An Overview of Near Infrared Fluorescent Cholangiography with Indocyanine Green during Cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is one of the most common surgical procedures performed globally but continues to carry to an unacceptably high risk of iatrogenic bile duct injury (BDI). In recent years several centres have proposed Near Infrared Fluorescent Cholangiography (NIRFC) with Indocyanine Green (ICG) as a potential method of dynamic intraoperative extra hepatic bile duct mapping. We provide an overview of the current problem of BDI during laparoscopic cholecystectomy including the incidence, aetiology and medico legal ramifications. We also provide a short summary of the enduring argument for and against routine intraoperative cholangiogram (IOC) and we discuss the new technology of NIRFC with ICG in detail. We provide an informative summary of the small number of highly heterogeneous clinical trials of NIRFC with ICG currently available and briefly discuss limitations of the technology

Multiple Application Propfan Study (MAPS): Advanced tactical transport

This study was conducted to ascertain potential benefits of a propfan propulsion system application to a blended wing/body military tactical transport. Based on a design cruise Mach no. of 0.75 for the design mission, the results indicate a significant advantage in various figures of merit for the propfan over those of a comparable technology turbofan. Although the propfan has a 1.6 percent greater takeoff gross weight, its life cycle cost is 5.3 percent smaller, partly because of a 27 percent smaller specific fuel consumption. When employed on alternate missions, the propfan configuration offers significantly improved flexibility and capability: an increase in sea level penetration distance of more than 100 percent, or in time-on-station of 24 percent, or in deployment payload of 38 percent

A review of wearable motion tracking systems used in rehabilitation following hip and knee replacement

Clinical teams are under increasing pressure to facilitate early hospital discharge for total hip replacement and total knee replacement patients following surgery. A wide variety of wearable devices are being marketed to assist with rehabilitation following surgery. A review of wearable devices was undertaken to assess the evidence supporting their efficacy in assisting rehabilitation following total hip replacement and total knee replacement. A search was conducted using the electronic databases including Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, PsycARTICLES, and PubMed of studies from January 2000 to October 2017. Five studies met the eligibility criteria, and all used an accelerometer and a gyroscope for their technology. A review of the studies found very little evidence to support the efficacy of the technology, although they show that the use of the technology is feasible. Future work should establish which wearable technology is most valuable to patients, which ones improve patient outcomes, and the most economical model for deploying the technolog

Effects of 3-year GH replacement therapy on bone mineral density in younger and elderly adults with adult-onset GH deficiency

Objective: Little is known of the effects of long-term GH replacement on bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly GH deficient (GHD) adults.Design/Patients/Methods: In this prospective, single-centre, open-label study, the effects of 3-year GH replacement were determined in 45 GHD patients above 65 years of age and in 45 younger control GHD patients with a mean age of 39.5 (SEM 1.1) years. All patients had adult onset disease and both groups were comparable in terms of number of anterior pituitary hormonal deficiencies, gender, body mass index (BMI), and waist:hip ratio.Results: The mean maintenance dose of GH was 0.24 (0.02) mg/day in the elderly patients and 0.33 (0.02) mg/day in the younger GHD patients (p<0.01). The three years of GH replacement induced a marginal effect on total body BMC and BMD whereas femur neck and lumbar (L2-L4) spine BMC and BMD increased in both the elderly and the younger patients. The treatment response in femur neck BMC was less marked in the elderly patients (p<0.05 vs. younger group). However, this difference disappeared after correction for the lower dose of GH in the elderly patients using an analysis of covariance. There were no between-group differences in responsiveness in BMC or BMD at other skeletal locations.Conclusions: This study shows that GH replacement increases lumbar (L2-L4) spine and femur neck BMD and BMC in younger as well as elderly GHD patients. This supports that long-term GH replacement is useful also in elderly GHD patients

Safety and convenience of once-weekly somapacitan in adult GH deficiency: a 26-week randomized, controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Somapacitan is a reversible albumin-binding growth hormone (GH) derivative, developed for once-weekly administration. This study aimed to evaluate the safety of once-weekly somapacitan vs once-daily Norditropin. Local tolerability and treatment satisfaction were also assessed. DESIGN: 26-week randomized, controlled phase 3 safety and tolerability trial in six countries (Nbib2382939). METHODS: Male or female patients aged 18-79 years with adult GH deficiency (AGHD), treated with once-daily GH for ≥6 months, were randomized to once-weekly somapacitan ( = 61) or once-daily Norditropin ( = 31) administered subcutaneously by pen. Both treatments were dose titrated for 8 weeks to achieve insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) standard deviation score (SDS) levels within the normal range, and then administered at a fixed dose. Outcome measures were adverse events (AEs), including injection site reactions; occurrence of anti-somapacitan/anti-GH antibodies and change in treatment satisfaction, assessed using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication-9 (TSQM-9). RESULTS: Mean IGF-I SDS remained between 0 and 2 SDS throughout the trial in both groups. AEs were mostly mild or moderate and transient in nature. The most common AEs were nasopharyngitis, headache and fatigue in both groups. More than 1500 somapacitan injections were administered and no clinically significant injection site reactions were reported. No anti-somapacitan or anti-GH antibodies were detected. The TSQM-9 score for convenience increased significantly more with somapacitan vs Norditropin ( = 0.0171). CONCLUSIONS: In this 26-week trial in patients with AGHD, somapacitan was well tolerated and no safety issues were identified. Once-weekly somapacitan was reported to be more convenient than once-daily Norditropin

Presentations and outcomes of people with unexplained symptoms in acute general surgery: protocol for a mixed-methods study

Introduction Unexplained symptoms are common across healthcare settings and are associated with increased mental and physical morbidity and healthcare expenditure. Improving the identification, explanation and management of unexplained symptoms will be helpful to patientsand healthcare systems. Limited data exists exploring unexplained acute abdominal pain in the surgical setting. Objectives This protocol describes three interlinked studies. Study one will determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients presenting with explained and unexplained abdominal pain in an acute surgical setting. Study two will explore how the explanation and management of unexplained symptoms is conveyed to patients. Study three will explore how patients with unexplained symptoms understand these explanations. Methods and analysis Patients aged ≥18 years who present to a surgical same day emergency care unit with acute abdominal pain will be eligible. In study one, participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire, including validated self-report measures, at the time of presentation and six months later. They will be divided into explained and unexplained symptom groups based on clinical presentation and investigation outcomes. The proportion in each group meeting diagnostic thresholds for anxiety and depression will be compared and baseline predictors of pain and quality of life six months later will be determined. In study two, recordings of consultations between patients and surgeons involving the explanation and management of unexplained abdominal pain will be analysed. In study three, participants will be interviewed to explore their experiences and understanding of their symptoms

Cost-utility analysis of operative versus non-operative treatment for colorectal liver metastases

Abstract Background Surgical resection of colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs) is the standard of care when possible, although this strategy has not been compared with non-operative interventions in controlled trials. Although survival outcomes are clear, the cost-effectiveness of surgery is not. This study aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of resection for CRLMs compared with non-operative treatment (palliative care including chemotherapy). Methods Operative and non-operative cohorts were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Patients in the operative cohort had a minimum of 10 years of follow-up. A model-based cost–utility analysis was conducted to quantify the mean cost and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) over a lifetime time horizon. The analysis was conducted from a healthcare provider perspective (UK National Health Service) in a secondary care (hospital) setting. Results Median survival was 41 and 21 months in the operative and non-operative cohorts respectively (P &amp;lt; 0·001). The operative strategy dominated non-operative treatments, being less costly (€22 200 versus €32 800) and more effective (4·017 versus 1·111 QALYs gained). The results of extensive sensitivity analysis showed that the operative strategy dominated non-operative treatment in every scenario. Conclusion Operative treatment of CRLMs yields greater survival than non-operative treatment, and is both more effective and less costly. </jats:sec

Automatic Hip Fracture Identification and Functional Subclassification with Deep Learning

Purpose: Hip fractures are a common cause of morbidity and mortality. Automatic identification and classification of hip fractures using deep learning may improve outcomes by reducing diagnostic errors and decreasing time to operation. Methods: Hip and pelvic radiographs from 1118 studies were reviewed and 3034 hips were labeled via bounding boxes and classified as normal, displaced femoral neck fracture, nondisplaced femoral neck fracture, intertrochanteric fracture, previous ORIF, or previous arthroplasty. A deep learning-based object detection model was trained to automate the placement of the bounding boxes. A Densely Connected Convolutional Neural Network (DenseNet) was trained on a subset of the bounding box images, and its performance evaluated on a held out test set and by comparison on a 100-image subset to two groups of human observers: fellowship-trained radiologists and orthopaedists, and senior residents in emergency medicine, radiology, and orthopaedics. Results: The binary accuracy for fracture of our model was 93.8% (95% CI, 91.3-95.8%), with sensitivity of 92.7% (95% CI, 88.7-95.6%), and specificity 95.0% (95% CI, 91.5-97.3%). Multiclass classification accuracy was 90.4% (95% CI, 87.4-92.9%). When compared to human observers, our model achieved at least expert-level classification under all conditions. Additionally, when the model was used as an aid, human performance improved, with aided resident performance approximating unaided fellowship-trained expert performance. Conclusions: Our deep learning model identified and classified hip fractures with at least expert-level accuracy, and when used as an aid improved human performance, with aided resident performance approximating that of unaided fellowship-trained attendings.Comment: Presented at Orthopaedic Research Society, Austin, TX, Feb 2, 2019, currently in submission for publicatio

An Experimental Method for Stereolithic Mandible Fabrication and Image Preparation

Reproduction of anatomical structures by rapid prototyping has proven to be a valid adjunct for craniofacial surgery, providing alternative methods to produce prostheses and development of surgical guides. The aim of this study was to introduce a methodology to fabricate asymmetric human mandibles by rapid prototyping to be used in future studies for evaluating mandibular symmetries. Stereolithic models of human mandibles were produced with varying amounts of asymmetry in the condylar neck, ramus and body of the mandible by means of rapid prototyping. A method for production of the synthetic mandibles was defined. Model preparation, landmark description and development of the experimental model were described. A series of synthetic mandibles ranging in asymmetry were accurately produced from a scanned human mandible. A method for creating the asymmetries, fabricating, coating and landmarking the synthetic mandibles was formulated. A description for designing a reproducible experimental model for image acquisition was also outlined. Production of synthetic mandibles by stereolithic modeling is a viable method for creating skeletal experimental models with known amounts of asymmetry