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Amit Gupta

Publications and source records attributed to Amit Gupta.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of fundus-first laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

OBJECTIVES: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the gold standard for gallbladder surgery. Cholecystectomy from the fundus to the cystic duct may be advantageous when cystic duct exposure becomes difficult due to adhesions on Calot's triangle. The aim of this study was to compare conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy with the fundus-first procedure and to evaluate whether the fundus-first technique can prevent conversion in difficult cases. METHODS: The study included 145 patients treated over 18 months. The inclusion criterion was the presence of ultrasound proven gallstones. Patients were excluded from the study if there was evidence of common bile duct stones, a bilioenteric fistula, or carcinoma of the gallbladder. RESULTS: The fundus-first approach was started in 45 patients; all procedures were completed laparoscopically. Conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy was begun in 100 patients. Twenty-seven of the 100 patients were converted to fundus dissection (adhesions within Calot's triangle). Four of the 27 were further converted to open surgery. One patient had a drop in blood pressure on creation of pneumoperitoneum. Time taken for severely inflammatory and noninflammatory cases was significantly greater (P<0.05) in the fundus-first group. The average hospital stay was 48 hours in both groups. No major complications were observed. CONCLUSION: The rate of conversion in the conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy group decreased from 18.75% (27/144) to 2.08% (3/144). The fundus-first technique has the potential to decrease conversion in difficult cases.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fungal peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Peritonitis is one of the most frequent complications of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 1% - 15% of episodes are caused by fungal infections. The mortality rate of fungal peritonitis (FP) varies from 5% to 53%; failure to resume PD occurs in up to 40% of patients. The majority of these FP episodes are caused by Candida species. Candida albicans has historically been reported to be a more common cause than non-albicans Candida species, but in recent reports a shift has been observed and non-albicans Candida may now be more common. Unusual, often "nonpathogenic," fungi are being increasingly reported as etiologic agents in FP. Clinical features of FP are not different from those of bacterial peritonitis. Phenotypic identification of fungi in clinical microbiology laboratories is often difficult and delayed. New molecular diagnostic techniques (e.g., polymerase chain reaction) are being developed and evaluated, and may improve diagnosis and so facilitate early treatment of infected patients. Abdominal pain, abdominal pain with fever, and catheter left in situ are risk factors for mortality and technique failure in FP. In programs with high baseline rates of FP, nystatin prophylaxis may be beneficial. Each program must examine its own history of FP to decide whether prophylaxis would be beneficial. Catheter removal is indicated immediately after fungi are identified by Gram stain or culture in all patients with FP. Prolonged treatment with antifungal agents to determine response and attempt clearance is not encouraged. Antifungals should be continued for 10 days to 2 weeks after catheter removal. Attempts at reinsertion should be made only after waiting for 4 - 6 weeks.

Antifungal Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of antitubercular medications on blood pressure control in chronic kidney disease patients with tuberculosis: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Previous anecdotal reports suggested a decrease in antihypertensive medication potency after starting antitubercular medications. This interaction could be unpredictable in presence of renal failure due to increased half-lives of most commonly used antihypertensive medications. METHODS: In a cohort study involving 135 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), 62 patients with tuberculosis star-ted on antitubercular medications (TB group) were prospectively compared with 73 CKD controls (with no TB and not on antitubercular medications) for a change in antihypertensive medications. Antihypertensive dose was converted to unit score. RESULTS: The TB group had a greater increase in antihypertensive medication dose as compared with controls (89% vs. 54%, p<0.0001). In absolute terms an overall increase in antihypertensive medications was observed in 60% of pa-tients in the TB group, with a 2-fold dose increase from the baseline (p<0.0001). Four patients from the TB group de-veloped a hypertensive emergency. In multivariate linear regression, the association between TB group and increase in antihypertensives remained significant ( beta =0.38; p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In CKD patients, antihypertensive medication potency is reduced in TB patients on antitubercular the-rapy in a significant number of patients, to a clinically significant degree with a potential risk for hypertensive emergency.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of nutritional status on peritonitis in CAPD patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of nutritional status on peritonitis in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) in a developing country. METHODS: 56 patients with end-stage renal disease on CAPD were randomly selected for this study. These patients were assessed for nutritional status and peritonitis episodes. Nutritional parameters were assessed by anthropometry, diet, body mass index (BMI), Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), serum albumin level, and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). Based on SGA, patients were categorized into either group 1 (malnutrition, n = 31) or group 2 (normal nutritional status, n = 25). Peritonitis was considered the primary outcome and was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Demographic profiles, Kt/V, creatinine clearance, and mean follow-up of the two groups were similar. Number of peritonitis episodes was significantly higher in patients with malnutrition (25/31) compared to patients with normal nutritional status (4/25) (p = 0.001). Mean peritonitis rate per patient per year was also significantly higher in patients with malnutrition (0.99 +/- 1.07) compared to patients with normal nutritional status (0.18 +/- 0.42) (p = 0.007). On univariate analysis, malnutrition based on SGA (p = 0.009), NRI (p = 0.02), serum albumin level (p = 0.005), and calorie intake (p = 0.006) was a significant predictor of peritonitis. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, only SGA (p = 0.001, odds ratio 0.08, 95% confidence interval 0.02-0.36) was found to be a significant predictor of peritonitis. On general linear model, the observed power of prediction of peritonitis was 0.96 based on SGA. On Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, peritonitis-free survival in patients with normal nutrition (42 months) was significantly higher compared to patients with malnutrition (21 months) based on SGA (log rank p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: We conclude that peritonitis rate is high in patients with malnutrition and that malnutrition indices, especially SGA, can predict the peritonitis rate in CAPD patients.

Body Mass Index↗