GS02LATERAL LAPAROSCOPIC SPLENECTOMY: THE AUCKLAND CITY HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE

Purpose To review the experience with laparoscopic splenectomy, to determine it’s efficacy for treating immune thrombocytopaenic purpura (ITP) and to highlight key technical issues with the operation. Methodology All splenectomies performed between 1992 and 2005 were identified from the Otago Surgical Audit and the clinical notes reviewed, including the laboratory records for follow‐up data related to the haematologic cases. Results There were 289 splenectomies performed over the 13 year period. The indications were trauma (111, 38%), haematologic disease (93, 32%), incidental (40, 14%) splenic malignancy (39, 13%), and other (8, 3%). Of the 68 patients with ITP, 49 (72%) had a lateral laparoscopic splenectomy (LLS) with no conversions, a 5% complication rate and one mortality. Based on platelet counts and the requirement for maintenance steroids there was a complete response in 44 (68%) patients at >6 months, a partial response in 16 (24%) and no response in 5 (8%) patients. A short video presentation will highlight the key steps for the safe and efficient performance of the LLS, including patient and port positioning, the use of ultrasonic dissection, splenic pedicle stapling, and morcellation. The indications for hand‐port assisted laparoscopic and open splenectomy will be discussed. Conclusions The LLS is the preferred approach to splenectomy for all but massive splenomegaly and can be performed safely with careful attention to key technical issues.     

Pneumatic sequential-compression boots compared with aspirin prophylaxis of deep-vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty

This prospective, randomized study was undertaken to compare the effectiveness of pneumatic sequential-compression boots with that of aspirin in preventing deep-vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two prophylactic regimens: compression boots or aspirin. One hundred and nineteen patients completed the study. Seventy-two patients had unilateral arthroplasty and forty-seven, one-stage bilateral arthroplasty. In the unilateral group, the incidence of deep-vein thrombosis was 22 per cent for the patients who used compression boots compared with 47 per cent for those who received aspirin (p less than 0.03). In the bilateral group, the incidence of deep-vein thrombosis was 48 per cent for the patients who used compression boots compared with 68 per cent for those who received aspirin (p less than 0.20). The results confirm the effectiveness of compression boots in the treatment of patients who have had unilateral total knee arthroplasty. Despite the use of compression boots, however, patients who had bilateral arthroplasty were at greater risk for the development of deep-vein thrombosis.     

Survivorship of cemented knee replacements

The survivorship method of analysis has been used to compare the failure rate and overall success of 1,430 cemented primary total knee arthroplasties performed at The Hospital for Special Surgery over a 15-year period. There were 224 total condylar prostheses with a polyethylene tibia, 289 of the posterior stabilised type with an all polyethylene tibia, and 917 posterior stabilised with a metal-backed tibial component. There were 12 failures in the total condylar series, giving an average annual failure rate of 0.65% and a 15-year success rate of 90.56%. The posterior stabilised prosthesis with a polyethylene tibia showed an average annual failure rate of 0.27% and a 10-year success rate of 97.34%, and this prosthesis with a metal-backed tibial component gave an annual failure rate of 0.19% and a seven-year success rate of 98.75%. The overall survival rate was not influenced by sex or age, diagnosis or the percentage of ideal body weight. No metal-backed tibial components have yet needed revision for loosening. It seems that infection will be the major cause of failure.     

Poliomyelitis outbreak in Natal/KwaZulu, South Africa, 1987-1988. 1. Epidemiology.

An epidemic of type 1 poliomyelitis occurred in Natal/KwaZulu in the eastern part of South Africa between December 1987 and November 1988. 412 poliomyelitis cases were reported, of whom 74% were younger than 5 years. The case-fatality rate was 8%. It is suggested that massive floods, experienced in the area 2 months earlier, triggered the outbreak.     

Evaluation of specialists'' outreach clinics in general practice in England: process and acceptability to patients, specialists, and general practitioners.

OBJECTIVES: The wider study aimed to evaluate specialists' outreach clinics in relation to their costs, processes, and effectiveness, including patients' and professionals' attitudes. The data on processes and attitudes are presented here. DESIGN: Self administered questionnaires were drawn up for patients, their general practitioners (GPs) and specialists, and managers in the practice. Information was sought from hospital trusts. The study formed a pilot phase prior to a wider evaluation. SETTING: Nine outreach clinics in general practices in England, each with a hospital outpatient department as a control clinic were studied. SUBJECTS: The specialties included were ear, nose, and throat surgery; rheumatology; and gynaecology. The subjects were the patients who attended either the outreach clinics or hospital outpatients clinics during the study period, the outreach patients' GPs, the outreach patients' and outpatients' specialists, the managers in the practices, and the NHS trusts which employed the specialists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Process items included waiting lists, waiting times in clinics, number of follow up visits, investigations and procedures performed, treatment, health status, patients' and specialists' travelling times, and patients' and doctors' attitudes to, and satisfaction with, the clinic. RESULTS: There was no difference in the health status of patients in relation to the clinic site (ie, outreach and hospital outpatients' clinics) at baseline, and all but one of the specialists said there were no differences in casemix between their outreach and outpatients' clinics. Patients preferred, and were more satisfied with, care in specialists' outreach clinics in general practice, in comparison with outpatients' clinics. The outreach clinics were rated as more convenient than outpatients' clinics in relation to journey times; those outreach patients in work lost less time away from work than outpatients' clinic patients due to the clinic attendance. Length of time on the waiting list was significantly reduced for gynaecology patients; waiting times in clinics were lower for outreach patients than outpatients across all specialties. In addition, outreach patients were more likely to be first rather than follow up attenders; rheumatology outreach patients were more likely than hospital outpatients to receive therapy. GPs' referrals to hospital outpatients' clinics were greatly reduced by the availability of outreach clinics. Both specialists and GPs saw the main advantages of outreach clinics in relation to the greater convenience and better access to care for patients. Few of the specialists and GPs in the outreach practices held formal training and education sessions in the outreach clinic, although over half of the GPs felt that their skills/expertise had broadened as a result of the outreach clinic. CONCLUSIONS: The processes of care (waiting times, patient satisfaction, convenience to patients, follow up attendances) were better in outreach than in outpatients' clinics. However, waiting lists were only significantly reduced for gynaecology patients, despite both GPs and consultants reporting reduced waiting lists for patients as one of the main advantages of outreach. Whether these improvements merit the increased cost to the specialists (in terms of their increased travelling times and time spent away from their hospital base) and whether the development of what is, in effect, two standards of care between practices with and without outreach can be stemmed and the standard of care raised in all practices (eg, by sharing outreach clinics between GPs in an area) remain the subject of debate. As the data were based on the pilot study, the results should be viewed with some caution, although statistical power was adequate for comparisons of sites if not specialties.     

Proteolysis in severe sepsis is related to oxidation of plasma protein.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that the oxidation of proteins is part of the mechanism of proteolysis in catabolic states. DESIGN: Prospective, observational study. SETTING: Critical care unit at a university teaching hospital, New Zealand. PATIENTS: 13 patients (6 male, 7 female; median age 61, range 26-76 years) who were admitted to the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Auckland Hospital with a diagnosis of severe sepsis. The median APACHE II score during the first 24 hours after admission was 22 (range 15-34). Control values of protein carbonyl in plasma were established in 15 healthy volunteers. INTERVENTIONS: We made serial measurements of total body protein (by neutron activation analysis) and plasma protein carbonyl (by ELISA) concentrations over a period of 10 days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Plasma protein carbonyl concentration and total body protein. RESULTS: The total amount of body protein decreased significantly over the 10 days (p < 0.001). Plasma protein carbonyl concentrations were significantly higher in the septic patients than in the control group throughout the study period (p < 0.0001). There was a significant reduction in plasma protein carbonyl concentration over the study period (p < 0.008). The early increase in the concentration of protein carbonyl formation was followed by an ongoing loss of body protein. There was a significant positive correlation between total body protein and plasma protein carbonyl (p < 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Severe sepsis results in oxidation of plasma proteins and this precedes and is related to the loss of body protein.     

Wound healing response in surgical patients: recent food intake is more important than nutritional status

We have recently found that an impairment of the wound healing response (WHR) occurs in surgical patients with protein-energy malnutrition before there are any measurable changes in body fat and protein stores. The hypothesis of this study was that the patients' recent food intake is more important in determining the WHR than the patients' overall nutritional status. We have measured the recent food intake (by dietary recall), the WHR (by hydroxyproline accumulation in subcutaneous GORE-TEX implants), the pre-operative weight loss (per cent), and body fat and protein stores (by in vivo neutron activation analysis) in 83 patients awaiting a major elective gastrointestinal resection, and divided them into two groups: adequate recent food intake (n = 59) and inadequate recent food intake (n = 24). There was no significant difference between these two groups for age, sex, diagnosis, surgical procedure, weight loss (per cent), or the amount of body fat and protein stores but there was a significant difference in the WHR (1.81 +/- 0.16 s.e.m. versus 1.04 +/- 0.22 s.e.m. nmol hydroxyproline/mg GORE-TEX, P less than 0.005). These results show that pre-operative food intake has a greater influence over the wound healing response than absolute losses of protein and fat from body stores and they suggest that the maintenance of a normal food intake up until the time of surgery is of importance in preventing an impairment of the wound healing response.     

INGUINAL HERNIA REPAIR BY LAPAROSCOPIC SURGEONS: EARLY EXPERIENCE AND ATTITUDES

The introduction of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR) has been controversial. A questionnaire was sent to all general surgeons in New Zealand to document the early experience with LIHR and attitudes towards it. Of the 118 replies (response rate 55%). 74 were from laparoscopic surgeons. 26 of whom had performed 564 (201 public. 363 private) LIHR (23 bilateral) until January 1994. Only nine (35%) of these surgeons had assisted an experienced surgeon before performing an LIHR. and only four (15%) were supervised by an experienced surgeon during their first case. The transabdominal preperitoneal technique of LIHR was used by 14 (54%) surgeons. the extraperitoneal technique by eight (31%), and the tronsabdominal onlny technique by four (15%). There were 29 (5%) recurrences, 17 (3%) neuropathies. seven (1.2%) conversions, four (0.7%) miijor perforations. and one (0.17%) death. Of the 26 surgeons who performed LIHR, 20 (77%) were concerned about the absence of long-term results. 14 (54%) considered that the optimal technique had not been established. 13 (50%) were concerned about the unique complications associated with LIHR. 11 (42%) were less enthusiastic about performing LIHR than previously. 10 (38%) were doubtful about its advantages, and six (23%,) were uncertain about its future and considered that it should only be performed within the context of a controlled trial. This study highlights a number of issues that need to be addressed before the role of LIHR can be determined.     

Adipose tissue lipogenesis and fat deposition in leaner broiler chickens.

Rates of hepatic lipogenesis and secretion of plasma triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in 6- to 7-wk-old broiler chickens were similar to the overall rate of fat deposition in these birds, although approximately 20% of [14C]-labeled VLDL was oxidized to CO2 within 8 h. Only 6-7% of VLDL and portomicron triglyceride was taken up by the abdominal fat pad, but this proportion of total triglyceride flux could account for about 80-85% of the total fatty acids accumulating in that depot. The rate of lipogenesis in adipose tissue was much lower than that in the liver, but it could account for much of the remaining fatty acids. Lipogenesis from [14C]acetate in cultured chicken adipocytes was markedly inhibited by adding VLDL as an exogenous source of fatty acids. However, adipose tissue lipogenesis was not increased in vivo by reduction of plasma lipoprotein flux by genetic selection, by the feeding of a high protein diet or by immunological intervention. The results confirm that adipose tissue lipogenesis makes only a small contribution to adipose tissue growth in normal broilers. Its importance does not increase in response to the reductions in hepatic lipogenesis that accompany genetic or nutritional manipulation of body composition.