Esophagogastroduodenoscopies and colonoscopies are the main diagnostic examinations for esophageal, stomach, and colorectal tumors.
This study aimed to evaluate the estimates of the incidence of esophageal, stomach, and colorectal cancer; population growth; and esophagogastroduodenoscopies and colonoscopies performed by the Unified Health System (SUS), from 2010 to 2018, in the five regions of the country, and to analyze the relationship between these values.
The colorectal tumor had a significant elevation, while the esophageal and gastric maintained the incidences. In the five regions, there was a significant increase in the number of colonoscopies; however, this increase did not follow the increase in the population in the North and Northeast regions. There was no significant increase in the number of esophagogastroduodenoscopies in the North, Northeast, Midwest, and South regions, and in the North region there was a decrease. In the Northeast region, there was a decreasing number, and in the South and Midwest regions, the number of examinations remained stable in the period. The Southeast region recorded an increase in the number of examinations following the population growth.
The current number of esophagogastroduodenoscopies and colonoscopies performed by the SUS did not follow the population growth, in order to attend the population and diagnose esophageal, stomach, and colorectal tumors. Therefore, the country needs to have adequate and strategic planning on how it will meet the demand for these tests and serve the population well, incorporating new technologies.
Hospital costs in surgery constitute a burden for the health system in all over the world. Multimodal protocols such as the ACERTO project enhance postoperative recovery.
The aim of this study was to analyze the hospital costs in patients undergoing major digestive surgical procedures with or without the perioperative care strategies proposed by the ACERTO project.
Retrospective data from elective patients undergoing major digestive surgical procedures in a university hospital between January 2002 and December 2011 were collected. The investigation involved two phases: between January 2002 and December 2005, covering cases admitted before the implementation of the ACERTO protocol (pre-ACERTO period), and cases operated between January 2006 and December 2011, after implementation (ACERTO period). The primary outcome was the comparison of hospital costs between the two periods. As secondary end point, we compared length of stay (LOS), postoperative complications, surgical-site infection (SSI) rate, and mortality.
We analyzed 381 patients (239 of the pre-ACERTO period and 142 of the ACERTO period) who underwent major procedures on the gastrointestinal tract. Patients operated after within the ACERTO protocol postoperative LOS had a median of 3 days shorter (p=0.001) when compared with pre-ACERTO period [median (IQR): 10 (12) days vs. 13 (12) days]. Mortality was similar between the two periods. Postoperative complications risk, however, was 29% greater (RR: 1.29; 95%CI 1.11-1.50) in the pre-ACERTO period (p=0.002). SSI risk was also greater in pre-ACERTO period (RR: 1.33; 95%CI 1.14-1.50). Costs (mean and SE) per patients were R$24,562.84 (1,349.33) before the implementation and R$19,912.81 (1,459.89) after the ACERTO protocol (p=0.02).
The implementation of the ACERTO project in this University Hospital reduced the hospital costs in major digestive procedures. Moreover, the implementation of this modern perioperative care strategy also reduced postoperative complications, SSI risks, and LOS.
The use of probiotics as adjuvants in the treatment of eating disorders, known as psychobiotics, has already been investigated as a means of modulating the microbiota-gut-brain axis.
This study aimed to assess the effect of probiotic supplementation on binge eating and food addiction in subjects after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.
This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 101 patients who received probiotic (Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM and Bifidobacterium lactis Bi-07) or placebo supplements for 90 days after bariatric surgery, starting on the seventh postoperative day. They were evaluated preoperatively (T0) and postoperatively at 90 days (T1) and 1 year (T2) after surgery. The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and Binge Eating Scale (BES) were applied to assess food addiction and binge eating, respectively.
Before surgery, one-third of the patients presented with a food addiction and binge eating diagnosis. The number of symptoms of YFAS and the BES score decreased significantly in both groups at T1 compared to T0. However, a significant effect of treatment with probiotics was observed 1 year after surgery (T2). Both the number of symptoms of food addiction and the binge eating score were lower in the probiotic group than in the placebo group (p=0.037 and p=0.030, respectively).
The use of probiotic supplementation for 90 days in the immediate postoperative period may decrease food addiction symptoms and binge eating score up to 1 year after surgery compared to controls.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common mesenchymal neoplasm of the digestive tract and has a wide variation in biological behavior; surgical resection remains the main form of treatment.
This study aimed to analyze clinicopathological characteristics and survival of patients with GIST in a reference institution for oncological diseases.
An observational, longitudinal, and retrospective study of patients diagnosed with GIST from January 2011 to January 2020 was carried out by analyzing epidemiological and clinical variables, staging, surgical resection, recurrence, use of imatinib, and curves of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).
A total of 38 patients were included. The majority (58%) of patients were males and the median age was 62 years. The primary organs that were affected by this tumor were stomach (63%) and small intestine (17%). Notably, 24% of patients had metastatic disease at diagnosis; 76% of patients received surgical treatment and 13% received neoadjuvant treatment; and 47% of patients received imatinib as adjuvant or palliative therapy. Tumor recurrence was 13%, being more common in the liver. The 5-year OS was 72.5% and DFS was 47.1%. The operated ones had better OS (87.1% vs. 18.5%) and DFS (57.1% vs. 14.3%) in 5 years. Tumor size ≥5 cm had no difference in OS at 5 years, but DFS was 24.6%, when compared with 92.3% of smaller tumors. Patients who were undergoing neoadjuvant therapy and/or using imatinib did not show any significant differences.
Surgical treatment with adequate margins allows the best gain in survival, and the use of imatinib in more advanced cases has prognostic equity with less advanced-stage tumors. Treatment of metastatic tumors seems promising, requiring further studies.
Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LGB) is the recommended procedure for morbidly obese patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, there have been reported gastroesophageal reflux symptoms or esophagitis after LGB. Few functional esophageal studies have been reported to date.
To evaluate the anatomic and physiologic factors contributing to the appearance of these problems in patients who underwent LGB.
This prospective study included 38 patients with postoperative gastroesophageal reflux symptoms submitted to LGB. They were subjected to clinical, endoscopic, radiologic, manometric, and 24-h pH-monitoring evaluations.
Eighteen (47.4%) of 38 patients presented with heartburn or regurgitation, 7 presented with pain, and 4 presented with dysphagia. Erosive esophagitis was observed in 11 (28.9%) patients, and Barrett’s esophagus (5.7%) and jejunitis (10.5%) were also observed. Hiatal hernia was the most frequent finding observed in 15 (39.5%) patients, and most (10.5%) of these patients appeared with concomitant anastomotic strictures. A long blind jejunal loop was detected in one (2.6%) patient. Nearly 75% of the patients had hypotensive lower esophageal sphincter (9.61±4.05 mmHg), 17.4% had hypomotility of the esophageal body, and 64.7% had pathologic acid reflux (% time pH <4=6.98±5.5; DeMeester’s score=32.4±21.15).
Although rare, it is possible to observe gastroesophageal reflux and other important postoperative symptoms after LGB, which are associated with anatomic and physiologic abnormalities at the esophagogastric junction and proximal gastric pouch.
At least 12 lymph nodes (LNs) should be examined following surgical resection of colon cancer. As it is difficult to find small LNs, fat clearing fixatives have been proposed, but there is no consensus about the best option.
The objective of this study was to verify if Carnoy’s solution (CS) increases the LN count in left colon cancer specimens.
A prospective randomized trial (clinicaltrials.gov registration: NCT02629315) with 60 patients with left colon adenocarcinoma who underwent rectosigmoidectomy. Specimens were randomized for fixation with CS or 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF). After dissection, the pericolic fat from the NBF group was immersed in CS and re-dissected (Revision). The primary endpoint was the total number of LNs retrieved.
Mean LN count was 36.6 and 26.8 for CS and NBF groups, respectively (p=0.004). The number of cases with <12 LNs was 0 (CS) and 3 (NBF, p=0.237). The duration of dissection was similar. LNs were retrieved in all cases during the revision (mean: 19, range: 4-37), accounting for nearly 40% of the LNs of this arm of the study. After the revision, no case was found in the NBF arm with <12 LNs. Two patients had metastatic LNs during the revision (no upstaging occurred).
Compared to NBF, CS increases LN count in colon cancer specimens. After conventional pathologic analysis, fixing the pericolic fat with CS and performing a second dissection substantially increased the number of LNs.
One of the ways to avoid infection after surgical procedures is through antibiotic prophylaxis. This occurs in cholecystectomies with certain risk factors for infection. However, some guidelines suggest the use of antibiotic prophylaxis for all cholecystectomies, although current evidence does not indicate any advantage of this practice in the absence of risk factors.
This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of wound infection after elective laparoscopic cholecystectomies and the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in these procedures.
This is a retrospective study of 439 patients with chronic cholecystitis and cholelithiasis, accounting for different risk factors for wound infection.
There were 7 (1.59%) cases of wound infection. No antibiotic prophylaxis regimen significantly altered infection rates. There was a statistically significant correlation between wound infection and male patients (p=0.013). No other analyzed risk factor showed a statistical correlation with wound infection.
The non-use of antibiotic prophylaxis and other analyzed factors did not present a significant correlation for the increase in the occurrence of wound infection. Studies with a larger sample and a control group without antibiotic prophylaxis are necessary.
Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a frequent cause of emergency department admissions.
This study aimed to determine risk factors of reoperations, postoperative adverse event, and operative mortality (OM) in patients surgically treated for SBO.
This is a retrospective study conducted between 2014 and 2017. Exclusion criteria include gastric outlet obstruction, large bowel obstruction, and incomplete clinical record. STATA version 14 was used for statistical analysis, with p-value <0.05 with 95% confidence interval considered statistically significant.
A total of 218 patients were included, in which 61.9% were women. Notably, 88.5% of patients had previous abdominal surgery. Intestinal resection was needed in 28.4% of patients. Postoperative adverse event was present in 28.4%, reoperation was needed in 9.2% of cases, and a 90-day surgical mortality was 5.9%. Multivariate analysis determined that intestinal resection, >3 days in intensive care unit (ICU), >7 days with nasogastric tube (NGT), pain after postoperative day 3, POAE, and surgical POAE were the risk factors for reoperations, while age, C-reactive protein, intestinal resection, >3 days in ICU, and >7 days with NGT were the risk factors for POAE. OM was determined by >5 days with NGT and POAE.
Postoperative course is determined mainly for patient’s age, preoperative level of C-reactive protein, necessity of intestinal resection, clinical postoperative variables, and the presence of POAE.
Inflammatory bowel diseases present progressive and potentially debilitating characteristics with an impact on health-related quality of life (QoL) throughout the course of the disease, and this parameter may even be used as a method of evaluating response to treatment.
The aim of this study was to analyze epidemiological data, medications in use, previous surgeries, and hospitalizations in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, and to determine the impairment in QoL of these patients.
This is a prospective, cross-sectional, observational study in patients with inflammatory bowel disease followed up in a tertiary hospital in São Paulo-SP, Brazil. General and disease-related, evolution, and quality-of-life data were analyzed using a validated quality-of-life questionnaire, namely, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ).
Fifty-six individuals were evaluated, with an equal number of patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. A higher prevalence of previous surgeries (p=0.001) and hospitalizations (p=0.003) for clinical-surgical complications was observed in patients with Crohn’s disease. In addition, the impairment of QoL also occurred more significantly in these patients (p=0.022), and there was a greater impact on females in both forms of inflammatory bowel disease (p=0.005).
Patients with Crohn’s disease are more commonly submitted to surgeries and hospitalizations. Patients affected by both forms of inflammatory bowel disease present impairments in QoL, which are mainly related to intestinal symptoms, and females are more affected than men.
Gallbladder diseases (GBD) are one of the most common medical conditions requiring surgical intervention, both electively and urgently. It is widely accepted that sex and ethnic characteristics mighty influence both prevalence and outcomes.
This study aimed to evaluate the differences on distributions of gender and ethnicity related to the epidemiology of GBD in the Brazilian public health system.
DATASUS was used to retrieve patients’ data recorded under the International Code of Diseases (ICD-10) - code K80 from January 2008 to December 2019. The number of admissions, modality of care, number of deaths, and in-hospital mortality rate were analyzed by gender and ethnic groups.
Between 2008 and 2019, a total of 2,899,712 patients with cholelithiasis/cholecystitis (K80) were admitted to the hospitals of the Brazilian Unified Health System, of whom only 22.7% were males. Yet, the in-hospital mortality rate was significantly higher in males (15.9 per 1,000 male patients) than females (6.3 per 1,000 female patients) (p<0.05). Moreover, men presented a significantly higher risk of death (RR=2.5; p<0.05) and longer hospital stay (4.4 days vs. 3.3 days; p<0.05) than females. Compared to females, men presented a higher risk of death across all self-declared ethnic groups: whites (RR=2.4; p<0.05), blacks (RR=2.7; p<0.05), browns (RR=2.6; p<0.05), and Brazilian Indians (RR=2.13; p<0.05).
In the years 2008-2019, women presented the highest prevalence of hospital admissions for GBD in Brazil, and men were associated with worse outcomes, including all ethnic groups.
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