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Biomedical subjects

J L Meakins

Publications and source records attributed to J L Meakins.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Randomised controlled trial of laparoscopic versus mini cholecystectomy. The McGill Gallstone Treatment Group.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has gained wide acceptance for treatment of cholelithiasis in preference to open cholecystectomy, though it has not been formally compared with mini cholecystectomy (MC). We have compared these two techniques in a randomised trial. 70 patients with ultrasound-proven cholelithiasis were randomly allocated LC (38) or MC (32); 37 and 25, respectively, underwent the assigned procedure. The mean hospital stay (including 1 preoperative day) was significantly shorter in the LC than the MC group (median 3 [interquartile range 2-3] vs 4 [3-5], p = 0.001) as was duration of convalescence (mean 11.9 [SD 9.1] vs 20.2 [16.5] days, p = 0.04). The rate of return to normal activities was 1.77 times greater in the LC group than in the MC group (95% confidence interval 1.01-3.11, p = 0.03). In regression analysis, the type of cholecystectomy done was the only variable significantly associated with the duration of convalescence. Although there was significant postoperative improvement in all of three quality of life scores in both groups, LC patients improved more quickly than did MC patients. This randomised trial shows the superior effectiveness of LC over MC in treating cholelithiasis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Peritonitis.

Intraperitoneal infections or inflammatory disease in elderly patients are a diagnostic challenge that will be encountered with increasing frequency in the aging population of the United States. Diagnostic clues are not overt and frequently appear late in the course of the disease. Confusion and subtle changes in clinical status are important signals. A high index of suspicion is required to initiate diagnostic procedures. Therapy will frequently be modified not only to the disease process but also to the patient to incorporate concepts of minimally invasive procedures. The advent of laparoscopic surgery may be a great advance in the diagnosis and treatment of intra-abdominal crisis in geriatric patients. It also may make elective surgery conform more to the goals of the geriatric patient and thus prevent the high morbidity and mortality associated with emergency surgery in this age group.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Role of the teaching hospital in the development of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy program.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was introduced at McGill University-affiliated hospitals in a planned manner to evaluate the safety and results of this new procedure while training attending and resident surgeons. Laparoscopy was performed with the intent of carrying out cholecystectomy in 500 consecutive patients (70% female, 30% male), whose age averaged 48 years (range from 7 to 93 years). Thirty-seven percent had undergone intra-abdominal surgery previously, and 9.1% had had acute cholecystitis. There were two common-bile-duct injuries and one major small-bowel injury. The procedure had to be converted to open cholecystectomy in 25 (5%) patients. There were no deaths. The mean duration of surgery was 88 minutes. Fifty-five percent of patients were discharged home in 24 hours or less after surgery, and 75% were back to normal activity within 1 week of discharge. Fourteen attending staff and 8 senior residents achieved competence to carry out laparoscopic cholecystectomy independently.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Humoral immunity in surgical patients with and without trauma.

We measured antitetanus toxoid antibody responses after blunt (n = 24) and penetrating (n = 7) trauma and compared them with responses in patients without trauma (n = 55). Patients were defined as anergic or reactive on the basis of delayed type hypersensitivity response. The response to tetanus toxoid vaccination on admission of patients surviving trauma for over 2 weeks was defined as the ratio of day 14 to day 0 serum IgG antitetanus toxoid levels. Antitetanus toxoid responses were normal after both blunt and penetrating trauma. When stratified according to delayed type hypersensitivity responses, patients with trauma showed better antibody responses than patients without trauma. Major infection rates were similar between trauma groups (three of 24 with blunt trauma vs two of seven with penetrating trauma) and independent of delayed type hypersensitivity (two of 20 reactive patients vs three of 11 anergic patients), in contrast to patients without trauma (one of 19 reactive patients vs 15 of 36 anergic patients). We conclude that decreased delayed type hypersensitivity after moderate trauma is temporary, and that this transient immunodeficiency is not as strongly associated with reduced antibody responses and increased risk of infection as anergy in surgical patients without trauma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Clostridium difficile disease in a department of surgery. The significance of prophylactic antibiotics.

A clustering of Clostridium difficile-associated disease in a department of surgery prompted a program of infection control and the evaluation of contributing factors. Fifty patients had diarrhea and positive assays for C difficile cytotoxin during the study period. Twenty-one of the 36 cases that developed among patients admitted to the surgical services occurred on two adjacent general surgery wards that shared attending surgeons and house staff. Perioperative prophylactic antibiotics predated C difficile-associated disease in 20 patients, 12 of whom had short courses (less than 24 hours). Symptoms were typically nonspecific and early diagnosis may be difficult. Incidence remained high, despite infection control measures, until the coincidental closure of two surgical wards. Clostridium difficile-associated disease is a nosocomial infection that can be associated with short courses of prophylactic antibiotics. Recommendations regarding the use of perioperative prophylaxis should recognize C difficile-associated disease as a significant potential complication.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Surgeons, surgery, and immunomodulation.

With the definition over the past 15 years of the altered immune state of surgical patients as a result of disease itself and surgical therapy, there have been multiple approaches to the modulation of immune status in experimental or clinical situations, but with conflicting or unhelpful results. The variable that has never been assessed is the significance of the surgeon as an immunomodulator. The expediency and the quality of the surgical act in a variety of surgical diseases have a positive effect on the immune system. Indeed, the data indicate that correction of shock, drainage of infection, excision or drainage of necrotic material, restoration of body composition, and solid basic care all have a positive influence on patients' immune responses. An immunomodulator might get credit if the role of surgical care is not properly assessed. A framework for the study of immunomodulators with the integration of clinical behavior is outlined.

General Surgery↗
PubMed1991

Care of the gut in the surgical intensive care unit: fact or fashion?

The traditional approach to the care of the gastrointestinal tract in the intensive care unit has been one of neglect. However, recent evidence has linked enteric flora to the generation of clinical sepsis in the absence of other infectious foci. The role of the bowel as an efficient barrier to the invasion of its own flora is addressed in this paper. A variety of insults disrupt the integrity of the barrier function of the gut, allowing the entry of bowel organisms or endotoxins, or both, into the portal and systemic circulatory systems. In animal and early clinical studies, a number of interventions, aimed at altering the enteric flora and enhancing the bowel's barrier function, have been shown to modulate the host's resistance to different insults and may even improve clinical outcome. Such interventions include maintenance of enteral feeding, glutamine supplementation of hyperalimentation solutions and selective bacterial decontamination of the bowel.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Induction of an immune response to keyhole-limpet hemocyanin in surgical patients with anergy.

Groups of surgical patients, classified as reactive or anergic on the basis of delayed type hypersensitivity skin testing with five recall antigens, were immunized with keyhole-limpet hemocyanin (KLH) alone or KLH together with mediators derived from leukocytes of a KLH immune donor cultured with antigen. Patients with anergy injected with KLH alone did not generate an immune response as judged by a T cell proliferative reaction performed 14 days after immunization. In contrast, leukocytes of patients with anergy immunized with KLH together with the mediators reacted to KLH in vitro in similar numbers and with a magnitude comparable to that given by reactive, hospitalized patients without anergy immunized with KLH alone. These results confirm and extend our previous observations showing that anergy defined as a lack of cell-mediated immunity to recall antigens such as purified protein derivative extends to the generation of a systemic immune response to a neoantigen such as KLH and mediators that could restore a state of delayed hypersensitivity to purified protein derivative could also be instrumental in inducing cell-mediated immunity de novo when injected together with the antigen.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1989

Effect of haemodilution on transfusion requirements in liver resection.

Between April, 1988, and February, 1989, 22 consecutive patients underwent liver resection (17 hepatectomy, 5 segmentectomy) with intraoperative haemodilution to avoid blood transfusion. The results were compared with those of 22 patients who underwent liver resection without haemodilution between February, 1987, and April, 1988, and who were matched for the nature of the tumour and the type of liver resection. Age, preoperative haematocrit and haemoglobin concentration, and intraoperative blood loss did not differ between the groups who did and did not undergo haemodilution. There was no abnormal bleeding during liver transection in haemodiluted patients. No allogeneic blood products at all were needed in a significantly greater proportion of the group with haemodilution than of the group without (19 [86%] vs 6 [27%]). The two groups also showed significant differences in the total requirements of allogeneic packed red cells (haemodilution 9 units, no haemodilution 84 units) and fresh frozen plasma (9 vs 119 units). Although the haematocrit was slightly but significantly lower in the group who underwent haemodilution than in those who did not on postoperative days 1 and 8, the differences had disappeared by the second postoperative month. Postoperative complication rates, abnormal results in liver biochemical tests, and lengths of hospital stay were the same in patients with and without haemodilution. Intraoperative haemodilution in patients undergoing liver resection reduced requirements for all blood products, further lowering the risks associated with liver resection.

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1989

Intestinal decontamination for control of nosocomial multiresistant gram-negative bacilli. Study of an outbreak in an intensive care unit.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of intestinal decontamination by oral nonabsorbable antibiotic agents to control a nosocomial outbreak of intestinal colonization and infection with multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae, and to examine its effects on endemic nosocomial infection rates. DESIGN: A 10-week prospective incidence study (group 1), and then an 8-week randomized, open trial of intestinal decontamination (groups 2 and 3). SETTING: A medical intensive care unit of a tertiary care university hospital. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients with unit stay of over 2 days and a severity score at admission of more than 2; 124 patients were included in group 1, 50 in group 2 (control), and 36 in group 3 (intestinal decontamination). INTERVENTIONS: Neomycin, polymyxin E, and nalidixic acid were given to group 3 patients throughout their stay in the unit. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Intestinal colonization with multiresistant strains occurred in 19.6% of patients in group 1, at a mean of 16 days after admission, and preceded detection in clinical samples by a mean of 11 days. During the decontamination trial, intestinal colonization rates decreased to 10% (group 2), and 3% (group 3) (P = 0.12 and P less than 0.01, compared with group 1, respectively). Corresponding infection rates were 9% (group 1), 3% (group 2), and 0 (group 3). No new cases were detected in the following 4 months. The intestinal colonization rate with gram-positive cocci was higher in group 3 than group 2 (P less than 0.001). The overall rate of nosocomial infections was at 28% (group 1), 33% (group 2), and 32% (group 3). CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal decontamination can help to control an outbreak of intestinal colonization and infection with multiresistant gram-negative bacilli in the intensive care unit, but should not be recommended for routine prevention of endemic nosocomial infections.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Improved early results of elective hepatic resection for liver tumors. One hundred consecutive hepatectomies in cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients.

Liver resection for a neoplasm was performed in 100 patients between 1979 and 1987. There were 43 hepatocellular carcinomas (70% of them arising in patients with cirrhosis), 28 metastases from colorectal cancers, 20 benign tumors, and 9 miscellaneous tumors. Forty-nine patients had a major liver resection, 36 a segmentectomy, and 15 a nonanatomic liver resection. Great care was taken to avoid intraoperative and postoperative bleeding, including late ligation of the hepatic vein, the use of Kelly fracture and resorbable clips for hemostasis of transection planes in 74 patients, and temporary clamping of the portal pedicle in 22. Drainage of the abdomen was avoided in 21 patients to prevent ascitic leakage to decrease the postoperative hospital stay. Operative mortality was 1%. There were eight major complications, including one bile leak, one subphrenic abscess, and three subphrenic hematomas. The use of resorbable clips significantly reduced operative time and transfusion requirements. In patients with cirrhosis, temporary clamping of the hepatic pedicle significantly decreased blood loss. Avoiding drainage significantly decreased the postoperative hospital stay.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Morphological and histological features of resected hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients in the West.

The pathological findings of 26 consecutive resections for hepatocellular carcinomas developing in cirrhotic patients were analyzed morphologically with a special interest in the presence of a capsule, vascular extension and satellite nodules. Tumor sizes varied from 2 to 11 cm. There were 20 expanding (76.9%) and six infiltrating tumors. Infiltrating tumors were significantly larger than expanding tumors (p less than 0.01). Histologically, the most common subgroups were the trabeculated pattern (65.4%) and the Edmonson-Steiner Type II (53.9%). Of the 20 expanding tumors, only six had direct spread in the liver parenchyma adjacent to the tumor (p less than 0.02). There was a significant relationship between the presence of a tumor extension in the distal portal branches and the presence of satellite nodules around the tumor (p less than 0.01). Survival at 6 months was significantly lower in patients with infiltrating (16.7%) than in those with expanding tumors (75%), (p less than 0.05). The present results indicate that pathological features of hepatocellular carcinomas in cirrhotic patients in Western countries are similar to those encountered in the East: (a) tumors are frequently encapsulated; (b) the propensity for the tumor to spread is closely related to the presence of a tumor capsule. This study suggests that a thorough preoperative search for the capsule should be made whenever resection of a hepatocellular carcinoma in a cirrhotic patient is contemplated.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMed1989

Hepatectomy without abdominal drainage. Results of a prospective study in 61 patients.

The increasingly simple postoperative course of major surgery has challenged the routine use of drainage after most abdominal surgical procedures. Therefore a prospective study was designed to determine if abdominal drainage could be safely avoided after liver resection and was evaluated in 61 consecutive patients. There was one postoperative death (1.7%) from variceal bleeding. Four other patients (6.7%) developed an abdominal complication: two right subphrenic hematomas requiring reoperation in one case and two incisional ascitic leaks requiring incisional repair in one patient. There was neither a subphrenic abscess nor bile peritonitis. Postoperative hospitalization was 11.5 +/- 3 days in the entire group and 8.5 +/- 1 days in patients without complications. These results suggest that liver resection can be performed safely without abdominal drainage and that the routine use of drains is unnecessary.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1989

Patterns of improvement in resection of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients: results of a non drainage policy.

A prolonged ascitic leak through abdominal drains is a source of postoperative complications and of prolonged postoperative hospital stay after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients. Therefore we elected to abstain from routine abdominal drainage in the last 14 resections in cirrhotic livers. A significantly smaller number of patients had postoperative complications following liver resections without drainage (7%) than historical controls with abdominal drainage (59%, p less than 0.01). The number of complications related to ascites was significantly greater in patients with abdominal drainage (76%) than without (0%, p less than 0.001). Postoperative hospital stay was also significantly longer following resections with abdominal drainage (19 +/- 4 days) than in patients without (12 +/- 1 days, p less than 0.01). The long postoperative hospital stay in patients with abdominal drainage was related to ascitic discharge for a mean period of 13 +/- 10 days. No clinically significant accumulation of ascites was noted in patients without drainage. A more frequent utilization of hepatic vascular inflow occlusion did not account for the better results in the group of patients without drainage. These results suggest that routine abdominal drainage should not be used following liver resection for HCC in cirrhotic patients. This appears to be another of the technical details improving postoperative results in these patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Long term results (greater than 5 years) in patients with peritoneovenous shunting for intractable ascites: liver function and cancer mortality.

This report is based on twenty-eight (26%) of 107 patients included in a protocol for prospective evaluation of elective peritoneo-venous shunting for intractable ascites in cirrhosis. These patients had no other procedures and survived more than 5 years after the operation. All patients were free of ascites except one in whom it was mild. One patient refused follow-up. Shunt patency was assessed in 23 patients In 14 patients (60.9%), the shunt was obstructed and the superior vena cava was occluded in 5 of them. In 9 patients (39.1%), the shunt was still functioning. No clinical or biological parameters differentiated these two groups of patients. Of the 24 patients who were alcoholics, 2 abstained completely and 20 significantly reduced their drinking habits. In 25 patients, the Pugh's score improved and was A at the time of the study. Seven patients (25.9%) developed a malignant tumor of the oro-pharynx or digestive tract, all other patients were alive and in good health. This study suggests that patients with intractable ascites treated by a peritoneo-venous shunt may survive for a long period. In patients abstaining from heavy drinking, it may function as a therapeutic bridge permitting spontaneous improvement of liver function. The risk of supervening neoplasms suggests that a continuous follow-up of these patients is warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Host defense mechanisms in surgical patients: effect of surgery and trauma.

Numerous experimental and clinical studies have documented that trauma-including surgery-alters the immune response, and that the response is a function of the magnitude of the injury or operation. The abnormalities seen after surgical operations on humans or animals include decreased antibody response, decreased neutrophil chemotaxis, decreased delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction, abnormal neutrophil adherence, serum immunosuppressive factors, decreased fibronectin levels, reduced serum opsonic activity, and reduced efficacy of interleukin-2. These abnormalities involve all aspects of the host defense mechanisms, both the cellular and humoral mediators and the specific and nonspecific immune responses. The capacity to control these responses in surgical patients may have important clinical applications.

Animals↗