Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P O Nyström.
Guidelines for the treatment of anal fissure have been published in the USA and UK but differ. Many centers follow guidelines based on local experience. In December 2005, we met with the aim of developing an evidence-based treatment algorithm for anal fissure, applicable to both primary and secondary care. This algorithm may rationalize the treatment of anal fissure in primary and secondary care settings.
BACKGROUND: We refined a technique for local block of all terminal nerve branches to the anus. METHODS: A total of 30 consecutive patients with proctological disorders consented to ambulatory (n=29) or hospitalised (n=1) operation with local perianal block for skin tags, Milligan- Morgan haemorrhoidectomy, stapled haemorrhoidopexy or anocutaneous fistulae. Patients were operated prone. A total of 40 ml of a 4.75 mg/ml solution of ropivacaine (Narop; Astra, Sweden) was injected in 8 directions (5 ml each) into the ischiorectal fat immediately peripheral to the external sphincter as anaesthetic columns reaching from the skin to the levator. This injection scheme targets the terminal nerve branches of the anus rather than blocking the trunk of major nerves. The relaxation of a pain-free anus was obtained in 2-3 minutes with exposure similar to a general anaesthetic. Postoperative pain was evaluated on a 0 to 10 visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS: Patients were pain-free at discharge. However, mean postoperative VAS score at 24 hours was 3.2 following Milligan-Morgan haemorrhoidectomy, 4.8 following stapled haemorrhoidopexy and skin tags or polyps excision, and 2.7 after fistula lay-open. At telephone follow-up 1-2 weeks later, the patients were satisfied with the method of anaesthesia and would willingly accept it for any further anal surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The perianal block is easy to apply and effective as sole method of anaesthesia for proctological operations.
BACKGROUND: This study describes how surgery for Crohn colitis developed between 1970 and 1997, towards the end of which period limited resection and medical maintenance treatment was introduced. METHODS: A cohort of 211 patients with Crohn colitis (115 population-based), of which 84 had a primary colonic resection (42 population-based), was investigated regarding indication for surgery, the time from diagnosis to operation, type of primary colonic resection, risk for permanent stoma and medication over four 7-year periods. RESULTS: Comparison of the periods 1970-90 and 1991-97 revealed that active disease as an indication for surgery decreased from 64% to 25% (P<0.01) while stricture as an indication increased from 9% to 50% (P < 0.001). Median time from diagnosis to operation increased from 3.5 to 11.5 years (P < 0.01). Proctocolectomy or colectomy fell from 68.8% to 10% of the primary resections, whereas segmental resection increased from 31.2% to 90%. At the end of the first 7-year period, 26% had medical maintenance treatment, steroids or azathioprine taken by 7%. Corresponding figures for the last period were 70% and 49%. Patients diagnosed during the last two time-periods had less risk for surgery (P = 0.017), permanent stoma (P < 0.01) and total colectomy (P < 0.01). Findings were similar in the population-based cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Current management of Crohn colitis implies a longer period between diagnosis and surgery, a reduced risk for surgery and permanent stoma, and the replacement of total colectomy by segmental resection.
GENERAL DESIGN: Presentation of a novel study protocol to evalue the effectiveness of an immune modifier (rhG-CSF, filgrastim): prevention of postoperative infectious complications and sub-optimal recovery from operation in patients with colorectal cancer and increased preoperative risk (ASA 3 and 4). The rationale and hypothesis are presented in this part of the protocol of the randomised, placebo controlled, double-blinded, single-centre study performed at an university hospital (n = 40 patients for each group). OBJECTIVE: Part one of this protocol describes the concepts of three major sections of the study: Definition of optimum and sub-optimal recovery after operation. Recovery, as an outcome, is not a simple univariate endpoint, but a complex construction of mechanistic variables (i. e. death, complications and health status assessed by the surgeon), quality of life expressed by the patient, and finally a weighted outcome judgement by both the patient and the surgeon (true endpoint). Its conventional early assessment within 14-28 days is artificial: longer periods (such as 6 months) are needed for the patient to state: "I am now as well as I was before". Identification of suitable target patients: the use of biological response modifiers (immune modulators) in addition to traditional prophylaxes (i. e. antibiotics, heparin, volume substitutes) may improve postoperative outcome in appropriate selected patients with reduced host defence and increased immunological stress response, but these have to be defined. Patients classified as ASA 3 and 4 (American Society for Anaesthesiologists) and with colorectal cancer will be studied to prove this hypothesis. Choice of biological response modifier: Filgrastim has been chosen as an example of a biological response modifier because it was effective in a new study type, clinic-modelling randomised trials in rodents, and has shown promise in some clinical trials for indications other than preoperative prophylaxis. It has also enhanced host defence and has been anti-inflammatory in basic research. CONCLUSION: The following hypothesis will be tested in patients with operations for colorectal cancer and increased preoperative risk (ASA 3 and 4): is the outcome as evaluated by the hermeneutic endpoint (quality of life expressed by the patient) and mechanistic endpoints (mortality rate, complication rate, relative hospital stay, assessed by the doctor) improved in the group receiving filgrastim prophylaxis in comparison with the placebo group? Quality of life will be the first primary endpoint in the hierarchical, statistical testing of confirmatory analysis.
GENERAL DESIGN: Presentation of a new type of a study protocol for evaluation of the effectiveness of an immune modifier (rhG-CSF, filgrastim): prevention of postoperative infectious complications and of sub-optimal recovery from operation in patients with colorectal cancer and increased preoperative risk (ASA 3 and 4). This part describes the design of the randomised, placebo controlled, double-blinded, single-centre study performed at an university hospital (n = 40 patients for each group). OBJECTIVE: The trial design includes the following elements for a prototype protocol: * The study population is restricted to patients with colorectal cancer, including a left sided resection and an increased perioperative risk (ASA 3 and 4). * Patients are allocated by random to the control or treatment group. * The double blinding strategy of the trial is assessed by psychometric indices. * An endpoint construct with quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30) and a recovery index (modified Mc Peek index) are used as primary endpoints. Qualitative analysis of clinical relevance of the endpoints is performed by both patients and doctors. * Statistical analysis uses an area under the curve (AUC) model for improvement of quality of life on leaving hospital and two and six months after operation. A confirmatory statistical model with quality of life as the first primary endpoint in the hierarchic test procedure is used. Expectations of patients and surgeons and the negative affect are analysed by social psychological scales. CONCLUSION: This study design differs from other trials on preoperative prophylaxis and postoperative recovery, and has been developed to try a new concept and avoid previous failures.
GENERAL DESIGN: Presentation of a new type of a study protocol for evaluation of the effectiveness of an immune modifier (rhG-CSF, filgrastim): prevention of postoperative infectious complications and of sub-optimal recovery from operation in patients with colorectal cancer and increased preoperative risk (ASA 3 and 4). A randomised, placebo controlled, double-blinded, single-centre study is performed at an University Hospital (n = 40 patients for each group). This part presents the course of the individual patient and a complication algorithm for the management of anastomotic leakage and quality management. OBJECTIVE: In part three of the protocol, the three major sections include: The course of the individual patient using a comprehensive graphic display, including the perioperative period, hospital stay and post discharge outcome. A center based clinical practice guideline for the management of the most important postoperative complication--anastomotic leakage--including evidence based support for each step of the algorithm. Data management, ethics and organisational structure. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies with immune modifiers will also fail if not better structured (reduction of variance) to achieve uniform patient management in a complex clinical scenario. This new type of a single-centre trial aims to reduce the gap between animal experiments and clinical trials or--if it fails--at least demonstrates new ways for explaining the failures.
OBJECTIVE: Structural damage of the anterior part of the anal sphincter is a major cause of faecal incontinence. Sphincter repair is the standard surgical treatment. This study was designed to analyse the results of anal sphincter repair, to identify possible predictors of outcome and to investigate the presence of bowel symptoms other than leakage at follow up. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-five women (median age 39 years, range 24-73 years) who underwent anal sphincter repair between 1986 and 1997 at the University Hospital of Linköping answered a postal questionnaire. Current bowel function, degree of continence and the patients' functional result as worse, unchanged, some improvement, good or excellent were assessed. Good or excellent function was regarded as a successful result, the rest as failure. Age, duration of symptoms, type of surgery, morbidity and length of follow up were analysed in relation to outcome. Results of pre- and post-operative anal manometry, endoanal ultrasound, anal sphincter electromyography and pudendal nerve function were also analysed. RESULTS: After a median (range) follow-up period of 40 months (5-137) months, 31 (56%) patients rated the result as either excellent (n=10) or good (n=21). Twenty-one (38%) patients rated the result as some improvement (n=14), unchanged (n=6) or worse (n=1). In three (5%) patients a colostomy was fashioned because of failure. Patients >50 years at surgery (n=18) had a worse outcome (P=0.001). Successful outcome was correlated to increased squeeze pressures post-operatively. The presence of post-operative urgency (P=0.01) and loose stools (P=0.02) was more common in patients with poor outcome. Eight patients became continent to formed and liquid stool.
In-hospital observation with repeated clinical examinations is commonly used in patients with an equivocal diagnosis of appendicitis. It is not known if repeated measurements of temperature and laboratory examinations have any diagnostic importance in this situation. The importance of repeated measurements of the body temperature, white blood cell (WBC) and differential cell counts, C-reactive protein concentration (CRP) and of the surgeon's repeated assessments was prospectively analyzed in 420 patients with an equivocal diagnosis of appendicitis at admission who were reexamined after a median of 6 hours of observation. The final diagnosis was appendicitis in 137 patients. After observation the inflammatory response was increasing among patients with appendicitis and decreasing among patients without appendicitis. The variables discriminating power for appendicitis consequently increased, from an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.56 to 0.77 at admission, to 0.75 to 0.85 after observation. The ROC area of the surgeons' clinical assessment increased from 0.69 to 0.89. The WBC and differential cell counts were the best discriminators at the repeat examination. The change in the variables between the observations had weak discriminating power and had no additional importance in addition to the actual level at the repeat examination. To conclude, the diagnostic information of the temperature and laboratory examinations increased after observation. Repeated controls of the body temperature and laboratory examinations are therefore useful in the management of patients with equivocal signs of appendicitis, but the result of the examinations must be integrated with the clinical assessment.
OBJECTIVE: To identify systematic errors in surgeons' estimations of the importance of diagnostic variables in the decision to explore patients with suspected appendicitis. DESIGN: Prospective case series. SETTING: Two emergency departments, Sweden. PATIENTS: 496 patients with suspected appendicitis on admission, of whom 194 had a correct operation for appendicitis and 59 had a negative exploration. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Predictors of a negative exploration expressed as the odds ratio (OR) for negative exploration. Variables influence on the decision to operate, expressed as the OR for operation, compared with the true diagnostic importance, expressed as the OR for appendicitis. RESULTS: Predictors of negative explorations were high ratings in variables describing pain and tenderness (patient's perceived pain, abdominal tenderness, rebound tenderness, guarding or rectal tenderness), weak or absent inflammatory response, female sex, long duration of symptoms and absence of vomiting, with OR of 1.8-3.0. Pain and tenderness had too strong an influence on the decision to operate whereas the lack of an inflammatory response, no vomiting, and long duration of symptoms were not given enough attention. There was no sex difference in the proportion of patients with non-surgical abdominal pain (NSAP) who were operated on, but NSAP was more common and appendicitis less common among women, leading to a larger proportion of negative appendicectomies among women. CONCLUSION: Negative explorations in patients with suspected appendicitis are related to systematic errors in the clinical diagnosis with too strong an emphasis on pain and tenderness, and too little attention paid to duration of symptoms and objective signs of inflammation. Rectal tenderness is not a sign of appendicitis. The risk of diagnostic errors is similar in men and women.
The clinical diagnosis of appendicitis needs to be improved, as up to 40% of explorations for suspected appendicitis are unnecessary. The use of body temperature and laboratory examinations as diagnostic aids in the management of these patients is controversial. The diagnostic power of these variables compared to that of the disease history and clinical findings is not well studied. In this study we prospectively assessed and compared the diagnostic value of 21 elements of the history, clinical findings, body temperature, and laboratory examinations in 496 patients with suspected appendicitis. The diagnostic value of each variable was compared from the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the likelihood ratios (LR). Logistic regression was used to analyze the diagnostic value of a combination of variables and to analyze independent relations. No single variable had sufficiently high discriminating or predicting power to be used as a true diagnostic test. The inflammatory variables (temperature, leukocyte and differential white blood cell (WBC) counts, C-reactive protein) had discriminating and predicting powers similar to those of the clinical findings (direct and rebound abdominal tenderness and guarding). Anorexia, nausea, and right-sided rectal tenderness had no diagnostic value. The leukocyte and differential WBC counts, C-reactive protein, rebound tenderness, guarding, and gender were independent predictors of appendicitis with a combined ROC area of 0. 93 for appendicitis. This showed that inflammatory variables contain important diagnostic information, especially with advanced appendicitis. They should therefore always be included in the diagnostic workup in patients with suspected appendicitis.
It is still difficult to determine the exact indication for a laparoscopic sigmoid resection for diverticular disease. Frequently, the severity of diverticulitis is not sufficiently defined. For this reason a modification of the Hinchey classification is proposed to which a stage II b for fistula formation and a differentiation between acute and chronic disease have been added. Another problem is the lack of criteria which define a "laparoscopic" resection. A sigmoid resection should be called "laparoscopic" if the mobilization of the sigmoid colon, the transsection of the mesenteric vein and artery and the mesentery itself and the distal transsection of the bowel are done laparoscopically. The resection of the bowel and the introduction of the anvil of the stapler device can be done extraabdominally, however, the anastomosis again should be performed laparoscopi-cally. A so defined sigmoid resection can be done in the chronic stage I. In the chronic stage II a there will be significant problems due to adhesion formation, and in the acute stages II a and II b as well as in the chronic stage II b a laparoscopic resection should not be attempted.
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The incidence of systemic Candida infections in patients requiring intensive care has increased substantially in recent years as a result of a combination of factors. More patients with severe underlying disease or immunosuppression from anti-neoplastic or anti-rejection chemotherapy and at risk from fungal infection are now admitted to the ICU. Improvements in supportive medical and surgical care have led to many patients who would previously have died as a result of trauma or disease surviving to receive intensive care. Moreover, some therapeutic interventions used in the ICU, most notably broad-spectrum antibiotics and intravascular catheters, are also associated with increased risks of candidiasis. Systemic Candida infections are associated with a high morbidity and mortality, but remain difficult to diagnose and ICU staff need to be acutely aware of this often insidious pathogen. A number of studies have identified risk factors for systemic Candida infection which may be used to identify those at highest risk. Such patients may be potential candidates for early, presumptive therapy. Here we review the epidemiology, pathogenesis, morbidity and mortality of systemic Candida infections in the ICU setting, and examine predisposing risk factors. Antifungal treatment, including the use of amphotericin B, flucytosine and fluconazole, and the roles of early presumptive therapy and prophylaxis, is also reviewed.
BACKGROUND: The treatment of Crohn's disease has changed owing to the recognition of its chronicity. Medical maintenance treatment and limited resections have evolved as major concepts of management, regarded as complementary, and both aim at reducing the symptoms. METHODS: We investigated the symptomatic load in Crohn's disease as reflected in a cross-sectional study of the symptom index, physicians' assessment, and the patients' perception of health. A cohort of 212 patients from the primary catchment area and 125 referred patients were studied. RESULTS: Of catchment area patients, 83% were receiving medication, and the annual rate of abdominal surgery was 5.7%. Corresponding figures for the referred patients were 82% and 10.3%. According to the symptom index, 87% of catchment area patients were in remission or had only mild symptoms; according to the physicians' assessment, 90% were. The patients' median perception of health was 90% of perfect health according to the visual analogue scale. The figures were similar for referred patients, except that referrals were considered more diseased by the physician. CONCLUSION: The great majority of patients with Crohn's disease are able to live in remission or experience only mild symptoms.
Nearly all standard colorectal operations have been attempted by the laparoscopic method. While bowel surgery is substantially more difficult it is proven feasible for most operations but its spread is slow. Less than 5% of all abdominal colorectal surgery is done laparoscopically a proportion which may rise to 20% in departments with a special interest. The complexity of the operation demands the learning of new skills which it will not be possible for all currently active colorectal surgeons to acquire. The learning phase is substantial, especially for resections, and yet the operation time remains about an hour longer than that of the open operation. Laparoscopic colorectal surgery is a fascinating subject because of its technical content, rapid change, and vitalisation of surgical thinking with profound repercussions on traditional operative technique. After seven years of breaking new ground it is time for the laparoscopic colorectal surgery to progress from a demonstration of what is possible to demonstrate when laparoscopy produces consistently better results at acceptable cost.
Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is the clinical expression of the action of complex intrinsic mediators of the acute phase reaction. SIRS can be precipitated by events such as infection, trauma, pancreatitis, and surgery. At times, SIRS can compromise the function of various organ systems resulting in Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS). SIRS and MODS are graded expressions of the inflammation associated with acute illness. Mild forms are frequent in general wards for both medical and surgical patients but those with severe forms require intensive care. Clinicians should learn to identify SIRS in their patients at an early stage to determine the underlying cause and treatment before the SIRS progresses to a more severe form.
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BACKGROUND: Opioid receptors have been demonstrated on peripheral afferent nerves throughout the body. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of intravenous and intraperitoneal administration of morphine with regard to pain, postoperative morphine requirement, and recovery after major abdominal surgery, and to describe the pharmacokinetics of intraperitoneal morphine in humans. METHODS: In a double-blind manner, 30 patients scheduled for major abdominal surgery were randomized to either 50 mg of morphine intravenously (i.v.) or 50 mg of morphine intraperitoneally (i.p.) before operation. Pain was measured on a visual analogue scale and morphine requirements were registered for 3 days. Recovery was measured as time to oral intake of food, time to flatulence and days in hospital. Plasma morphine, morphine-3-glucuronide, and morphine-6-glucuronide concentrations were determined during the first 4 h after morphine administration. RESULTS: During the first postoperative hours there was less pain at rest (P = 0.02) and on coughing (P = 0.004) in the intravenous group. The requirement of additional morphine (P = 0.016) was lower in the intravenous group during the first postoperative day. No major differences in recovery were seen. The plasma concentrations of morphine measured as area under the curve (AUC) during the first 4 h were similar, but the intravenous group showed significantly higher concentrations of the active metabolite morphine-6-glucuronide, (P = 0.016), indicating a difference in pharmacokinetics after intraperitoneal compared to intravenous administration of morphine. CONCLUSION: Intraperitoneal administration of 50 mg of morphine before major abdominal surgery is less efficient in reducing pain and postoperative morphine requirements than the same amount of morphine given intravenously.