No difference in postoperative outcome after acute surgery whether the patients presented for first time or are known with Crohn's disease

Purposes: Acute operations (within 48 h) or urgent (within 2–7 days) carry the risk of unfavorable outcome as the patient is not optimized, the operation is performed by trainees and the disease is severe necessitating acute/urgent intervention. However, Crohn's disease (CD) patients who present as acute disease may have more favorable outcome because they did not receive medications, surgery is performed early and the disease is promptly controlled. Aim: To investigate whether CD patients presented first time have more favorable outcome compared to those who are known with CD. Method: Retrospective multi-center study. Rate of complications, duration of hospitalization and rate of re-admission were used as a measure of postoperative outcome. Univariate and multi-variate analyses were used. Results: Sixty-one patients in whom acute CD was first presentation (group 1) did not have more favorable outcome compared to 167 patients known to have CD (group 2) and presented acute. Mean duration of hospitalization was 8.7 days in group 1 compared to 9.4 days in group 2. Complications occurred in 12/61 patients (19.7%) in group 1 compared to 39/167 patients (23.4%) in group 2: odds ratio 1 .113, CI [0.611–2.024]. No difference in intra-abdominal septic complications rate was found between the two groups: odds ratio 0.932, CI [0.369–2.355]. Re-admission was seen in six patients (9.8%) in group 1 vs. 23 (13.8%) in Group 2: odds ratio 1.464, CI [0.566–3.788]. Conclusion: Patients undergoing acute surgery for the first CD presentation did not have more favorable outcome compared to those undergoing acute intestinal resection for known CD

Damage control strategy in perforated diverticulitis with generalized peritonitis

Background: The best treatment for perforated colonic diverticulitis with generalized peritonitis is still under debate. Concurrent strategies are resection with primary anastomosis (PRA) with or without diverting ileostomy (DI), Hartmann's procedure (HP), laparoscopic lavage (LL) and damage control surgery (DCS). This review intends to systematically analyze the current literature on DCS. Methods: DCS consists of two stages. Emergency surgery: limited resection of the diseased colon, oral and aboral closure, lavage, vacuum-assisted abdominal closure. Second look surgery after 24-48 h: definite reconstruction with colorectal anastomosis (-/+DI) or HP after adequate resuscitation. The review was conducted in accordance to the PRISMA-P Statement. PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane central register of controlled trials (CENTRAL) and EMBASE were searched using the following term: (Damage control surgery) AND (Diverticulitis OR Diverticulum OR Peritonitis). Results: Eight retrospective studies including 256 patients met the inclusion criteria. No randomized trial was available. 67% of the included patients had purulent, 30% feculent peritonitis. In 3% Hinchey stage II diverticulitis was found. In 49% the Mannheim peritonitis index (MPI) was greater than 26. Colorectal anastomosis was constructed during the course of the second surgery in 73%. In 15% of the latter DI was applied. The remaining 27% received HP. Postoperative mortality was 9%, morbidity 31% respectively. The anastomotic leak rate was 13%. 55% of patients were discharged without a stoma. Conclusion: DCS is a safe technique for the treatment of acute perforated diverticulitis with generalized peritonitis, allowing a high rate of colorectal anastomosis and stoma-free hospital discharge in more than half of the patients

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

Mechanical Bowel Preparation (MBP) Prior to Elective Colorectal Resections in Crohn’s Disease Patients

Background: Studies addressing the role of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) in Crohn's disease (CD) patients are lacking. Methods: Consecutive elective colorectal resections for CD have been included in the present analysis. Exclusion criteria were small bowel resections not including colon, urgent surgeries, surgeries for cancer, and abdominoperineal resections for perianal disease. MBP was performed routinely between 1992 and 2004, omitted between 2005 and 2015, and reintroduced in 2016. Intraabdominal septic complications (IASC) were anastomotic leakage, intraabdominal abscess, intestinal fistula, and peritonitis. Results: Overall, 680 bowel resections for CD have been performed between 1992 and 2017. After exclusion of the above mentioned patients, 549 patients were included in the present analysis. The IASC rate was 12% in patients undergoing surgery after MPB as opposed to 24% when MBP was omitted (P < 0.001). By the multivariate analysis, preoperative MBP significantly reduced the risk of IASC (Hazard ratio 0.45; 95% CI, 0.23 - 0.86; P = 0.016). Preoperative weight loss (HR 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1 - 3.6; P = 0.024), penetrating disease (HR 2.6; 95% CI, 1.3 - 5.4; P = 0.01), and stapled as opposed to hand-sewn ileocolic anastomosis (HR 3.3; 95% CI, 1.4 - 7.7; P = 0.006) were associated with an increased risk of IASC. The positive impact of MBP was strongest on anastomotic complication rate in patients undergoing ileocolic resections for penetrating disease (11% vs 36%, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Preoperative MPB should be strongly considered before colorectal surgery in patients with CD, especially in patients undergoing ileocolic resections for penetrating disease

Recovery from respiratory failure after decompression laparotomy for severe acute pancreatitis

We present three cases of patients (at the age of 56 years, 49 years and 74 years respectively) with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), complicated by intra-abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) and respiratory insufficiency with limitations of mechanical ventilation. The respiratory situation of the patients was significantly improved after decompression laparotomy (DL) and lung protective ventilation was re-achieved. ACS was discussed followed by a short review of the literature. Our cases show that DL may help patients with SAP to recover from severe respiratory failure