Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in the Megaobese .

HYPOTHESIS: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is a safe and effective procedure in patients with a body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) of 70 or greater. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of patients with a BMI of 70 or greater who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass by a single surgeon. SETTING: A university-affiliated community hospital in Allentown, Pa. PATIENTS: A nonconsecutive series of 9 patients with a BMI of 70 or greater who met traditional criteria for a bariatric procedure. INTERVENTION: Laparoscopic approach to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with stapled anastomoses. RESULTS: Patient medical records were reviewed for length of stay, complications, operative time, comorbidities, and weight loss. Seven patients were women and 2 were men. Comorbidities included dyspnea on exertion, peripheral edema, arthritis, sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, asthma, hypothyroidism, gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease, and heart disease. Eight of 9 procedures were successfully completed laparoscopically. One patient was converted to an open procedure. One patient developed a marginal ulcer postoperatively. No other complications occurred. Operative time ranged from 122 to 330 minutes (mean, 203 minutes). Length of stay averaged 1.2 days. Overall weight loss was 49% of excess body weight at 1 year after surgery. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is safe and effective in patients with a BMI of 70 or greater

Obstructing Carcinoma of the Cecum.

Carcinoma of the cecum, the third most common location for malignancy of the large bowel, was examined with attention centered upon cecal cancers producing obstruction. Reviewing 136 patients revealed 11 obstructing lesions (8.1%) presenting as distal small bowel obstructions. The mean age of the patients was 74 years. All but one patient had resection for cure which consisted of a right hemicolectomy with ileotransverse colostomy. There was no operative mortality or significant morbidity. Bowel obstruction due to cecal carcinoma is an infrequent occurrence arising in elderly patients and carries a poor survival rate due to advanced disease at the time of diagnosis and treatment

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and the Role of the Surgical Resident.

BACKGROUND: Open Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is the gold standard for obesity surgery in this country. The introduction of a totally laparoscopic technique in 1994 has increased the demand for obesity surgery and for this particular approach. Several studies show comparable results and complications between the open and laparoscopic procedure. However, the continued study of surgical technique, analysis of results, and, in particular, the education of the surgical resident in this approach must be accomplished. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed of 204 patients undergoing attempted laparoscopic RYGB, with surgical resident involvement, from March of 2000 to April of 2002. Surgical candidates had a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 with a history of failed diets. All procedures were performed by a single board-certified general surgeon (P.F.R.) at a tertiary-care, teaching, community hospital with surgical residents assisting. Age, sex, ideal body weight, preoperative BMI and weight, surgical time, length of stay, complications, and resident level and role were recorded. Surgical technique was refined during the study period. RESULTS: A total of 204 patients underwent attempted laparoscopic RYGB with 4 (2%) being converted to open procedures and 1 mortality. Surgical time averaged 182 minutes. The average length of stay was 1.8 days. Four patients (2%) developed postoperative anastomotic leaks. Three patients (1.5%) developed internal hernias requiring reoperation. Four patients (2%) developed postoperative hemorrhage. One patient (0.5%) had a pulmonary embolism. Surgical residents were involved in all procedures and gradually expanded their role as skill increased. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic RYGB can be performed safely in a community setting with surgical residents as either assistant or surgeon, further preparing them to perform this and other advanced laparoscopic procedures after completion of their training

Temporary Intervention: Dental Splinting and the Intragastric Bubble.

Morbid obesity is a significant health problem in the United States today. This has resulted in an intensive investigation into temporary interventions for weight control. Dental splinting does not result in long-term weight loss because patients rapidly regain weight following release of jaw fixation. The Garren-Edwards intragastric bubble was equally ineffective in achieving weight loss and was fraught with numerous complications

Rivaroxaban with or without aspirin in stable cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether rivaroxaban alone or in combination with aspirin would be more effective than aspirin alone for secondary cardiovascular prevention. METHODS: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 27,395 participants with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease to receive rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin (100 mg once daily), rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily), or aspirin (100 mg once daily). The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, or myocardial infarction. The study was stopped for superiority of the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group after a mean follow-up of 23 months. RESULTS: The primary outcome occurred in fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group than in the aspirin-alone group (379 patients [4.1%] vs. 496 patients [5.4%]; hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 0.86; P<0.001; z=−4.126), but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group (288 patients [3.1%] vs. 170 patients [1.9%]; hazard ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.40 to 2.05; P<0.001). There was no significant difference in intracranial or fatal bleeding between these two groups. There were 313 deaths (3.4%) in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group as compared with 378 (4.1%) in the aspirin-alone group (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.96; P=0.01; threshold P value for significance, 0.0025). The primary outcome did not occur in significantly fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group than in the aspirin-alone group, but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease, those assigned to rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin had better cardiovascular outcomes and more major bleeding events than those assigned to aspirin alone. Rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily) alone did not result in better cardiovascular outcomes than aspirin alone and resulted in more major bleeding events