Updates in surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Never put equipoise in appendix! Final results of ASAA (antibiotics vs. surgery for uncomplicated acute appendicitis in adults) randomized controlled trial.
Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency; however, its etiology and diagnosis are still discussed with a considerable proportion of wrong diagnosis resulting in appendectomies for non inflamed appendix. Moreover, the biologic function of the appendix is still unclear. For uncomplicated acute appendicitis the conservative treatment with antibiotics has been proposed with interesting results. ⋯ Due to the poor patients' accrual the study had no enough statistical power to demonstrate the non-inferiority of conservative treatment and results were inconclusive. Due to the poor patient's accrual rate the study failed to demonstrate the non-inferiority of conservative treatment in uncomplicated acute appendicitis. On the other hand the study demonstrates the difficulty in performing randomized trials in emergency surgery and focus on the ethical aspects.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Pain and quality of life after inguinal hernia surgery: a multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing lightweight vs heavyweight mesh (Supermesh Study).
Mesh repair has significantly reduced recurrence rate after groin hernia surgery. Recently, attention has shifted to issues such as chronic pain and discomfort, leading to development of lightweight and partially re-absorbable meshes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of lightweight mesh vs heavyweight mesh on post-operative pain, discomfort and quality of life in short and medium term after inguinal hernia surgery. ⋯ A statistically significant difference in favour of lightweight mesh was found at multivariable analysis for pain (1 week and 6 months after surgery: p = 0.02 and p = 0.04, respectively) and QoL at 1 month and 6 months (p = 0.05 and p = 0.02, respectively). There was no difference in complication rate and no hernia recurrences were detected. The use of lightweight mesh in anterior Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair significantly reduced the incidence of pain and favourably affected the perceived quality of life at 6 months after surgery compared to heavyweight mesh.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for retroperitoneal varicocele repair. Could it be an anesthesia method?
To assess the efficacy of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block as anesthesia method for retroperitoneal varicocele repair and to evaluate its postoperative analgesic effectiveness. Thirty-three consecutive male patients undergoing retroperitoneal varicocele repair (Palomo technique) were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomly allocated to undergo ultrasound-guided TAP block anesthesia (case group), or conventional spinal anesthesia (control group). ⋯ Moreover, the need of rescue analgesia resulted significantly higher in the control group (p = 0.03). This is the first study showing that TAP block could be employed as an effective and feasible anesthesia method for the retroperitoneal varicocelectomy. Moreover, our results demonstrate that this method is more effective than spinal anesthesia in the pain control after varicocele repair.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Acquisition of suture skills during medical graduation by instructor-directed training: a randomized controlled study comparing senior medical students and faculty surgeons.
Due to shortage of time and limited availability of faculty surgeons to teach basic surgical skills during medical graduation, the search for alternative ways of simulated training with feedback is needed. The purpose of this study was to compare the simulated teaching of suture skills to novice medical students by senior medical students and by experienced faculty surgeons. Forty-eight novice medical students were randomly assigned to three practice conditions on bench model (n = 16): self-directed suture training (control), senior medical student-directed suture skills' training, or experienced faculty surgeon-directed suture skills' training. ⋯ There was no significant difference (all p > 0.05) between the student-directed teaching and faculty-directed teaching groups. The magnitude of the effect (instructor-directed training suture) was considered large (>0.80) in all measurements. The acquisition of suture skills after student-directed training was similar to the training supervised by faculty surgeon, and the increase in suture performances of trainees that received instructor administered training was superior to self-directed learning.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
How does dexamethasone influence surgical outcome after laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication? A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.
Laparoscopic floppy Nissen fundoplication (LFNF) is an effective treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease. The duration of convalescence, after noncomplicated LFNF, may depend on several factors of which pain, fatigue and sociocultural factors are the most important. Nausea and vomiting occur mainly on the day of operation. ⋯ Dexamethasone significantly reduced postoperative levels of CRP (p = 0.01), IL-6 and IL-1 (p < 0.05), fatigue (p = 0.01) and overall pain during the first 24 postoperative hours (p < 0.05) and the total requirement of analgesic (ketorolac) (p < 0.05). Dexamethasone also reduced nausea and vomiting on the day of operation (p < 0.05). Preoperative dexamethasone (8 mg) reduced pain, fatigue, nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing uncomplicated LNF when compared with placebo.