Hemicolectomía radical laparoscópica: opción de mínima invasión para el cáncer de colon

Introduction. Colon cancer is one of the main causes of morbimortality in the world. Colombia counts near 145,600 new cases per year. The reports of laparoscopic intervention in this pathology are growing, but in Colombia there is little recent work on the matter. The aim of this article is to show how this pathology can be addressed through a minimally invasive procedure, laparoscopic right colectomy, which is not frequently used in the country. Clinical case. An 86-year-old patient consults due to weight loss, adynamia and abdominal pain on right side. Iron-deficiency anemia and hidden blood in feces was reported. The digestive endoscopies show the presence of a vegetant and ulcerated lesion of neoplastic appearance in the cecum. A biopsy revealed a moderately differentiated, invasive adenocarcinoma with areas of necrosis. A laparoscopic right colectomy is conducted. Definitive report of moderately differentiated and ulcerated, invasive, mucinous adenocarcinoma, with lesion up to the serous membrane. Follow up is conducted with neoadjuvant therapy by the Clinical Oncology service. Discussion. Adenocarcinoma is one of the most common primary cancers in the colon. Surgical still an excellent alternative for the management of this kind of tumor. In Colombia, the majority of these resections are carried out by open surgery. However, laparoscopic resection is a method that offers similar outcomes to the traditional procedure, while providing a reduction in the inflammatory response, with better pain control and control of functional limitations. Conclusions. Laparoscopic colectomy for the resection of colonic tumors is a safe, effective and reproducible method. However, it requires high-cost technology and it must be conducted by a surgical team skilled and experienced in manual laparoscopic suturing. Introducción. El cáncer de colon es una de las principales causas de morbimortalidad a nivel mundial. En Colombia se presentan cerca de 145,600 casos nuevos al año. Cada vez son más los reportes de este tipo de patologías intervenidas por vía laparoscópica, aunque son pocos en Colombia. El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar el abordaje de esta patología mediante un procedimiento mínimamente invasivo: la colectomía derecha por vía laparoscópica, el cual es poco utilizado en el país. Caso clínico. Paciente de 86 años que consulta por pérdida de peso, adinamia y dolor abdominal en flanco derecho. Presenta además anemia ferropénica y sangre oculta en materia fecal. Las endoscopias digestivas muestran lesión ulcerada vegetante de aspecto neoplásico a nivel del ciego. La biopsia revela adenocarcinoma infiltrante moderadamente diferenciado con áreas de necrosis. Se realiza una colectomía derecha por técnica laparoscópica. Se hace seguimiento con neoadyuvancia por parte de Oncología Clínica. Discusión. El adenocarcinoma es uno de los cánceres primarios más comunes en el colon. La resección quirúrgica es una excelente alternativa para el manejo y tratamiento de estos tumores. En Colombia, la mayoría de estas resecciones se realizan por vía abierta. La resección por vía laparoscópica es un método que demuestra similar eficacia, ofreciendo una disminución en la respuesta inflamatoria, con mejor control del dolor y limitaciones funcionales. Conclusiones. La colectomía por vía laparoscópica para resección de tumores de colon es un método seguro, eficaz y reproducible. Sin embargo, exige tecnología de alto costo y debe ser realizada por un grupo quirúrgico con habilidad y experiencia en sutura manual laparoscópica

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Global attitudes in the management of acute appendicitis during COVID-19 pandemic: ACIE Appy Study

Background: Surgical strategies are being adapted to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations on the management of acute appendicitis have been based on expert opinion, but very little evidence is available. This study addressed that dearth with a snapshot of worldwide approaches to appendicitis. Methods: The Association of Italian Surgeons in Europe designed an online survey to assess the current attitude of surgeons globally regarding the management of patients with acute appendicitis during the pandemic. Questions were divided into baseline information, hospital organization and screening, personal protective equipment, management and surgical approach, and patient presentation before versus during the pandemic. Results: Of 744 answers, 709 (from 66 countries) were complete and were included in the analysis. Most hospitals were treating both patients with and those without COVID. There was variation in screening indications and modality used, with chest X-ray plus molecular testing (PCR) being the commonest (19\ub78 per cent). Conservative management of complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis was used by 6\ub76 and 2\ub74 per cent respectively before, but 23\ub77 and 5\ub73 per cent, during the pandemic (both P < 0\ub7001). One-third changed their approach from laparoscopic to open surgery owing to the popular (but evidence-lacking) advice from expert groups during the initial phase of the pandemic. No agreement on how to filter surgical smoke plume during laparoscopy was identified. There was an overall reduction in the number of patients admitted with appendicitis and one-third felt that patients who did present had more severe appendicitis than they usually observe. Conclusion: Conservative management of mild appendicitis has been possible during the pandemic. The fact that some surgeons switched to open appendicectomy may reflect the poor guidelines that emanated in the early phase of SARS-CoV-2

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P &lt; 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)