Annals of surgery
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Postoperative pulmonary complications are significant contributors to morbidity in patients who have undergone upper abdominal, thoracic, or cardiac surgery. The pathophysiology of these complications might involve postoperative inspiratory muscle weakness. The nature of postoperative inspiratory muscle weakness is unknown. ⋯ Only 2 hours of thoracic surgery causes marked, and selective, diaphragm muscle fiber weakness.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of International Consensus Guidelines versus 18-FDG PET in detecting malignancy of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas.
To assess the reliability of the International Consensus Guidelines (ICG) and 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) in distinguishing benign from malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) of the pancreas. ⋯ PET is more accurate than the ICG in distinguishing benign from malignant (invasive and noninvasive) IPMNs. Prophylactic IPMN resection in young patients fit for surgery should be guided by the ICG, whereas PET should be performed in older patients, cases at increased surgical risk, or when the feasibility of parenchyma-sparing surgery demands a reliable preoperative exclusion of malignancy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial of radiofrequency versus laser treatment of the great saphenous vein in patients with varicose veins.
Endovenous ablation of varicose veins using radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and endovenous laser therapy (EVLT) has reported advantages over traditional open surgical treatment. There is little evidence comparing the efficacy and patient-reported outcomes between the 2 endovenous solutions. This study compares the RFA and EVLT strategies in a prospective double-blind clinical trial. ⋯ ISRCTN63135694 (http://www.controlled-trials.com).
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Comparison of adjuvant systemic chemotherapy with or without hepatic arterial infusional chemotherapy after hepatic resection for metastatic colorectal cancer.
The potential benefit of adjuvant hepatic arterial infusional floxuridine (HAI-FUDR) in addition to modern systemic chemotherapy using oxaliplatin or irinotecan remains unknown for patients with resected liver-confined colorectal metastases (CRLM). The principle aim of this study was to compare outcomes in patients receiving modern systemic chemotherapy with or without HAI-FUDR. ⋯ Adjuvant HAI-FUDR combined with modern systemic chemotherapy is independently associated with improved survival compared to adjuvant systemic chemotherapy alone. A randomized clinical trial between these 2 regimens is justified.
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Anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome (ACNES) is generally neglected as a source of chronic abdominal pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a diagnostic workup protocol and treatment regimen in patients with suspected ACNES. ⋯ A regimen of consecutive local trigger point injections is effective in one-thirds of patients with ACNES. Surgical neurectomy is effective in about two-thirds of the injection regimen refractory patients. Eighty percent of the entire ACNES population reports total or substantial pain relief on the long term.