Surgical resection remains the main curative therapeutic modality for advanced gastric cancer. Recently, the association of preoperative chemotherapy has allowed the improvement of results without increasing surgical complications.
To evaluate the surgical and oncological outcomes of preoperative chemotherapy in a real-world setting.
A retrospective review of gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy was performed. Patients were divided into two groups for analysis: upfront surgery and preoperative chemotherapy. The propensity score matching analysis, including 9 variables, was applied to adjust for potential confounding factors.
Of the 536 patients included, 112 (20.9%) were referred for preoperative chemotherapy. Before the propensity score matching analysis, the groups were different in terms of age, hemoglobin level, node metastasis at clinical stage- status, and extent of gastrectomy. After the analysis, 112 patients were stratified for each group. Both were similar for all variables assigned in the score. Patients in the preoperative chemotherapy group had less advanced postoperative p staging (p=0.010), postoperative n staging (p<0.001), and pTNM stage (p<0.001). Postoperative complications, 30- and 90-days mortality were similar between both groups. Before the propensity score matching analysis, there was no difference in survival between the groups. After the analysis, patients in the preoperative chemotherapy group had better overall survival compared to upfront surgery group (p=0.012). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that American Society of Anesthesiologists III/IV category and the presence of lymph node metastasis were factors significantly associated with worse overall survival.
Preoperative chemotherapy was associated with increased survival in gastric cancer. There was no difference in the postoperative complication rate and mortality compared to upfront surgery.
Fifty-five percent of Americans aged 50-65 are submitted to colonoscopy. For over 65-year, this number increases to 64%. In Brazil, it is forecast that the population submitted to colonoscopy will grow, even though inadequate preparation is still a major problem.
To analyze the quality of a new intestinal preparation technique, Aquanet EC-2000®, compared to oral Mannitol solution.
This prospective longitudinal study enrolled 200 patients with indication for colonoscopy. The sample was randomly allocated to two groups of 100; one group received Aquanet EC-2000® to prepare for colonoscopy and the other Mannitol solution. The Boston scale was used to analyze the results.
As expected both preparations produced similar results with the bowel cleansing of the different regions of the colon being classified as Boston scale 3 (excellent) in most patients (p>0.05).
The results of bowel preparation using Aquanet EC-2000® were similar to using Mannitol solution.
There have been an increasing number of articles that demonstrate the potential benefits of minimally invasive liver surgery in recent years. Most of the available evidence, however, comes from retrospective observational studies susceptible to bias, especially selection bias. In addition, in many series, several modalities of minimally invasive surgery are included in the same comparison group.
To compare the perioperative results (up to 90 days) of patients submitted to total laparoscopic liver resection with those submitted to open liver resection, matched by propensity score matching (PSM).
Consecutive adult patients submitted to liver resection were included. PSM model was constructed using the following variables: age, gender, diagnosis (benign vs. malignant), type of hepatectomy (minor vs. major), and presence of cirrhosis. After matching, the groups were redefined on a 1:1 ratio, by the nearest method.
After matching, 120 patients were included in each group. Those undergoing total laparoscopic surgery had shorter operative time (286.8±133.4 vs. 352.4±141.5 minutes, p<0.001), shorter ICU stay (1.9±1.2 vs. 2.5±2.2days, p=0.031), shorter hospital stay (5.8±3.9 vs. 9.9±9.3 days, p<0.001) and a 45% reduction in perioperative complications (19.2 vs. 35%, p=0.008).
Total laparoscopic liver resections are safe, feasible and associated with shorter operative time, shorter ICU and hospital stay, and lower rate of perioperative complications.
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