analyzed the effectiveness of several systems of predicting the peritonitis outcomes: the Mannheim’s Peritoneal Index (MPI), World Society for Emergency Surgery Sepsis Severity Score (WSES SSS), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) system, general Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score (gSOFA), as well as the Peritonitis Prognosis System (PPS) developed by the authors. The probability of the effect of 40 clinical and laboratory parameters on the outcome of patients with secondary peritonitis was analyzed via using parametric and nonparametric methods of statistical analysis (Fisher’s test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-squared test with Yates’s continuity correction). The criteria were selected that had a predictive power for the lethal outcome (p <0.05), and they were included in the PPS system. To compare the predictive value of the PPS, ROC analysis was conducted with construction of receiver operating characteristic curves for each analyzed system of predicting the peritonitis outcome. The STATISTICA 8 software was used for performing the statistical analysis. Results — The following criteria were of greatest importance in predicting the lethal outcome: a patient’s age, a presence of a malignant neoplasm, a nature of the exudate, the development of sepsis (toxic shock), as well as multiple organ dysfunction not associated with the developed peritonitis. PPS exhibited the greatest accuracy in terms of predicting mortality in patients with secondary diffuse peritonitis (AUC=0.942) versus minimal in APACHE II (AUC=0.840). Conclusion — APACHE II, MPI, WSES SSS and PPS can be considered reliable in terms of mortality prognosis in peritonitis patients. PPS has the greatest accuracy of predicting the mortality in patients with secondary diffuse peritonitis (94%).

Clinical, laboratory and ultrasonographic findings in 38 calves with type-4 abomasal ulcer

Background Type-4 abomasal ulcers (U4) are perforated ulcers causing diffuse peritonitis. This retrospective study describes the clinical, laboratory and ultrasonographic findings in 38 calves with U4. The medical records of 38 calves aged three days to 20 weeks with U4 were scrutinised. Results The most common clinical findings were poor general health (95%), reduced skin elasticity (95%), rumen atony (91%), abdominal guarding (76%) and positive percussion auscultation and/or swinging auscultation on the right side of the abdomen (75%). The most frequent laboratory findings were increased numbers of segmented neutrophils (87%), eosinopenia (87%), acidosis (84%), azotaemia (79%) and hyponatraemia (79%). The most frequent abdominal ultrasonographic findings were intestinal atony (68%), fluid (67%) and fibrin deposits (58%) in the abdomen. Thirty-five calves were euthanased and three calves died spontaneously. All calves underwent pathological examination. Diffuse peritonitis caused by a transmural abomasal ulcer was the principal diagnosis in all calves. Conclusions Perforated abomasal ulcers cause severe illness, and a thorough clinical examination combined with ultrasonographic abdominal examination should lead to a tentative diagnosis.

Bleeding Duodenal Diverticulum with Iatrogenic Perforated Duodenal Diverticulum: Double Trouble

Background: Duodenal diverticulum is the second most common location following the large bowel. Only 1–5% of patients with DD are symptomatic. Complications of duodenal diverticulum includes obstruction of duodenum, biliary pancreatic duct, pancreatitis, haemorrhage, diverticulitis with or without perforation, and other biliopancreatic manifestations including fistula formation in the bile duct, choledocholithiasis and cholangitis, bezoar formation inside the diverticulum, perforation and bleeding. Surgical or non-surgical treatment are considered in selected patient in treating perforated duodenal diverticulum. Case Presentation: We present a 69 year old gentleman presented to emergency department with complaint of passing out blackish stool for 2 days duration associated with presyncopal attack. On arrival, patient appear pale with class 3 hypovolemic shock symptoms. Abdominal examination revealed mild tenderness over epigastric region without signs of peritonism. Digital rectal examination showed fresh melena. Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGDS) showed a huge diverticulum at duodenum (D3) with pooling of blood and blood clots. In view of bleeding at D3 diverticulum,adrenaline was injected and haemoclipped was applied. Hemostasis from bleeding duodenal diverticulum was successfuly secured. However, patient had iatrogenic perforated duodenal diverticulum. Conclusion: We present a case of upper gastrointestinal bleeding from a D3 diverticulum with iatrogenic perforated duodenal diverticulum due to endoscopic hemostasisinjection.We treated this patient conservatively by keep nil by mouth and started on parentral nutritional support, intravenous antibiotics and serial abdominal examination. We advocate in duodenal diverticulum bleeding the application of endoscopic clips and injection should be use juridiously. In case of iatrogenic perforation of duodenum diverticulum due to endoscopic hemostasis can still be treated conservatively in stable, elderly patients with no signs of diffuse peritonitis and no clinical evidence of sepsis