Management and outcome of patients undergoing surgery after acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Steering Group for the National Audit of Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Haemorrhage.
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Most patients with acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage are managed conservatively or with endoscopic intervention but some ultimately require surgery to arrest the haemorrhage. We have conducted a population-based multicentre prospective observational study of management and outcomes. This paper concerns the subgroup of 307 patients who had an operation because of continued or recurrent haemorrhage or high risk of further bleeding. The principal diagnostic group was those with peptic ulcer. Of 2071 patients with peptic ulcer presenting with acute haemorrhage, 251 (12%) had an operative intervention with a mortality of 24%. In the non-operative group mortality was 10%. The operative intervention rate increased with risk score, ranging from 0% in the lowest risk categories to 38% in the highest. Much of the discrepancy between operative and non-operative mortality was explainable by case mix; however, for high-risk cases mortality was significantly higher in the operated group. In 78% of patients who underwent an operation for bleeding peptic ulcer there had been no previous attempt at endoscopic haemostasis. For patients admitted to surgical units, the operative intervention rate was about four times higher than for those admitted under medical teams. In patients with acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage operative intervention is infrequent and largely confined to the highest-risk patients. The continuing high mortality in surgically treated patients is therefore to be expected. The reasons for the low use of endoscopic treatment before surgery are not revealed by this study, but wider use of such treatments might further reduce the operative intervention rate. Physicians and surgeons have not yet reached consensus on who needs surgery and when. (+info)
Extended lymph-node dissection for gastric cancer.
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BACKGROUND: Curative resection is the treatment of choice for gastric cancer, but it is unclear whether this operation should include an extended (D2) lymph-node dissection, as recommended by the Japanese medical community, or a limited (D1) dissection. We conducted a randomized trial in 80 Dutch hospitals in which we compared D1 with D2 lymph-node dissection for gastric cancer in terms of morbidity, postoperative mortality, long-term survival, and cumulative risk of relapse after surgery. METHODS: Between August 1989 and July 1993, a total of 996 patients entered the study. Of these patients, 711 (380 in the D1 group and 331 in the D2 group) underwent the randomly assigned treatment with curative intent, and 285 received palliative treatment. The procedures for quality control included instruction and supervision in the operating room and monitoring of the pathological results. RESULTS: Patients in the D2 group had a significantly higher rate of complications than did those in the D1 group (43 percent vs. 25 percent, P<0.001), more postoperative deaths (10 percent vs. 4 percent, P= 0.004), and longer hospital stays (median, 16 vs. 14 days; P<0.001). Five-year survival rates were similar in the two groups: 45 percent for the D1 group and 47 percent for the D2 group (95 percent confidence interval for the difference, -9.6 percent to +5.6 percent). The patients who had R0 resections (i.e., who had no microscopical evidence of remaining disease), excluding those who died postoperatively, had cumulative risks of relapse at five years of 43 percent with D1 dissection and 37 percent with D2 dissection (95 percent confidence interval for the difference, -2.4 percent to +14.4 percent). CONCLUSIONS: Our results in Dutch patients do not support the routine use of D2 lymph-node dissection in patients with gastric cancer. (+info)
Number and anatomical extent of lymph node metastases in gastric cancer: analysis using intra-lymph node injection of activated carbon particles (CH40).
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BACKGROUND: The long-term survival of 200 patients with gastric cancer who underwent radical gastrectomy was analyzed with respect to the number and anatomical extent of lymph node metastasis. All of the patients received intra-lymph node injection of fine activated carbon particle solution (CH40) during surgery. METHODS: The average number of resected lymph nodes increased in line with the anatomical level of lymph node dissection; 32.5 per patient in D1, 42.3 in D2, 3 and 66.3 in D4. The percentage of blackened lymph nodes without metastasis (42.4%) was slightly higher than that of lymph nodes containing metastasis (37.2%), but the difference was not statistically significant. Of the 200 patients, 61 (30.5%) had microscopic evidence of metastatic lymph node involvement. Twenty-two patients had between one and three metastatic lymph nodes, 19 had between four and nine and 20 patients had more than nine. The 5-year survival rate was 93.1% in patients without lymph node metastasis, 71.9% in patients with 1-8 metastatic nodes, 36.1% in patients with 4-9 nodes and 19.2% in patients with > 9 nodes. RESULTS: The 5-year survival rate according to the anatomical extent of metastatic lymph nodes was 93.1% in n0, 63.1% in n1, 37.9% in n2, 27.8% in n3 and 0% in n4. The number of metastatic lymph nodes and also their anatomical extent were identified as independent prognostic factors for survival by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: The number and anatomical extent of metastatic lymph nodes have similar impacts on prognosis in gastric cancer. (+info)
Clinical symptoms, hormone profiles, treatment, and prognosis in patients with gastric carcinoids.
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BACKGROUND: Type 1 gastric carcinoids are associated with hypergastrinaemia and chronic atrophic gastritis, type 2 occur in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 combined with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, and type 3 lack any relation to hypergastrinaemia. Type 1 tumours are usually benign whereas type 3 are highly malignant. AIMS: To identify possible tumour markers in patients with gastric carcinoids. PATIENTS/METHOD: Nine patients with type 1, one with type 2, and five with type 3 were evaluated with regard to symptoms, hormone profile, and prognosis. RESULTS: Plasma chromogranin A was increased in all patients but was higher (p < 0.01) in those with type 3 than those with type 1 carcinoids. All patients with type 3 carcinoids died from metastatic disease, but none of the type 1 patients died as a result of their tumours. One type 1 patient with a solitary liver metastasis received interferon alpha and octreotide treatment. Nine months later, the metastasis was no longer detectable. She is still alive eight years after diagnosis, without recurrent disease. This represents the only reported case of foregut carcinoid with an unresectable liver metastasis that seems to be have been cured by biotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma chromogranin A appears to be a valuable tumour marker for all types of gastric carcinoid. Combination therapy with interferon alpha and octreotide may be beneficial in patients with metastasising type 1 gastric carcinoids. (+info)
Total gastrectomy with simultaneous pancreaticosplenectomy or splenectomy in patients with advanced gastric carcinoma.
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A splenectomy or distal pancreaticosplenectomy is often performed simultaneously with total gastrectomy in the treatment of gastric carcinoma to facilitate dissection of the lymph nodes around the splenic artery and splenic hilus. However, the negative impact of splenectomy and pancreaticosplenectomy has also been reported. A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate the outcomes of distal pancreaticosplenectomy and total gastrectomy, splenectomy and total gastrectomy, and gastrectomy alone in the patients with advanced gastric carcinoma without distant metastasis. Prognostic factors were examined. No significant differences existed in 5-year survival in the patients who underwent gastrectomy with splenectomy, gastrectomy with distal pancreaticosplenectomy, or gastrectomy alone. Neither splenectomy, nor distal pancreaticosplenectomy were prognostic factors. However, distal pancreaticosplenectomy was an independent predictor of pancreatic fistula. In conclusion, the addition of distal pancreaticosplenectomy or splenectomy to total gastrectomy for gastric cancer increases the risk of severe complications, but does not improve survival. (+info)
Comparison of the effects of sevoflurane and isoflurane on arterial oxygenation during one lung ventilation.
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We have compared the effects of sevoflurane and isoflurane on arterial oxygenation, heart rate and mean arterial pressure during one lung anaesthesia in a prospective, crossover study. We studied 28 patients undergoing oesophagogastrectomy, allocated alternatively to one of two groups. Patients in group I/S (n = 14) received 1 MAC (1.1%) of isoflurane in oxygen from induction until the end of 30 min of open chest one lung ventilation (OLV) in the lateral position. This was followed by 1 MAC (2.1%) of sevoflurane in oxygen for the next 30 min of OLV. Patients in group S/I (n = 14) received the two anaesthetic agents in the reverse order. We found no significant difference in arterial oxygenation, heart rate or mean arterial pressure between the two potent inhalation agents. In the subgroup of patients with pulmonary artery catheters (n = 12), we found a significant increase (P < 0.05) in derived shunt during sevoflurane anaesthesia. There was no significant difference in mixed venous saturation and cardiac output. We conclude that during one lung ventilation, the choice between sevoflurane and isoflurane did not significantly influence arterial oxygenation. (+info)
Delay of gastric emptying by duodenal intubation: sensitive measurement of gastric emptying by the paracetamol absorption test.
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AIMS: To examine the influence of duodenal intubation on gastric emptying measured by the paracetamol absorption test using a new algorithm developed to estimate emptying parameters, and to determine the sensitivity of this test. METHODS: A caloric liquid meal with paracetamol as marker of emptying was administered orally to eight healthy volunteers during phase I and phase II of the migrating motor complex (MMC) and without intubation on 3 separate days, and to 10 patients with partial gastrectomy. RESULTS: Healthy subjects: With duodenal tube, time until 25% of the meal had emptied (t25%) was 24+/-7 (phase I, P<0.02) and 21+/-6 min (phase II, P<0.02) compared with 14+/-4 min for meal intake without intubation. Time until 50% of the meal had emptied (t50%) was 45+/-8 (phase I, P<0.001) and 35+/-8 min (phase II, P<0.02) compared with 26+/-9 min for meal intake without intubation. Intraduodenal instillation of 10-20 mL of the liquid meal was reliably detected. PATIENTS: In 9 out of 10 patients with partial gastrectomy t25% was below the lower limit of the range for healthy controls, and t25% detected accelerated emptying with a higher degree of sensitivity than the commonly applied pharmacokinetic parameters Cmax and Tmax. CONCLUSIONS: A duodenal tube delays gastric emptying of a caloric liquid meal. The paracetamol absorption test emerges as a sensitive method suitable for detecting both delayed and accelerated gastric emptying of caloric liquid meals. (+info)
Urinary gonadotropin peptide as acute phase reactant: transient elevation after operation for digestive diseases.
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OBJECTIVE: In order to characterize urinary gonadotropin peptide (UGP) as an acute phase reactant, we focused on the UGP levels after surgical operation. DESIGN: Fifty cases of gastrointestinal cancer, 4 cases of cancers of other organs and 13 cases of benign digestive diseases were enrolled into this study. METHODS: UGP levels were measured using an enzyme immunoassay before and after surgery. RESULTS: Fifty-four (80.6%) of the 67 cases studied showed transient elevations of UGP. Both urinary interleukin (IL)-6 and LH levels were also increased transiently in 49 cases (73.1%). All of these three factors were increased in 38 cases (56.7%), and in 32 (84.2%) of these 38 cases, the order of peak appearance was as follows: IL-6, LH, and UGP. The UGP levels in the group of total gastrectomy were significantly higher than those in the group of partial gastrectomy. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that UGP shows a transient peak after surgery, correlating with levels of cytokines such as IL-6. UGP may be an acute phase reactant, and its levels are correlated with the grade of surgical stress. (+info)