Right Post-Traumatic Diaphragmatic Hernia with Liver Dislocation

Diaphragmatic hernia is a rare consequence of thoraco-abdominal trauma. It may be associated with high morbidity and mortality, particularly if surgical intervention is delayed. We report a case of a right diaphragmatic hernia in a 75-year-old woman. The patient was referred to our hospital with mild dyspnea. Chest radiograph showed an overtly elevated right hemi-diaphragm. Thoracic and abdominal computed tomographic scan was requested and showed a defect of the right diaphragmatic muscle wall with intrathoracic ascension of the liver. During the postoperative course, the patient was still on mechanical ventilation, hemodynamically unstable. She developped urinary peritonitis and an extensive bowel ischemia worsening. We report this case to show that the prognosis is related to associated injuries and possible complications. The possibility of a diaphragmatic rupture should be kept in mind and surgery is mandatory in order to avoid complications.

CNB-001 reduces paraplegia in rabbits following spinal cord ischemia

Spinal cord ischemia associated with trauma and surgical procedures including thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and thoracic endovascular aortic repair results in devastating clinical deficits in patients. Because spinal cord ischemia is inadequately treated, we studied the effects of [4-((1 E)-2-(5-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxystyryl-)-1-phenyl-1 H-pyrazoyl-3-yl) vinyl)-2-methoxy-phenol)](CNB-001), a novel curcumin-based compound, in a rabbit SCI model. CNB-001 is known to inhibit human 5-lipoxygenase and 15-lipoxygenase and reduce the ischemia-induced inflammatory response. Moreover, CNB-001 can reduce the level of oxidative stress markers and potentiate brain-derived neurotrophic factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor receptor signaling. The Tarlov scale and quantal analysis technique results revealed that CNB-001 administered as an intravenous dose(bolus) 30 minutes prior to spinal cord ischemia improved the behaviors of female New Zealand White rabbits. The improvements were similar to those produced by the uncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist memantine. At 48 hours after aortic occlusion, there was a 42.7% increase(P < 0.05) in tolerated ischemia duration(n = 14) for rabbits treated with CNB-001(n = 16), and a 72.3% increase for rabbits treated with the positive control memantine(P < 0.05)(n = 23) compared to vehicle-treated ischemic rabbits(n = 22). CNB-001 is a potential important novel treatment for spinal cord ischemia induced by aortic occlusion. All experiments were approved by the CSMC Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee(IACUC #4311) on November 1,2012.

Recent trends from the results of clinical trials on gastric cancer surgery

The Japan Clinical Oncology Group has recently conducted large scale clinical trials with findings that have revealed pivotal strategies for the treatment of resectable gastric cancer surgery.These findings include the fact that D3 lymphadenectomy does not improve survival rates when compared to D2 lymphadenectomy,and it is not recommended for resectable gastric cancer.Also,a transhiatal approach is recommended,instead of the left thoraco-abdominal approach,for the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the esophago-gastric junction or gastric cardia which has invaded≤3 cm of the esophagus.Gastrectomy with splenectomy and bursectomy had been recommended as a part of the D2 lymphadenectomy.However,the results of the recent clinical trials revealed that splenectomy should be avoided in total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy for proximal gastric cancer and that bursectomy should be avoided in gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy for resectable gastric cancer.Both splenectomy and bursec-tomy were found to be unable to improve survival,but instead increased operative morbidity.These trials revealed that the above-mentioned invasive and aggressive procedures did not provide sufficient survival benefits and that gastric cancer surgery may be trending from an“invasive to less invasive”and“aggressive to more conservative”approach.

Clinical analysis of craniocerebral trauma complicated with thoracoabdominal injuries in 2165 cases

Objective: To explore the optimal treatment for craniocerebral trauma complicated with thoraco-abdominal injuries. Methods: A total of 2 165 cases of craniocerebral trauma complicated with thoraco-abdominal injuries admitted to our hospital between July 1993 and June 2003 were retrospectively studied. Among them, 382 cases sustained severe craniocerebral trauma (in which 167 were complicated with shock), 733 thoracic injuries, 645 abdominal injuries and 787 thoraco-abdominal injuries. On admittance, 294 cases had developed shock. With the prime goal of saving life, respiratory and circulatory systems and encephalothilipsis were especially treated and monitored. Priority in management was directed to severe or open injures rather than to moderate or closed injures. For cases with cerebral hernia due to intracranial hematoma and severe shock due to blood loss, cerebral hernia and shock were treated concurrently. Results: After treatment, 2024 ( 93.49%) cases survived and the other 141 ( 6.51%) died. Among patients who had severe craniocerebral injury with shock and those without, 78 ( 46.71%) and 53 ( 24.56%) died, respectively. For patients who had underwent craniocerebral and thoraco-abdominal operations concurrently and those who had not, the death rates were 58.49%- 65.96% and 28.57% respectively, indicating a significant difference (P< 0.05). Conclusions: Treatment for hematoma hernia, shock and disturbed respiration is the key in the management of multiple trauma of craniocerebral, thoracic or abdominal injuries, especially when two or three conditions occurred simultaneously. Unless it is necessary, operations at two different parts at the same time is not recommended. It is preferred to start two concurrent operations at different time.