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Moshe Schein

Publications and source records attributed to Moshe Schein.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

Abdominal wall endometriomas.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of abdominal wall endometriomas is often confused with other surgical conditions. METHODS: A retrospective study was made of 12 patients presenting with an abdominal wall mass, which proved to be endometrioma. RESULTS: Of a total of 297 patients of endometriosis treated in our hospital over a 7-year period, 12 (4%) had isolated abdominal wall endometriomas. Their mean age was 29.4 years. The presenting symptoms were abdominal mass (n = 12), cyclical (n = 5) or noncyclic pain (n = 7), dyspareunia and dysmenorrhea (n = 1). All patients had a history of gynecologic operations and presented, after an average of 1.9 years, with a tender mass (average 4 cm) at the previous incision site. Preoperative diagnosis was correct in 4 patients (33%) who presented with a cyclically painful abdominal mass. The others were diagnosed as incisional hernia (n = 4), "abdominal wall tumor" (n = 2), and inguinal hernia (n = 2). All patients underwent wide excision of their endometrioma; 2 required polytetrafluoroethylene patch grafting for the resulting fascial defect. The diagnosis was confirmed at frozen section or conventional histological examination in all patients. At follow-up, ranging from 4 months to 3 years, there was no recurrence of endometrioma. CONCLUSIONS: Scar endometrioma commonly presents as an abdominal mass with noncyclical symptoms. Imaging techniques are nonspecific and needle biopsy may confirm the diagnosis. Wide excision is the treatment of choice for abdominal wall endometrioma as well as for recurrent lesions.

Abdominal Pain↗

Spontaneous endometriosis of the abdominal wall.

BACKGROUND: The abdominal wall is the commonest site of extrapelvic endometriosis, which usually develops in association with a prior surgical scar. CASE: A 28-year-old woman with two endometriomas in the recti abdominis, which developed in a scarless abdomen. CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal wall endometrioma can develop spontaneously in the absence of prior surgical scar and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of abdominal wall masses.

Abdominal Wall↗

One hundred citation classics in general surgical journals.

The number of times an article is cited in scientific journals reflects its impact on a specific biomedical field or specialty and reflects the impact of the authors' creativity. Our objective was to identify and analyze the characteristics of the 100 most frequently cited articles published in journals dedicated to general surgery and its close subspecialties. Using the database (1945-1995) of the Science Citation Index of the Institute for Scientific Information, 1500 articles cited 100 times and more were identified and the top 100 articles selected for further analysis. The 100 articles were published between 1931 and 1990, with more than two-thirds of them published after 1960. The mean number of citations per article was 405, (range 278-1013). Altogether, 84 of the articles originated from North America (USA 78, Canada 6) and the UK (12). New York State led the list of U.S. states with 14, and Harvard and Columbia University led the list of institutions with 6 articles each. The 100 articles were published in 10 surgical journals led by the Annals of Surgery (n = 40), followed by Surgery (n = 15), Archives of Surgery (n = 12), Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics (n = 11), and British Journal of Surgery (n = 10). A total of 80 of the articles reported clinical experiences, 6 were clinical review articles, and 14 dealt with basic science. Eighteen articles reported a new surgical technique and six a prosthetic device. Gastrointestinal surgery and trauma and critical care led the list of the surgical fields, each with 25 articles, followed by vascular surgery (n = 15). Thirty-four persons authored two or more of the top-cited articles. This list of the top-cited papers identifies seminal contributions and their originators, facilitating the understanding and discourse of modern surgical history and offering surgeons hints about what makes a contribution a "top-cited classic." To produce such a "classic" the surgeon and his or her group must come up with a clinical or nonclinical innovation, observation, or discovery that has a long-standing effect on the way we practice-be it operative or nonoperative. Based on our findings, to be well cited such a contribution should be published in the English language in a high-impact journal. Moreover, it is more likely to resonant loudly if it originates from a North American or British "ivory tower."

Authorship↗

Surgical management of intra-abdominal infection: is there any evidence?

The aim of this review article was to look at the evidence supporting the surgical treatment of secondary bacterial peritonitis. Because the absolute necessity of adequate source control is not disputable and there is no question that peritoneal toilet (in whichever form) is mandatory, the main bulk of this manuscript is dedicated to the controversial issues of planned relaparotomy and laparostomy. We found little good evidence to support or refute the use of these modalities, but in the absence of evidence, one has to use experience and common sense. Ours suggest that planned relaparotomies combined with laparostomy represent, for the time being, the heaviest weaponry in the surgeon's mechanical armamentarium for the treatment of severe intra-abdominal infection. Even without level II evidence, we are convinced that these therapeutic modalities are life-saving in a well-selected group of patients. One has, however, to know when to stop and how not to harm.

Abdominal Abscess↗

The Surgical Infection Society guidelines on antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections: an executive summary.

The Surgical Infection Society last published guidelines on antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections in 1992 (Bohnen JMA, et al., Arch Surg 1992;127:83-89). Since then, an appreciable body of literature has been published on this subject. Therefore, the Therapeutics Agents Committee of the Society undertook an effort to update the previous guidelines, primarily using data published over the past decade. An additional goal of the Committee was to characterize its recommendations according to contemporary principles of evidence-based medicine. To develop these guidelines, the Committee carried out a systematic search for all English language articles published between 1990 and 2000 related to antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections. This literature was reviewed individually and collectively by the Committee, and categorized according to the type of study and its quality. Additional articles published prior to 1990 were also utilized when necessary. By a process of iterative consensus, the Committee developed provisional guidelines for antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections based on this evidence. Following extensive review by members of the Society, these guidelines were approved for publication in final form by the Council of the Surgical Infection Society. This executive summary delineates the Society's current recommendations for antimicrobial therapy of patients with intra-abdominal infections. Topics discussed include the selection of patients needing therapeutic antimicrobials, duration of antimicrobial therapy, acceptable antimicrobial regimens, and identification and treatment of higher-risk patients. Guidelines for patient selection and specific antimicrobial regimens were based on relatively good evidence, but those regarding optimal duration of therapy and treatment of higher-risk patients relied mostly on expert opinion, since there was a paucity of high-quality studies on those issues. Relevant areas for future investigation include the safety, convenience, and cost-effectiveness of available antimicrobial regimens for lower-risk patients, and better means for identifying and treating higher-risk patients with intra-abdominal infections.

Abdominal Abscess↗

The Surgical Infection Society guidelines on antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections: evidence for the recommendations.

Revised guidelines for the use of antimicrobial therapy in patients with intra-abdominal infections were recently developed by the Therapeutic Agents Committee of the Surgical Infection Society (Mazuski et al., Surg Infect 2002;3:161-173). These were based, insofar as possible, on evidence published over the past decade. The objective of this document is to describe the process by which the Committee identified and reviewed the published literature utilized to develop the recommendations and to summarize the results of those reviews. English-language articles published between 1990 and 2000 related to antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections were identified by a systematic MEDLINE search and an examination of references included in recent review articles. If current literature with regard to a specific issue was lacking, relevant articles published prior to 1990 were identified. All prospective randomized controlled trials, as well as other articles selected by the Committee, were evaluated individually and collectively. Data with regard to patient numbers, types of infections, and results of interventions were abstracted. Studies were categorized according to their design, and all included trials were graded according to quality. On the basis of this evidence, the Committee formulated recommendations for antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections and graded those recommendations. After receiving comments from invited reviewers and the general membership of the Society, the guidelines were finalized and submitted to the Council of the Surgical Infection Society for approval. The final recommendations related to the selection of patients needing therapeutic antimicrobials, acceptable antimicrobial regimens, duration of antimicrobial use, and the identification and treatment of higher-risk patients. Although numerous publications pertaining to these topics were identified, but nearly all of the prospective randomized controlled trials represented comparisons of different antimicrobial regimens for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections. A few prospective trials evaluated the need for therapeutic antimicrobial therapy in patients with peritoneal contamination following abdominal trauma. The quality of these prospective trials was highly variable. Many did not limit enrollment to patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections, lacked blinding of treatment assignment, did not provide a complete description of the criteria used to determine therapeutic success or failure, failed to identify the reasons why patients were excluded from analysis, or did not include an intention-to-treat analysis. For many issues, no prospective randomized controlled trials were encountered, and guidelines had to be formulated using evidence from studies with historical controls or uncontrolled data, or on the basis of expert opinion

Abdominal Abscess↗

Abdominal compartment syndrome in severe acute pancreatitis: an indication for a decompressing laparotomy?

BACKGROUND: The currently prevailing paradigm calls for non-operative management of severe acute pancreatitis for as long as there is no evidence of infection. Our purpose in presenting this anecdotal experience is to propose that there is a subset of patients who may need a laparotomy in the absence of infection in order to decompress a clinically significant abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS), which is associated with the acute pancreatitis. METHODS: We present our recent experience with three patients suffering from severe acute pancreatitis. The three developed intra-abdominal hypertension (IAHT) and clinical ACS, which necessitated abdominal decompression and a laparostomy. One patient survived. CONCLUSIONS: The notion that patients with severe acute pancreatitis may develop ACS, which necessitate emergency abdominal decompression, has been ignored by current surgical literature. Only increased awareness to the syndrome of IAHT-ACS in acute pancreatitis and transvesical measurement of intra-abdominal pressure will reveal its prevalence and significance.

Acute Disease↗

Delayed post-operative pneumoperitoneum.

We present a case of post-operative pneumoperitoneum (PP), which persisted for eight weeks. Postoperative retained air is the most common cause of PP. It does not require a surgical intervention and thus is defined as a 'non-surgical PP'. The etiological factors contributing to the duration of the postoperative PP are controversial but the longest time described in the literature is 24 days. We review the relevant literature and discuss factors contributing to the duration of postoperative PP.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Delayed presentation of splenic injury: still a common syndrome.

The entity of delayed splenic rupture represents an initially missed injury, a delayed presentation of the latter, or an actually delayed development of an initially latent, minor, splenic injury. Having encountered a number of patients presenting with splenic rupture days after what was considered a minor abdominal trauma we review our experience with this entity. This is a retrospective study. During the past 6 years 26 patients were treated at our level II trauma center for blunt splenic injuries. The 8 patients who presented 48 h or more after injury are the focus of this communication. All patients had an underlying medical condition: five were drug addicts (one was HIV positive) and the other three were affected by cirrhosis, sickle cell disease, and HIV. The mechanisms of injury were as follows: blunt assault in 5 patients, a fall in 2 patients, and unknown in 1 patient. The patients presented to our hospital after a mean lag time of 5 days after injury (range, 2-10 days). One patient presented in shock and underwent laparotomy after a positive diagnostic peritoneal lavage. Four presented with a clinical acute abdomen, and three presented with abdominal pain and anemia. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) was performed in the seven hemodynamically stable patients demonstrating hemoperitoneum in all: five had a grade III injury and two had a grade II injury. All patients survived after an emergency splenectomy. Delayed presentation of splenic injury after minor abdominal trauma is not uncommon in our indigenous population. It may be associated with drug abuse and HIV.

Adult↗