Acute diverticulitis with extraluminal air: is conservative treatment sufficient? A single-center retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Acute diverticulitis with extraluminal air constitutes a heterogeneous condition whose management is controversial. The aims of this study are to report the failure rate of conservative treatment for diverticulitis with extraluminal air and to report risk factors of conservative treatment failure.

METHODS

A retrospective study was performed from an institutional review board-approved database of patients admitted with acute diverticulitis with extraluminal air from 2015 to 2021 at a tertiary referral center. All patients managed for acute diverticulitis with covered perforation (without intraabdominal abscess) were included. The primary endpoint was failure of medical treatment, defined as a need for unplanned surgery or percutaneous drainage within 30 days after admission.

RESULTS

Ninety-three patients (61% male, mean age 57 ± 17 years) were retrospectively included. Ten patients had failure of conservative treatment (11%). These patients were significantly older than 50 years (n = 9/10, 90% versus n = 47/83, 57%, p = 0.007), associated with cardiovascular disease (n = 6/10, 60% versus n = 10/83, 12%, p = 0.002), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score of 3-4 (n = 4/7, 57% versus 6/33, 18%, p = 0.05), under anticoagulant and antiplatelet (n = 6/10, 60% versus n = 11/83, 13%, p = 0.04) and steroid or immunosuppressive therapy (n = 3/10, 30% versus 5/83, 6%, p = 0.04), and with distant pneumoperitoneum location (n = 7/10, 70% versus n = 14/83, 17%, p = 0.001) compared with those with successful conservative treatment. On multivariate analysis, only distant pneumoperitoneum was an independent risk factor of failure (odds ratio (OR) 6.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) [2-21], p = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

Conservative treatment with antibiotics for acute diverticulitis with extraluminal air is safe with a success rate of 89%. Patients with distant pneumoperitoneum should be carefully monitored.

Ways of preventing surgeon burnout

In surgical practice, numerous sources of stress (stressors) are unpredictable, two examples being daily workload and postoperative complications. They may help to explain surgeon burnout, of which the prevalence (34 to 53%) has been the subject of many studies. That said, even though assessments are legion, recommended solutions have been few and far between, especially insofar as by nature and training, surgeons are disinclined to interest themselves in burnout, which they are prone to consider as something experienced by "others". The objective of this attempt at clarification is to identify in the literature the strategies put forward in view of avoiding surgeon burnout, and to assess the impact of this phenomenon not only on the surgeon's professional and personal entourage, but also on patient safety. Prevention-based strategies, many of them focused on modifiable stressors, will be detailed.

Practical model to identify liver transplant recipients at low risk of postoperative haemorrhage, bile leakage and ascites

Background

This study aimed to identify a subgroup of recipients at low risk of haemorrhage, bile leakage and ascites following liver transplantation (LT).

Methods

Factors associated with significant postoperative ascites (more than 10 ml/kg on postoperative day 5), bile leakage and haemorrhage after LT were identified using three separate multivariable analyses in patients who had LT in 2010–2019. A model predicting the absence of all three outcomes was created and validated internally using bootstrap procedure.

Results

Overall, 944 recipients underwent LT. Rates of ascites, bile leakage and haemorrhage were 34.9, 7.7 and 6.0 per cent respectively. The 90-day mortality rate was 7.0 per cent. Partial liver graft (relative risk (RR) 1.31; P = 0.021), intraoperative ascites (more than 10 ml/kg suctioned after laparotomy) (RR 2.05; P = 0.001), malnutrition (RR 1.27; P = 0.006), portal vein thrombosis (RR 1.56; P = 0.024) and intraoperative blood loss greater than 1000 ml (RR 1.39; P = 0.003) were independently associated with postoperative ascites and/or bile leak and/or haemorrhage, and were introduced in the model. The model was well calibrated and predicted the absence of all three outcomes with an area under the curve of 0.76 (P = 0.001). Of the 944 patients, 218 (23.1 per cent) fulfilled the five criteria of the model, and 9.6 per cent experienced postoperative ascites (RR 0.22; P = 0.001), 1.8 per cent haemorrhage (RR 0.21; P = 0.033), 4.1 per cent bile leak (RR 0.54; P = 0.048), 40.4 per cent severe complications (RR 0.70; P = 0.001) and 1.4 per cent 90-day mortality (RR 0.13; P = 0.004).

Conclusion

A practical model has been provided to identify patients at low risk of ascites, bile leakage and haemorrhage after LT; these patients could potentially qualify for inclusion in non-abdominal drainage protocols.

In Vivo Feasibility of Arterial Embolization with Permanent and Absorbable Suture: The FAIR-Embo Concept

PURPOSE

Arterial embolization has been shown to be effective and safe for the management of bleeding, especially for postpartum and pelvic traumatic bleeding. We propose to evaluate the proof of concept of feasibility and effectiveness of arterial embolization with absorbable and non-absorbable sutures in a porcine model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the acute setting (n = 1), several different arteries (mesenteric, splenic, pharyngeal, kidney) were embolized using non-absorbable sutures (NAS): Mersutures™ braided sutures (polyethylene terephthalate). In the chronic setting (n = 3), only lower pole renal arteries were embolized. On the right side, NAS was used, whereas on the left side embolization was realized with absorbable suture (AS): Vicryl^® braided suture (polyglactin 910). The chronic group was followed for 3 months. The pigs received contrast-enhanced CT the day before embolization (D-1), after the embolization (D0), at 1 month and 3 months after embolization (M1 and M3); digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was done at D0 and M3 and histological analysis at M3.

RESULTS

All vascular targets were effectively embolized without any pre- or postoperative complications. Both DSAs and CTs at M3 showed a 100% recanalization rate for the AS embolization and a partial reversal rate for the NAS embolization. A renal hypotrophy in the embolized region was observed during both the M1 and M3 scans for both sutures (AS and NAS) with a clear hypotrophy for the NAS embolized kidney.

CONCLUSION

Embolization by AS and NAS (FAIR-Embo) is a feasible and effective treatment which opens up the possibility of global use of this inexpensive and widely available embolization agent.