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The systematized approach to patients with small bowel bleeding (SBB) can reduce risks and costs for both patients and the Unified Health System (SUS).
Evaluate the evolution of the systematized approach to SBB in a regulated, hierarchically organized healthcare network of varying complexity.
Analysis of the medical records of patients with SBB treated at a tertiary, public, and teaching hospital in two distinct periods: before the implementation of a specialized service and algorithm for SBB (2001–2014, group without algorithm—GSA) and after the establishment of a trained, dedicated team, availability of capsule endoscopy and enteroscopy (2015–2023, group with algorithm—GCA). Demographic, clinical, and care-related data from 184 patient records were collected and entered into the REDCap platform. Additionally, a cost analysis was conducted.
Among the 184 patients, 82 (45%) were in the GSA group and 102 (55%) in the GCA group. The average number of specific exams per patient was 7.19 in GSA and 6.37 in GCA (p=0.02, p<0.05). Blood transfusions were performed in 64 patients (78.05%) in GSA and 68 patients (66.67%) in GCA (p=0.05). The average time to reach diagnosis was 309.9 weeks in GSA and 75.37 weeks in GCA (p<0.01). The average hospital stay was 7.57 weeks in GSA and 2.55 weeks in GCA (p<0.01). In GSA, 19 patients (23.2%) died due to SBB, while in GCA only six did (5.9%) (p=0.001, p<0.05). The average cost was higher compared to GCA (p<0.01).
The results of organizing a reference service for SBB care support are sufficient to subsidize the planning of services and regional healthcare networks.
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.
Small bowel is a difficult area to visualize with endoscopy. While ileo-colonoscopy can help visualize the terminal few centimeters of the ileum, esophagogastroduodenoscopy is usually utilized to view the gastrointestinal tract till the proximal duodenum. The visualization of distal duodenum, jejunum and ileum requires advanced techniques. While capsule endoscopy can provide the visualization of the entire small bowel, it is costly and cannot be used to obtain tissue for histology or for therapeutic purpose. Enteroscopic techniques like the push enteroscopy, spiral enteroscopy and single or double balloon enteroscopy are used to diagnose and treat small bowel lesions1. However, these are costly and their availability is scarce as is the expertise in their use. The accessories for their use are different and add to the cost of therapy. Previously the use of pediatric colonoscopes has been reported for push enteroscopy2. However, the more readily available adult colonoscope may not be helpful because of the larger diameter. We hypothesized that the gastroscope may be used to access the proximal jejunal lesions.
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