Impact of COVID-19 on presentation,management,and outcomes of acute care surgery for gallbladder disease and acute appendicitis

BACKGROUND The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has significantly disrupted both elective and acute medical care.Data from the early months suggest that acute care patient populations deferred presenting to the emergency department(ED),portending more severe disease at the time of presentation.Additionally,care for this patient population trended towards initial non-operative management.AIM To examine the presentation,management,and outcomes of patients who developed gallbladder disease or appendicitis during the pandemic.METHODS A retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with acute cholecystitis,symptomatic cholelithiasis,or appendicitis in two EDs affiliated with a single tertiary academic medical center in Northern California between March and June,2020 and in the same months of 2019.Patients were selected through a research repository using international classification of diseases(ICD)-9 and ICD-10 codes.Across both years,313 patients were identified with either type of gallbladder disease,while 361 patients were identified with acute appendicitis.The primary outcome was overall incidence of disease.Secondary outcomes included presentation,management,complications,and 30-d re-presentation rates.Relationships between different variables were explored using Pearson’s r correlation coefficient.Variables were compared using the Welch’s t-Test,Chi-squared tests,and Fisher’s exact test as appropriate.RESULTS Patients with gallbladder disease and appendicitis both had more severe presentations in 2020.With respect to gallbladder disease,more patients in the COVID-19 cohort presented with acute cholecystitis compared to the control cohort[50%(80)vs 35%(53);P=0.01].Patients also presented with more severe cholecystitis in 2020 as indicated by higher mean Tokyo Criteria Scores[mean(SD)1.39(0.56)vs 1.16(0.44);P=0.02].With respect to appendicitis,more patients were diagnosed with a perforated appendix at presentation in 2020[20%(36)vs 16%(29);P=0.02]and a greater percentage were classified as emergent cases using the emergency severity index[63%(112)vs 13%(23);P<0.001].While a greater percentage of patients were admitted to the hospital for gallbladder disease in 2020[65%(104)vs 50%(76);P=0.02],no significant differences were observed in hospital admissions for patients with appendicitis.No significant differences were observed in length of hospital stay or operative rate for either group.However,for patients with appendicitis,30-d re-presentation rates were significantly higher in 2020[13%(23)vs 4%(8);P=0.01].CONCLUSION During the COVID-19 pandemic,patients presented with more severe gallbladder disease and appendicitis.These findings suggest that the pandemic has affected patients with acute surgical conditions.

Important role of acute care surgery during pandemic time

Pandemic impacts acute care surgery for diseases,such as gallbladder disease and acute appendicitis.At the early stage of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic,the case number of patients needing surgery decreased in hospitals from different countries.This decline was associated with the stay-home order and fear of getting COVID-19 infection.However,recent reports show that the case number for acute surgery returns to the normal level,which is comparable to that before the beginning of the pandemic.In addition,a variety of diseases show more severe than the cases before the pandemic,which might be caused by factors such as lack of regular follow-up and screening diagnosis and infection of viruses.

Acute Care/Trauma Surgeon＇s role in obstetrical/ gynecologic emergencies (The OBCAT Alert)

BACKGROUND:Overwhelming hemorrhage or other intra-abdominal complications may be associated with obstetrical or gynecologic(OB/GYN) procedures and may require the surgical training of an Acute Care/Trauma Surgeon.The OB Critical Assessment Team(OBCAT Alert) was developed at our institution to facilitate a multidisciplinary response to complex OB/GYN cases.We sought to review and characterize the Acute Care/Trauma Surgeon's role in these cases.METHODS:We conducted a retrospective review of all emergency consults during an OB/GYN case at our institution from 2008 to 2015.An OBCAT is a hospital based alert system designed to immediately notify OB/GYN,anesthesiology,Acute Care/Trauma,the intensive care unit(ICU),and the blood bank of a potential emergency during an OB/GYN case.RESULTS:There were 7±3 OBCAT alerts/year.Seventeen patients required Acute Care/Trauma surgery intervention for hemorrhage.Thirteen patients required damage control packing during their hospitalization.Blood loss averaged 6.8±5.5 L and patients received a total of 21±14units during deliveries with hemorrhage.There were 17 other surgical interventions not related to hemorrhage;seven of these cases were related to adhesions or intestinal injury.Seven additional cases required evaluation post routine OB/GYN procedure;the most common reason was for severe wound complications.There were three deaths during this study period.CONCLUSION:Emergency OB/GYN cases are associated with high morbidity and may require damage control or other surgical techniques in cases of overwhelming hemorrhage.Acute Care/Trauma Surgeons have a key role in the treatment of these complex cases.

Application of indocyanine green in surgery: A review of current evidence and implementation in trauma patients

Background:Modern surgical medicine strives to manage trauma while improving outcomes using functional imaging.Identification of viable tissues is crucial for the surgical management of polytrauma and burn patients presenting with soft tissue and hollow viscus injuries.Bowel anastomosis after traumarelated resection is associated with a high rate of leakage.The ability of the surgeon’s bare eye to determine bowel viability remains limited,and the need for a more standardized objective assessment has not yet been fulfilled.Hence,there is a need for more precise diagnostic tools to enhance surgical evaluation and visualization to aid early diagnosis and timely management to minimize traumaassociated complications.Indocyanine green(ICG)coupled with fluorescence angiography is a potential solution for this problem.ICG is a fluorescent dye that responds to near-infrared irradiation.Methods:We conducted a narrative review to address the utility of ICG in the surgical management of patients with trauma as well as elective surgery.Discussion:ICG has many applications in different medical fields and has recently become an important clinical indicator for surgical guidance.However,there is a paucity of information regarding the use of this technology to treat traumas.Recently,angiography with ICG has been introduced in clinical practice to visualize and quantify organ perfusion under several conditions,leading to fewer cases of anastomotic insufficiency.This has great potential to bridge this gap and enhance the clinical outcomes of surgery and patient safety.However,there is no consensus on the ideal dose,time,and manner of administration nor the indications that ICG provides a genuine advantage through greater safety in trauma surgical settings.Conclusions:There is a scarcity of publications describing the use of ICG in trauma patients as a potentially useful strategy to facilitate intraoperative decisions and to limit the extent of surgical resection.This review will improve our understanding of the utility of intraoperative ICG fluorescence in guiding and assisting trauma surgeons to deal with the intraoperative challenges and thus improve the patients’operative care and safety in the field of trauma surgery.

A systematic review of dedicated models of care for emergency urological patients

Objective:To systematically evaluate the spectrum of models providing dedicated resources for emergency urological patients(EUPs).Methods:A search of Cochrane,Embase,Medline and grey literature from January 1,2000 to March 26,2019 was performed using methods pre-published on PROSPERO.Reporting followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and meta-analysis guidelines.Eligible studies were articles or abstracts published in English describing dedicated models of care for EUPs,which reported at least one secondary outcome.Studies were excluded if they examined pathways dedicated only to single presentations,such as torsion,or outpatient solutions,such as rapid access clinics.The primary outcome was the spectrum of models.Secondary outcomes were time-to-theatre,length of stay,complications and cost.Results:Seven studies were identified,totalling 487 patients.Six studies were conference abstracts,while one study was of full-text length but published in grey literature.Four distinct models were described.These included consultant urologists allocated solely to the care of EUPs(“Acute Urological Unit”)or dedicated registrars or operating theatres(“Hybrid structures”).In some services,EUPs bypassed emergency department assessment and were referred directly to urology(“Urological Assessment Unit”)or were managed by other dedicated means.Allocating services to EUPs was associated with reduced time-to-theatre,length of stay and hospital cost,and improved supervision of junior medical staff.Conclusion:Multiple dedicated models of care exist for EUPs.Low-level evidence suggests these may improve outcomes for patients,staff and hospitals.Higher quality studies are required to explore patient outcomes and minimum requirements to establish these models.

Recurrent small bowel obstruction secondary to jejunal diverticular enterolith: A case report

BACKGROUND Small bowel diverticulosis is an uncommon condition which is usually asymptomatic and is discovered incidentally. One rare complication is enteroliths forming in the diverticula causing bowel obstruction. Only a few cases of such have been described in literature, and recurrence from this aetiology has not been reported previously. This case report outlines the management of a 68-year-old male who presented with recurrent small bowel obstruction secondary to jejunal diverticular enterolith impaction, seven months following a previous episode.CASE SUMMARY A 68-year-old male presented with symptoms of small bowel obstruction.Computed tomography(CT) of the abdomen demonstrated small bowel obstruction from an enterolith formed in one of his extensive jejunal diverticula. He required a laparotomy, an enterotomy proximal to the enterolith, removal of the enterolith, closure of the enterotomy, and resection of a segment of perforated ileum with stapled side-to-side anastomosis. Seven months later, he represented to emergency department with similar symptoms. Another CT scan of his abdomen revealed a recurrent small bowel obstruction secondary to enterolith impaction. He underwent another laparotomy in which it was evident that a large enterolith was impacted at the afferent limb of the previous small bowel anastomosis. A part of the anastomosis was excised to allow removal of the enterolith and the defect was closed with cutting linear stapler. In the following two years, the patient did not have a recurrent episode of enterolith-related bowel obstruction.CONCLUSION The pathophysiology underlying enterolith formation is unclear, so it is difficult to predict if or when enteroliths may form and cause bowel obstruction. More research could provide advice to prevent recurrent enterolith formation and its sequelae.