Preoperative polyethylene glycol versus a single enema in elective bowel surgery

BACKGROUND: At the beginning of 2004, a large Dutch randomized study comparing mechanical bowel preparation with a single preoperative enema reported no differences in anastomotic leakage rates, septic complications, or mortality. On the basis of this study, this institution abandoned the routine practice of bowel preparation with polyethylene glycol and introduced a single preoperative enema. METHODS: A consecutive series of 78 patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery with mechanical bowel preparation using polyethylene glycol (PG group) was compared to a consecutive series of 71 patients with a single preoperative enema (SE group). The PG group was operated between June 2003 and December 2004, the SE group between January 2005 and January 2006. Mortality, anastomotic leakage, and infectious and noninfectious complications were compared. RESULTS: Mortality, anastomotic leakage, frequency of reoperations, and hospital stay were comparable for both groups. The overall postoperative morbidity was significantly higher in the SE group (26 vs. 9, p = 0.003). Specifically, the incidence of wound infections was significantly higher in the SE group (7 vs. 1, p = 0.041). Furthermore, a trend was observed in the incidence of intra-abdominal infections which was higher in the SE group (8 vs. 2, p = 0.070). Also a trend toward more extra-abdominal infectious complications was seen in the SE group (11 vs. 4, p = 0.086). CONCLUSIONS: Based on both the conflicting data currently available from different randomized studies and our results, the preoperative bowel preparation protocol in our institution has been changed. All left-sided colonic resections, in patients who can tolerate mechanical bowel preparation, are prepared with polyethylene glycol.     

Fluid and electrolyte management and blood product usage

Traditionally, the majority of oral and maxillofacial surgery patients are young and healthy. With the ever-expanding scope of the specialty, however, more surgically extensive procedures increasingly are being performed on more medically complex patients. To optimize comprehensive patient care, oral and maxillofacial surgeons are obligated to possess a firm knowledge of the basic principles of fluid management and use a sound strategy for blood product usage.     

Altered skeletal expression of sclerostin and its link to radiographic progression in ankylosing spondylitis

Objective

Osteocytes are considered to be sensors of bone damage and regulators of bone mass by specifically expressing sclerostin, an inhibitor of bone formation. The contribution of osteocytes in regulating local bone remodeling in arthritis is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of osteocytes as contributors to bone remodeling in ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Methods

Sclerostin expression and osteocyte death were assessed by immunohistochemistry in joints derived from patients with AS, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and patients with osteoarthritis (OA), as well as from control subjects. In addition, the serum level of sclerostin was assessed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in healthy subjects and patients with AS; this assessment included the longitudinal correlation of sclerostin serum levels and radiographic progression in the spine of patients with AS.

Results

Sclerostin expression was confined exclusively to osteocytes. Whereas the majority of osteocytes in healthy individuals and patients with RA were sclerostin positive, expression was significantly reduced in patients with OA and was virtually absent in patients with AS. Moreover, serum levels of sclerostin were significantly lower in patients with AS than in healthy individuals. Importantly, low serum sclerostin levels in patients with AS were significantly associated with the formation of new syndesmophytes (P = 0.007).

Conclusion

Sclerostin expression is impaired in patients with AS, suggesting a specific alteration of osteocyte function in this disease. A low serum level of sclerostin in the setting of AS is linked to increased structural damage, emphasizing the role of sclerostin in the suppression of bone formation.

     

Neural substrates of cognitive and behavioral deficits in atypical Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive cognitive decline that typically affects first memory and later executive functions, language, and visuospatial skills. This sequence of cognitive deterioration is thought to reflect the progressive invasion of the cerebral cortex by the two major pathological hallmarks of AD, neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and senile plaques (SP), as well as degree of neuronal and synaptic loss. In atypical AD, prominent and early deficits are found in language, motor abilities, frontal and executive capacities, or visuospatial skills. These atypical clinical features are associated with an unusual pattern of NFT or SP formation that predominantly involves cortical areas usually spared in the course of the degenerative process. In an attempt to classify this highly heterogeneous subgroup, the present article provides an overview of clinicopathological analyses in patients with atypical progression of AD symptomatology with special reference to the relationship between specific cognitive and behavioral deficits and hierarchical patterns of AD lesion distribution within the cerebral cortex. On the basis of these representative examples of a cortical circuit-based approach to explore the mechanisms giving rise to AD neuropsychological expression, we also critically discuss the possibility to develop a matrix linking clinical presentations to degeneration of forward and backward long corticocortical pathways in this disorder.     

An evaluation of a Shockroom located CT scanner: a randomized study of early assessment by CT scanning in trauma patients in the bi-located trauma center North-West Netherlands (REACT trial)

Background

Trauma is a major source of morbidity and mortality, especially in people below the age of 50 years. For the evaluation of trauma patients CT scanning has gained wide acceptance in and provides detailed information on location and severity of injuries. However, CT scanning is frequently time consuming due to logistical (location of CT scanner elsewhere in the hospital) and technical issues. An innovative and unique infrastructural change has been made in the AMC in which the CT scanner is transported to the patient instead of the patient to the CT scanner. As a consequence, early shockroom CT scanning provides an all-inclusive multifocal diagnostic modality that can detect (potentially life-threatening) injuries in an earlier stage, so that therapy can be directed based on these findings.

Methods/design

The REACT-trial is a prospective, randomized trial, comparing two Dutch level-1 trauma centers, respectively the VUmc and AMC, with the only difference being the location of the CT scanner (respectively in the Radiology Department and in the shockroom). All trauma patients that are transported to the AMC or VUmc shockroom according to the current prehospital triage system are included. Patients younger than 16 years of age and patients who die during transport are excluded. Randomization will be performed prehospitally. Study parameters are the number of days outside the hospital during the first year following the trauma (primary outcome), general health at 6 and 12 months post trauma, mortality and morbidity, and various time intervals during initial evaluation. In addition a cost-effectiveness analysis of this shockroom concept will be performed. Regarding primary outcome it is estimated that the common standard deviation of days spent outside of the hospital during the first year following trauma is a total of 12 days. To detect an overall difference of 2 days within the first year between the two strategies, 562 patients per group are needed. (alpha 0.95 and beta 0.80).

Discussion

The REACT-trial will provide evidence on the effects of a strategy involving early shockroom CT scanning compared with a standard diagnostic imaging strategy in trauma patients on both patient outcome and operations research.

Trial registration

ISRCTN55332315     

Structured assessment of mental health status in psychogeriatrics: validity of the French HoNOS65+.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability, validity, and feasibility of a French version of the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Elderly People (HoNOS65+). METHOD: Twenty mental health professionals completed the scale for 126 elderly patients. We assessed interrater reliability in inpatient and outpatient settings, together with construct and discriminant validity, as well as concurrent validity compared with several widely used clinical instruments. RESULTS: Excellent agreement among raters was observed in the outpatient subgroup (kappa range 0.77 to 1.00), whereas interrater reliability was modest in the inpatient subgroup (kappa values < 0.55). In cases where the patient-caregiver relationship lasted more than 1 month, the reliability of the scale improved. Construct validity analysis revealed no subscale structure. All items except "self-injury" displayed high concurrent validity (significant Spearman correlations with 8 other questionnaires). In terms of discriminant validity, the "cognitive impairment" (area under the curve [AUC] 0.91) and "depressive symptoms" (AUC 0.79) items showed high sensitivity and specificity values. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the French version of HoNOS65+ is a promising clinical assessment tool to evaluate mental disorders in the elderly in outpatient settings. We support its use in routine clinical practice, with the condition that a relatively long and individualized patient-caregiver relationship has been established.     

An uncommon cause of neonatal respiratory distress

We describe a term infant without any features of congenital infection, who presented with respiratory distress at birth. Respiratory distress persisted despite change of antibiotics, and chest radiography showed bilateral diffuse patchy infiltrates. Congenital infections screening obtained on the 10th day of life was reported positive for syphilis. The infant was started on penicillin G and came off oxygen within five days. Although the presentation of congenital syphilis as pneumonitis in the absence of other clinical signs is unusual, in view of the re-emergence of the disease, syphilitic involvement of the lungs should be considered in any infant presenting with persistent diffuse lung disease of unknown etiology.