The new residency program in neurological surgery in Spain

A new Residency Program in Neurological Surgery has been recently elaborated by the "Comisión Nacional de Neurocirugía" following the requirement of the National Council of Specialities. This new Program, which will replace the one proposed in 1992, has been designed in a similar way as those applied in countries providing the best neurosurgical training. Changes included deal with the definition of the speciality, and the introduction of new rotations,a resident Log Book, a Tutor with a well defined profil and commitments, a structured planning of academic and clinical objectives, a rotation or training in research, and a planning for continuous evaluation of the progress of the resident. It is likely that an appropriate application of the new Program in Spanish neurosurgical units with accreditation for training will result in formation of highly competent neurosurgeons. However, there are new challenges for improving neurosurgical training and the development of our speciality in Spain, as those related with new legislation regulating resident working hours, or some political decisions changing the mechanisms for controlling the number of resident positions per year.     

老年胃癌患者围手术期并发症及其处理

目的 研究老年胃癌患者的临床特点,总结老年胃癌患者的年龄、术前各种合并症等对术后并发症发生的影响.方法 总结自2005年1月至2007年1月接受手术的181例胃癌患者的临床资料,其中老年患者(年龄大于65岁者)65例,回顾性分析老年胃癌患者的年龄、术前各种合并症与术后并发症发生的关系.结果 老年胃癌组术前合并症总发生率为83%,非老年胃癌组为59%;老年胃癌组中有52%存在2种或2种以上合并症,发生率最高的合并症为高血压,达40%;老年胃癌患者的根治率为86%,非老年胃癌组的根治率为93%;老年胃癌组术后并发症的发生率为37%,术前合并高血压、糖尿病、肺部疾病、低蛋白血症、贫血者术后并发症发生率较高.结论 老年胃癌患者手术治疗后的总并发症发生率和病死率与非老年胃癌患者相比无差异.     

Normal computerized tomography scans in severe head injury. Prognostic and clinical management implications

The authors analyze the clinical course of 46 severely head-injured patients who had completely normal computerized tomography (CT) scans through the immediate posttraumatic period (1 to 7 days after trauma). These patients represent 10.2% of a consecutive series of 448 cases of severe head injuries and two-thirds of the cases showing a normal CT scan on admission (the other one-third of the cases developed new pathology). The usual course in these 46 patients after the initial coma was toward progressive neurological improvement, and 35 patients (76%) achieved a functional level of survival. Nine patients (19.5%) remained comatose for several weeks and developed severe disability. There were two fatalities due to medical complications. The final outcome was more closely related to the duration of coma (the longer the duration the worse the result) than to the initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score. In fact, 26% of the patients in the lower GCS score ranges (3 to 4 points) made a good recovery and 46% developed moderate disability only. These findings indicate that the grim prognostic significance of deep posttraumatic coma is tempered in the presence of a normal scan. However, the absence of CT abnormalities in severely head-injured patients cannot be equated with a good prognosis because in one-fifth of the cases serious permanent disability develops. Sustained elevation of the intracranial pressure (ICP) was not seen in these patients, indicating that ICP monitoring may be omitted in cases with a normal scan. However, since one-third of the patients with a normal admission scan developed new pathology within the first few days of injury, a strategy for control scanning is recommended. Control CT scans performed more than 6 months after injury showed a significantly higher incidence of brain atrophy in patients developing permanent disability than in those who made a good recovery.