The application of clinical pathways in laparoscopic cholecystectomy

BACKGROUND： Laparoscopic cholecystectomy（LC） is one of the most frequent abdominal surgical procedures. The present meta-analysis aimed to estimate the clinical effects of implementing a clinical pathway for LC compared with standard medical care by evaluating the length of hospital stay,costs, and the outcomes of patients undergoing LC.DATA SOURCES： Data were extracted from the following databases： PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Chinese Medical Citation Index（CMCI）,Chinese Medical Current Contents（CMCC）, and China BioMedical Literature Database（CBM）. We also searched the reference lists of the relevant articles and conference articles.Only randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials published from 1980 to 2013 were included. We did not set restrictions on language and country of publications. All of the data were evaluated and analyzed by two reviewers independently with RevMan software（version 5.0）.RESULTS： A total of 7 trials with 1187 patients were included.The patients who underwent LC with clinical pathway had shorter hospital stay [weighted mean difference=-1.90, 95%CI：-2.65 to-1.16, P〈0.00001], lower cost [standard mean difference=-0.69, 95% CI：-0.82 to-0.56, P〈0.00001], and better questionnaires based satisfaction with the medical services.CONCLUSIONS： The applications of the clinical pathway for LC effectively reduced hospital stay and total costs. However,there was insufficient evidence for proving the differences in postoperative complications. Future research should focus on patient outcomes and identify the mechanisms underlying the effect of the clinical pathway.

Crucial steps in the natural history of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel diseases(IBD),including ulcerative colitis(UC) and Crohn's disease(CD),are chronic,progressive and disabling disorders.Over the last few decades,new therapeutic approaches have been introduced which have led not only to a reduction in the mortality rate but also offered the possibility of a favorable modification in the natural history of IBD.The identification of clinical,genetic and serological prognostic factors has permitted a better stratification of the disease,thus allowing the opportunity to indicate the most appropriate therapy.Early treatment with immunosuppressive drugs and biologics has offered the opportunity to change,at least in the short term,the course of the disease by reducing,in a subset of patients with IBD,hospitalization and the need for surgery.In this review,the crucial steps in the natural history of both UC and CD will be discussed,as well as the factors that may change their clinical course.The methodological requirements for high quality studies on the course and prognosis of IBD,the true impact of environmental and dietary factors on the clinical course of IBD,the clinical,serological and genetic predictors of the IBD course(in particular,which of these are rel-evant and appropriate for use in clinical practice),the impact of the various forms of medical treatment on the IBD complication rate,the role of surgery for IBD in the biologic era,the true magnitude of risk of colorectal cancer associated with IBD,as well as the mortality rate related to IBD will be stressed;all topics that are extensively discussed in separate reviews included in this issue of World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Clinical efficacy of rivaroxaban and Warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation complicated with left atrial thrombosis

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban and warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation(AF)complicated with left atrial(LA)thrombosis.Methods A total of 40 patients with confirmed diagnosis of non-valvular AF in our hospital were studied.According to drug therapy at admission,the patients were divided into 2 groups:Rivaroxaban group and