Image-guided percutaneous gastrostomy in neonates with esophageal atresia

Background

Neonates with esophageal atresia may require a gastrostomy before definitive repair. Most surgeons do this procedure using the Stamm technique through a laparotomy. The authors describe a new technique for percutaneous placement of a gastrostomy in these infants and report their preliminary results.

Methods

For children with esophageal atresia and a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), the air-filled stomach is localized fluoroscopically and accessed using a standard percutaneous technique. For those with pure esophageal atresia, a transhepatic needle is used to instil air into the stomach. Once the stomach is distended, the gastrostomy tube is inserted under fluoroscopy.

Results

Fourteen neonates with esophageal atresia had a percutaneous gastrostomy tube placed. Eleven had esophageal atresia and a TEF, and 3 had pure esophageal atresia with a gasless abdomen requiring the transhepatic approach. There were no intraoperative or major postoperative complications, but there were 5 minor early postoperative complications and 2 minor late postoperative complications.

Conclusions

Percutaneous gastrostomy insertion is a safe technique for neonates with esophageal atresia and can be used even in children with pure esophageal atresia who have a gasless abdomen. This technique does not require laparotomy and appears to be associated with a low rate of complications.     

Errors and adverse outcomes on a surgical service: what is the role of residents?

PURPOSE: The extensive changeover in residents that occurs every July in university-affiliated hospitals has been postulated to result in impaired delivery of patient care as new house staff are less experienced and unfamiliar with hospital-specific systems (the "July phenomenon"). To assess the impact of this process on patient safety, we examined the incidence and sources of medical error and adverse outcomes on a pediatric general surgery service during the final month of an academic year and the first month of the subsequent academic year. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All admissions to two pediatric surgeons during June and July 2002 were prospectively followed. The attending surgeon, a surgical fellow, and a medical student reviewed in-patient care daily. Errors committed by doctors, nurses, and allied health workers were identified through daily patient encounters, nursing rounds, medical rounds, and chart audit. Adverse outcomes were evaluated based on type and contributing factors, including involvement of residents. To correct for variations in patient volume, the incidence of errors and adverse outcomes were expressed as a percentage of total patient days. RESULTS: The error rate was 46/643 patient days (7.1%) in June, and 58/776 patient days (7.5%) in July (P = 0.9). Resident error accounted for 52.2% of errors in June and 39.7% of errors in July (P = 0.28). There was no significant difference in the adverse outcome rates (5% versus 6.7%, P = 0.21) or incidence of error-related adverse outcomes (10.8% versus 22.4%, P = 0.2) between June and July. Most errors were made by the on-call resident. CONCLUSION: Resident changeover at the completion of an academic year did not result in an increased number of medical errors or adverse outcomes, indicating that effective systems are in place to prevent the "July phenomenon."     

Prospective decision analysis modeling indicates that clinical decisions in vascular surgery often fail to maximize patient expected utility

BACKGROUND: Applied prospectively to patients with peripheral arterial disease, individualized decision analysis has the potential to improve the surgeon's ability to optimize patient outcome. METHODS: A prospective, randomized trial comparing Markov surgical decision analysis to standard decision-making was performed in 206 patients with symptomatic lower extremity arterial disease. Utility assessment and quality of life were determined from individual patients prior to treatment. Vascular surgeons provided estimates of probability of treatment outcome, intended and actual treatment plans, and assessment of comfort with the decision (PDPI). Treatment plans and PDPI evaluations were repeated after each surgeon was made aware of model predictions for half of the patients in a randomized manner. RESULTS: Optimal treatments predicted by decision analysis differed significantly from the surgeon's initial plan and consisted of bypass for 30 versus 29%, respectively, angioplasty for 28 versus 11%, amputation for 31 versus 6%, and medical management for 34 versus 54% (agreement 50%, kappa 0.28). Surgeon awareness of the decision model results did not alter the verbalized final plan, but did trend toward less frequent use of bypass. Patients for whom the model agreed with the surgeon's initial plan were less likely to undergo bypass (13 versus 30%, P < 0.01). Greater surgeon comfort was present when the initial plan and model agreed (PDPI score 47.5 versus 45.6, P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Individualized application of a decision model to patients with peripheral arterial disease suggests that arterial bypass is frequently recommended even when it may not maximize patient expected utility.     

Intraoperative and intermediate-term angiographic results of coronary artery bypass surgery with Symmetry proximal anastomotic device

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the patency in saphenous vein coronary bypass grafts in which the proximal anastomoses were performed with automatic connector devices or with a traditional suture technique. METHODS: Forty-six patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting without cardiopulmonary bypass by using one thoracic graft and one or more saphenous vein grafts. Grafts were attached to the aorta with a Symmetry connector (St Jude Medical, Inc, St Paul, Minn) in 23 patients, and partial occlusion of the aorta and sutured anastomoses were used in 23 other patients. Grafts were studied intraoperatively with transit time flowmetry and angiography and revised if necessary. Angiography was repeated after 3 to 5 months. RESULTS: Intraoperative graft patency did not differ between the 2 groups. Follow-up angiography demonstrated excellent thoracic graft patency. Vein graft patency decreased to 50% in the Symmetry group, whereas it was 90% in the suture group ( P = .01). Twenty-five percent of the Symmetry grafts had significant stenosis in the connector. CONCLUSION: Saphenous vein grafts anastomosed to aorta with the Symmetry proximal connector have low intermediate patency compared with those with traditionally sutured anastomoses. We do not recommend the routine use of this device in coronary artery bypass operations.     

Diagnostic and surgical endoscopy in functional septorhinoplasty

Endoscopy has altered our ability to diagnose pathology accurately during the preoperative assessment, and it has also offered surgeons the ability to perform surgeries in a minimally invasive manner. In this article, we review the senior author's experience with diagnostic and surgical endoscopy in functional septorhinoplasty. A thorough examination of the nasal cavity in the patient seeking cosmetic rhinoplasty along with correction of nasal obstruction is enhanced by the performance of office nasal endoscopy. Endoscopically guided septoplasty is useful as a minimally invasive approach for isolated septal deformities, and it is an indispensable approach in difficult revision nasal surgeries in which obstructing septal deviation persists. Endoscopy is a critical diagnostic and surgical tool in patients seeking cosmetic nasal surgery who also have functional nasal complaints.     

Muscle flap mass preservation with end-to-side neurorrhaphy: an experimental study

The authors examined the preservation of rat gracilis muscle flap mass after motor and sensory end-to-side neurorrhaphy. The rat gracilis muscle flap model was designed based on a previous study. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. In Group 1 (n = 8), the flap was denervated by transecting the obturator nerve. In Group 2 (n = 8), the flap was reinnervated by coapting the proximal saphenous nerve to the distal obturator nerve. In Group 3 (n = 8), the flap was reinnervated by coapting the motor branch of the femoral nerve to the distal stump of the obturator nerve. At 6 months postoperatively, the gracilis muscle flaps were examined, harvested, and weighed individually. Results showed that the flaps with motor nerve reinnervation retained good bulk, with a weight of 634.0 +/- 65.1 gm, which was statistically significantly higher than the denervated group (457.5 +/- 125.3 gm, p < 0.01). However, muscle mass preservation in the sensory reinnervated group (606.9 +/- 209.1 gm) was not significantly different, compared to the denervated group. Histology revealed atrophic changes in the denervated group, compared to the sensory and motor-reinnervated groups. The authors concluded that muscle mass can be preserved by end-to-side nerve repair. Motor nerve reinnervation is able to better arrest atrophic changes of the muscle flaps.     

Secondary reconstruction of the extensor mechanism using part of the quadriceps tendon, patellar retinaculum, and Gore-Tex strips after proximal tibial resection

Competence of the extensor mechanism is the major determinant of functional outcome of patients after proximal tibia resection. A method of secondary reconstruction of the extensor mechanism using the middle third of the quadriceps tendon and the patellar retinaculum augmented with Gore-Tex strips and gastrocnemius flap is described. Between 1981 and 1997, 7 patients with extension lag greater than 20 degrees at least 1 year after the initial surgery underwent secondary reconstruction of the extensor mechanism. All patients were followed up for a minimum of 2 years. Full extension to an extension lag of 10 degrees was achieved in three patients, and an extension lag between 10 degrees and 20 degrees was achieved in 4 patients. All patients had good to excellent functional outcomes and reported no limitations in daily life activities.     

Initial experience with a new method for the dynamic assessment of pelvic floor function in women: the Kolpexin Pull Test

The aim of this study was to evaluate a newly developed, simple test for assessing pelvic floor muscular function in women. Pelvic floor strength in women with symptomatic pelvic floor dysfunction was evaluated with a newly developed assessment tool, the Kolpexin Pull Test, and compared to a clinically validated digital pelvic floor strength assessment scale (DPA). A 36-mm Kolpexin sphere was inserted into the vagina above the levator plate and connected to a digital tensiometer/force gauge. The force required to remove the sphere was recorded for three resting trials and three maximum pelvic floor contractions. Results of the DPA and Kolpexin Pull Test were analyzed using ANOVAs of contrast variables, intraclass correlations, and regression analyses. Twenty-one women participated in the study. Age range was 36–85 years, parity range was 2–5. All six trials required less than 5 min to perform in each patient. Intraperson maximum contraction data were correlated at 0.96 (95% CI: 0.91, 0.98), and were greater at higher DPA scores (p=0.016). There were positive correlations between the maximum contraction and DPA data (adjusted R²=0.52; p <0.001), and the maximum contraction minus resting vs DPA data (adjusted R²=0.54; p< 0.001). The Kolpexin Pull Test is reproducible, rapid, and correlates with digital clinical assessment of pelvic floor strength during maximal contractions.Abbreviations DPA Digital pelvic assessment - MC Maximum pelvic floor contraction - RP Relaxed pelvic floor Editorial Comment: This paper is an interesting pilot study of a new technique to measure pelvic muscle strength. Several other techniques have already been described. As the authors have stated, all methods have flaws, including the relatively easy and reproducible digital pelvic assessment (DPA). The Kolpexin sphere offers the hope of more objective testing than the DPA, overcomes the contribution of Valsalva to the pressure perineometry readings, and is easier to perform than ultrasound or EMG. The authors did not fully convince us of the objectivity of the measurements, as the study was not blinded. Also, we do not know whether the size of the sphere altered the readings in women in different heights and/or weights. If, on further testing, this technique is shown to have inter- as well as intraexaminer reproducibility, it may contribute to the evaluation of patients for management as well as for research.     

The role of AO external fixation in proximal femoral osteotomies in the pediatric neuromuscular population

Internal fixation in proximal femoral osteotomies using traditional devices may be sub-optimal in children with neuromuscular disorders who have small or osteopenic bone. In this population, between 1988 and 2000, we performed 36 proximal femoral varus osteotomies in 28 patients. These were controlled by the AO external fixator. The average age at surgery was 7 years (range, 2-13 years). A mean varus correction of 34 degrees (range, 15-90 degrees) was obtained. Complications consisted of one superficial pin tract infection, one skin breakdown, and one non-union. Other than the non-union, all osteotomies were stable at the time of the fixator removal. The AO external fixator is an effective alternative in maintaining corrective proximal femoral osteotomies in children with fragile bones.     

Effects of removal of the acetabular labrum in a sheep hip model

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to learn whether partial resection of the acetabular labrum would lead to degenerative arthritis in an ovine model. METHODS: A 2 cm segment of labrum was removed from one hip in 18 mature Swiss Alpine sheep and a sham procedure was performed on the opposite side. Animals were permitted ad lib activity until sacrifice at 6, 12 or 24 weeks. The hip joint was removed en bloc, and loaded with a force of one body weight, using a custom device designed to recreate a physiologic joint reaction force. While under load, the joint was plunge frozen, and then fixed by freeze substitution using aldehydes in methanol/acetone solvents. The entire joint was embedded in methacrylate and sectioned in a standardized frontal plane following the reaction force and including the femoral neck and the acetabular fossa. The sections were evaluated for concentricity and evidence of arthrosis. Six hip joints of three sheep with no surgical procedure were loaded with high or low loads and served as non-surgical controls. RESULTS: Degenerative changes were present in all surgical hips, but the changes were symmetrical and mild. In 16 of 18 hips, the labrum regenerated to the extent that dense fibrous scar extending from the surgically denuded origin filled the defect. CONCLUSION: Resection of the labrum does not cause rapid degeneration or altered stability of the sheep hip.