How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Acute diverticulitis management: evolving trends among Italian surgeons. A survey of the Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR)

Acute diverticulitis (AD) is associated with relevant morbidity/mortality and is increasing worldwide, thus becoming a major issue for national health systems. AD may be challenging, as clinical relevance varies widely, ranging from asymptomatic picture to life-threatening conditions, with continuously evolving diagnostic tools, classifications, and management. A 33-item-questionnaire was administered to residents and surgeons to analyze the actual clinical practice and to verify the real spread of recent recommendations, also by stratifying surgeons by experience. CT-scan remains the mainstay of AD assessment, including cases presenting with recurrent mild episodes or women of child-bearing age. Outpatient management of mild AD is slowly gaining acceptance. A conservative management is preferred in non-severe cases with extradigestive air or small/non-radiologically drainable abscesses. In severe cases, a laparoscopic approach is preferred, with a non-negligible number of surgeons confident in performing emergency complex procedures. Surgeons are seemingly aware of several options during emergency surgery for AD, since the rate of Hartmann procedures does not exceed 50% in most environments and damage control surgery is spreading in life-threatening cases. Quality of life and history of complicated AD are the main indications for delayed colectomy, which is mostly performed avoiding the proximal vessel ligation, mobilizing the splenic flexure and performing a colorectal anastomosis. ICG is spreading to check anastomotic stumps' vascularization. Differences between the two experience groups were found about the type of investigation to exclude colon cancer (considering the experience only in terms of number of colectomies performed), the size of the peritoneal abscess to be drained, practice of damage control surgery and the attitude towards colovesical fistula

Esofagectomia ibrida laparoscopica e toracotomica destra secondo Ivor Lewis: studio clinico prospettico in un centro di riferimento

Il cancro dell'esofago è una neoplasia con prognosi negativa il cui trattamento principale, la chirurgia, costituisce ancora oggi una sfida. L'intervento di esofagectomia si è evoluto nel tempo, nel tentativo di aumentare la sopravvivenza e soprattutto ridurre le morbilità correlate. In questo studio clinico prospettico si valutano i risultati clinici in pazienti sottoposti ad esofagectomia ibrida secondo Ivor Lewi

Correction to: Practice of proctology among general surgery residents and young specialists in Italy: a snapshot survey

The originally published article the collaborators of ProctoSurvey Group has not been included. The original article has been updated

Practice of proctology among general surgery residents and young specialists in Italy: a snapshot survey

Anal diseases are very common and, in most of the cases, require surgery of minor or medium complexity, and, therefore, are among the most accessible diseases for surgeons in training. Aim of this study is to investigate the status of the training in proctology in Italy. A 31-items questionnaire was administered to residents and young specialists (<= 2 years) in general surgery, using mailing lists, and the social media accounts of the Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery. Answers from 338 respondents (53.8% males) were included in the final analysis. Overall, 252 respondents (74.5%) were residents and 86 (25.5%) young specialists. Two hundred and fifty-five (75.4%) respondents practiced proctology for the first time early on during their postgraduate training, but only 19.5% did it continuously for >= 24 months. Almost all respondents (334; 98.8%) had the chance to participate in proctological procedures, 205 (60.5%) as first surgeon. This percentage decreases according to the complexity of the surgery. In fact, only 11 (3.3%) and 24 (7.1%) of the respondents were allowed to be the first surgeon in more complex proctological diseases such as surgery for rectal prolapse and fecal incontinence. The present survey suggests that, in Italy, most surgeons in training deal with anal diseases. However, only few of them could achieve sufficient professional skills in the management of proctological diseases to be able to practice autonomously as young specialists

Protective ileostomy creation after anterior resection of the rectum (PICARR): a decision-making exploring international survey

: In our previous survey of experts, surgeon's decision-making process (DMP) about protective ileostomy (PI) creation after anterior resection was investigated. Based on our previous data, a multiple choice questionnaire has been developed. The aim is to perform a quantitative analysis of the results obtained from an international survey and to describe the clinical practice worldwide. Ten questions were related to participants' demographics and, 20 questions (of which 17 Likert scale questions) investigated the DMP regarding PI creation. To evaluate the tendency of the answers in the Likert-type questions, the mean of the answers obtained was compared with the mean point of the Likert scale. The survey was completed by 1019 physicians. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and distance of the anastomosis from the anal verge ≤ 10 cm were each considered alone sufficient to justify creation of a PI, with statistically significant differences in comparison to the mean point of the scales in (p = < 0.0001 in both cases). Total Mesorectal Excision alone was not considered a factor sufficient to create a PI (p = 0.416). Most of the participants agree to define their approach to create a PI "tailored" to patients' risk factors (p = < 0.0001) and "influenced by my experience" in case of patients with low/moderate risk of anastomotic leakage (p = < 0.0001). This study provides useful insights on the worldwide clinical practice regarding creation of PI following anterior resection. Given the lack of standardization and evidence-based guidelines, this analysis may be helpful to assist surgeons' practice