A focus on intra-abdominal infections

Complicated intra-abdominal infections are an important cause of morbidity and are frequently associated with poor prognosis, particularly in higher risk patients

Ten golden rules for optimal antibiotic use in hospital settings:the WARNING call to action

Antibiotics are recognized widely for their benefits when used appropriately. However, they are often used inappropriately despite the importance of responsible use within good clinical practice. Effective antibiotic treatment is an essential component of universal healthcare, and it is a global responsibility to ensure appropriate use. Currently, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to develop new antibiotics due to scientific, regulatory, and financial barriers, further emphasizing the importance of appropriate antibiotic use. To address this issue, the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery established an international multidisciplinary task force of 295 experts from 115 countries with different backgrounds. The task force developed a position statement called WARNING (Worldwide Antimicrobial Resistance National/International Network Group) aimed at raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance and improving antibiotic prescribing practices worldwide. The statement outlined is 10 axioms, or "golden rules," for the appropriate use of antibiotics that all healthcare workers should consistently adhere in clinical practice.</p

The Operative management in Bariatric Acute abdomen (OBA) Survey: long-term complications of bariatric surgery and the emergency surgeon\u27s point of view.

Background: The number of bariatric procedures is increasing worldwide. No consensus or guidelines about the emergency management of long-term complications following bariatric surgery are currently available. The aim of this study is to investigate by a web survey how an emergency surgeon approaches this unique group of patients in an emergency medical scenario and to report their personal experience. Method: An international web survey was sent to 197 emergency surgeons with the aim to collect data about emergency surgeons\u27 experience in the management of patients admitted in the emergency department for acute abdominal pain after bariatric surgery. The survey was conceived as a questionnaire composed by 26 (multiple choice and open) questions and approved by a steering committee. Results: One hundred seventeen international emergency surgeons decided to join the project and answered to the web survey with a response rate of 59.39%. Conclusions: The aim of this WSES web survey was to highlight the current management of patients previously submitted to bariatric surgical procedures by ES.Emergency surgeons must be mindful of postoperative bariatric surgery complications. CT scan with oral intestinal opacification may be useful in making a diagnosis if carefully interpreted by the radiologist and the surgeon.In case of inconclusive clinical and radiological findings, when symptoms fail to improve, surgical exploration for bariatric patients presenting acute abdominal pain, by laparoscopy if expertise is available, is mandatory in the first 12-24 h, to have good outcomes and decrease morbidity rate

WSES classification and guidelines for liver trauma

The severity of liver injuries has been universally classified according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) grading scale. In determining the optimal treatment strategy, however, the haemodynamic status and associated injuries should be considered. Thus the management of liver trauma is ultimately based on the anatomy of the injury and the physiology of the patient. This paper presents the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) classification of liver trauma and the management Guidelines

Clinical controversies in abdominal sepsis : insights for critical care settings

International audienc

Establishing position papers by the WSES

A position paper (PP) should establish a unified voice in areas where controversy occurs based upon multiple practices and/or therapeutic choices. Typically, a position paper should elucidate the knowledge gap, followed by an evidence-based review of options, leading to an "endorsed position." A position paper should represent more than the opinion or consensus of the authors but should present current opinions and practices supported by the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES). Accordingly, position papers should require the approval of an expert group of WSES and in parallel be presented at an annual meeting prior to submission for publication. It is important that a unified approach for drafting of position papers be established and endorsed by WSES in order to establish credibility and prevent misunderstandings during a smooth transition to publication. The purpose of this article is to suggest a uniform process for the development of WSES guidelines.Peer reviewe

Antimicrobials: a global alliance for optimizing their rational use in intra-abdominal infections (AGORA)

Intra-abdominal infections (IAI) are an important cause of morbidity and are frequently associated with poor prognosis, particularly in high-risk patients. The cornerstones in the management of complicated IAIs are timely effective source control with appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Empiric antimicrobial therapy is important in the management of intra-abdominal infections and must be broad enough to cover all likely organisms because inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy is associated with poor patient outcomes and the development of bacterial resistance. The overuse of antimicrobials is widely accepted as a major driver of some emerging infections (such as C. difficile), the selection of resistant pathogens in individual patients, and for the continued development of antimicrobial resistance globally. The growing emergence of multi-drug resistant organisms and the limited development of new agents available to counteract them have caused an impending crisis with alarming implications, especially with regards to Gram-negative bacteria. An international task force from 79 different countries has joined this project by sharing a document on the rational use of antimicrobials for patients with IAIs. The project has been termed AGORA (Antimicrobials: A Global Alliance for Optimizing their Rational Use in Intra-Abdominal Infections). The authors hope that AGORA, involving many of the worlds leading experts, can actively raise awareness in health workers and can improve prescribing behavior in treating IAIs

IROA: the International Register of Open Abdomen.

Actually the most common indications for Open Abdomen (OA) are trauma, abdominal sepsis, severe acute pancreatitis and more in general all those situations in which an intra-abdominal hypertension condition is present, in order to prevent the development of an abdominal compartment syndrome. The mortality and morbidity rate in patients undergone to OA procedures is still high. At present many studies have been published about the OA management and the progresses in survival rate of critically ill trauma and septic surgical patients. However several issues are still unclear and need more extensive studies. The definitions of indications, applications and methods to close the OA are still matter of debate. To overcome this lack of high level of evidence data about the OA indications, management, definitive closure and follow-up, the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) promoted the International Register of Open Abdomen (IROA). The register will be held on a web platform (Clinical Registers®) through a dedicated web site: www.clinicalregisters.org. This will allow to all surgeons and physicians to participate from all around the world only by having a computer and a web connection. The IROA protocol has been approved by the coordinating center Ethical Committee (Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital, Bergamo, Italy). IROA has also been registered to ClinicalTrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02382770)

WSES worldwide emergency general surgery formation and evaluation project

Optimal management of emergency surgical patients represents one of the major health challenges worldwide. Emergency general surgery (EGS) was identified as multidisciplinary surgery performed for traumatic and non-traumatic acute conditions during the same admission in the hospital. EGS represents the easiest viable way to provide affordable and high-quality level of care to emergency surgical and trauma patients. It may result from the association of different physicians with other specialties in a cooperative model. The World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) has been working on the EGS organization and implementation since its foundation believing in the need of common benchmarks for training and educational programs throughout the world. This is a plea in different languages to all World Prime Ministers and Presidents to support the creation in all nations of an organized hub-spoke system for emergency general surgery to improve standards of care and to save lives.Peer reviewe