Leakage after surgery for rectum cancer; inconsistency in reporting to the Danish Colorectal Cancer Group?

Purpose. Anastomotic leakage accounts for up to 1/3 of all fatalities after rectal cancer surgery. Evidence suggests that anastomotic leakage has a negative prognostic impact on local cancer recurrence and long-term cancer specific survival. The reported leakage rate in 2011 in Denmark varied from 7 to 45 percent. The objective was to clarify if the reporting of anastomotic leakage to the Danish Colorectal Cancer Group was rigorous and unequivocal. Methods. An Internet-based questionnaire was e-mailed to all Danish surgical departments, who reported to Danish Colorectal Cancer Group (DCCG) in 2011. There were 23 questions. Four core questions were whether pelvic collection, fecal appearance in a pelvic drain, rectovaginal fistula, and “watchfull” waiting patients were reported as anastomotic leakage. Results. Fourteen out of 17 departments, who in 2011 according to DDCG performed rectal cancer surgery, answered the questionnaire. This gave a response rate of 82%. In three of four core questions there was disagreement in what should be reported as anastomotic leakage. Conclusion. The reporting of anastomotic leakage to the Danish Colorectal Cancer Group was not rigorous and unequivocal. The reported anastomotic leakage rate in Danish Colorectal Cancer Group should be interpreted with caution

Validation of the Endoscopic Part of the Spigelman Classification for Evaluating Duodenal Adenomatosis in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis:A Prospective Study of Interrater and Intrarater Reliability

INTRODUCTION: In patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, the Spigelman classification is recommended for staging and risk stratification of duodenal adenomatosis. Although the classification has been used for decades, it has never been formally validated. METHODS: We included consecutive FAP patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopic surveillance and evaluated the inter- and intrarater reliability of the Spigelman classification. RESULTS: The interrater reliability of the endoscopic parameters and the Spigelman classification was good and excellent, respectively. The intrarater reliability of the endoscopic parameters and the Spigelman classification was moderate and good, respectively. DISCUSSION: The results support continued use of the Spigelman classification as the primary end point for future studies and as key endoscopic performance measure

Watchful Waiting After Radiological Guided Drainage of Intra-abdominal Abscess in Patients With Crohn's Disease Might Be Associated With Increased Rates of Stoma Construction

Background: Management of spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) with radiologically guided percutaneous drainage (PD) was debated. Methods: This is a secondary analysis from a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of all the patients with CD who underwent PD followed by surgery at 19 international tertiary centers. Results: Seventeen patients (4.8%) who did not undergo surgery after PD were compared to those who had PD followed by surgical intervention 335/352 (95.2%). Patients who had PD without surgery were those with longer disease duration, more frequently had previous surgery for CD (laparotomies/laparoscopies), enteric fistula, on steroid treatment before and continue to have it after PD. Patients who had PD without subsequent surgical resection had a higher risk of stoma construction at later stages 8/17 (47.1%) versus 90/326 (27.6%) (P < .01). Patients with PD with no subsequent surgery had numerically higher rates of abscess recurrence 5/17 (29.4%) compared to those who had PD followed by surgery 45/335 (13.4%) the difference was not statistically significant (P = .07). Conclusions: Even with the low number of patients enrolled in this study who had PD of IAA without subsequent surgery, the findings indicate a markedly worse prognosis in terms of recurrence, length of stay, readmission, and stoma construction. Watchful waiting after PD to treat patients with spontaneous IAA might be indicated in selected patients with poor health status or poor prognostic factors

Enterostomy complications in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) surgery, a retrospective chart review at Odense University Hospital

Abstract Background The aim was to investigate the incidence of postoperative complications to surgery for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) with primary focus on enterostomy related complications. Methods A retrospective chart review of surgically treated NEC during the period from 2008 to 2014 was performed. Enterostomy with secondary anastomosis was our standard treatment. Postoperative complications were classified according to the Clavien-Dindo Classification (CDC). Results Forty-two cases were included in the study. NEC was most frequently located in the small bowel and the length of resected intestine was median 15 cm (2–50). Thirty-nine (93%) patients received an ileostomy and the rest a colostomy. Twenty-two (52%) patients underwent a total of 35 reoperations, and 25 (71%) of these were stoma related with stenosis was the most frequent cause, other causes of reoperation were re-NEC, high-output ileostomy, Ileus and second look. Conclusions The rate of reoperation due to complications was high and most often caused by stoma related complications