Does preoperative stent positioning in obstructive left sided colon cancer increase the risk of perineural invasion?

Colonic stenting as a bridge to surgery has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for left-sided malignant colonic obstruction depending on local expertise. However, concerns still exist regarding its oncological safety. In particular, several reports showed an increased prevalence of perineural tumor invasion following stent placement. Since perineural invasion negatively affects oncological outcomes, the present study sought to evaluate this controversial association. We retrospectively reviewed 114 patients presenting with left-side obstructing colon cancer over a 10-year period. The relationship between perineural invasion and colonic stenting was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Perineural invasion was found to be strongly associated with pathological features, including TNM stage, (p < 0.001), poor differentiation (p = 0.002), vascular invasion (p < 0.001), lymphatic invasion (p < 0.001), whereas no significant association with preoperative stenting was observed (p = 0.918) after performing univariate analysis. In the multivariate model, only TNM stage III-IV (OR: 6.810, 95% CI 1.972-23.518, p = 0.002) and venous invasion (OR: 5.325, 95% CI 1.911-14.840, p = 0.001) were independently associated with perineural invasion. The results of this study suggest no association between preoperative colonic stenting and perineural invasion.

Quasi-elective left colectomy after endoscopic colon stenting for obstructive cancer yields comparable oncologic outcome to full-elective operation

PURPOSE

Whether deferring surgery after endoscopic self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) placement for neoplastic stricture, and operating patients in a quasi-elective situation, may result in similar oncologic outcomes to elective operations is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the disease-free survival (DFS) rates of patients who underwent an interval colon resection after SEMS placement or an elective operation with comparable cancer stages.

METHODS

From a prospective dataset, we retrospectively selected patients with the following characteristics: (1) left-sided colon cancer and (2) cancer stage I to III. Exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) palliative surgery and (2) emergency operation. Then we stratified patients into two groups: (A) full-elective left colon resection and (B) quasi-elective left colon resection, defined as surgery performed after SEMS placement for obstructive colon cancer. DFS function was studied by the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

After 1:2 matching based on cancer stage, 106 patients of the group A were compared with 53 patients of group B. In each group, there were 9.4% of stage I, 39.4% of stage II, and 50.9% of stage III patients. The rate of technical failure in SEMS placement was 3.8%. After a mean follow-up of 54 months, 16 (15.1%) patients in the full-elective groups and 10 (18.9%) in the quasi-elective group experience cancer recurrence (log rank = 0.588). DFS curve did not reach the median value.

CONCLUSIONS

SEMS placement with interval colon resection for obstructive neoplastic strictures seems to provide similar long-term oncologic outcomes to operations performed in an elective setting when a low rate of technical failure is achieved.

Spontaneous patella fracture associated with anterior tibial tubercle pseudarthrosis in a revised knee replacement following knee arthrodesis

Background

Conversion of a knee arthrodesis to a Total Knee Arthroplasty is an uncommon procedure. Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty in this setting presents the surgeon with a number of challenges including the management of the extensor mechanism and patella.

Case presentation

We describe a unique case of a 69 years old Caucasian man who underwent a revision Total Knee Arthroplasty using a tibial tubercle osteotomy after a previous conversion of a knee arthrodesis without patella resurfacing. Unfortunately 9 months following surgery a tibial tubercle pseudarthrosis and spontaneous patella fracture occurred. Both were managed with open reduction and internal fixation. At 30 months follow-up the tibial tubercle osteotomy had completely consolidated while the patella fracture was still evident but with no signs of further displacement. The patient was completely satisfied with the outcome and had a painless range of knee flexion between 0-95°.

Conclusions

We believe that patients undergoing this type of surgery require careful counseling regarding the risk of complications both during and after surgery despite strong evidence supporting improved functional outcomes.