Patients with infection and prior appendectomy may be prone to worse outcomes.

Background: infection (CDI) occurs due to a dysbiosis in the colon. The appendix is considered a 'safe house' for gut microbiota and may help repopulate gut flora of patients with CDI.

Aim: To study the impact of prior appendectomy on the severity and outcomes of CDI.

The Incidence and Mortality Impact of Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients.

Background: Patients requiring hospitalization to critical care units are at a higher risk for gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection is predominantly a pulmonary disease, other serious manifestations including thromboembolic phenomenon are reported. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring mechanical ventilation, use of steroids and anticoagulation are all known to increase the risk of GI bleeding significantly.

Atypical Presentation of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Masquerading as Diffuse Severe Esophagitis.

Esophagitis is described as an inflammation of the esophagus and can result from multiple etiologies. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), presenting as diffuse esophagitis in the absence of a mass or lesion, is rare. We present a case of a 61-year-old man who presented to the gastroenterology clinic for dysphagia and heartburn of 3 months duration.

Colonic Ganglioneuroma: A Rare Lesion With Extremely Different Presentations and Outcomes in Two Patients.

Ganglioneuroma (GN) of the gastrointestinal tract is an extremely rare neuroectodermal tumor. Patients with ganglioneuromas have different presentations depending on the location, extent and size of the lesion. We present two cases of ganglioneuromas that had different clinical presentations and outcomes.

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: A Rare Cause of Colonic Mass.

NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are one of the most used medications worldwide. Every day they are used by more than 30 million Americans. Here, we report a rare and interesting case of a 63-year-old woman with a history of NSAID use who presented to our emergency room with lower abdominal pain.

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor as a Rare Cause of Abdominal Mass: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are soft tissue sarcomas that can arise from any part of the digestive system. GISTs represent 1% of gastric neoplasms. We report a rare case of a GIST tumor in a 59-year-old woman who presented with abdominal pain and weight loss.

Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome: A Rare Cause of Post-polypectomy Bleeding.

A colonoscopy is an effective tool for colorectal cancer screening, which aims at identifying precancerous polyps and removing them. Post-polypectomy bleeding (PPB) is one of the most common complications of endoscopic polypectomy. Here, we report a rare and interesting case of a 68-year-old man known to have Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) who presented with two days history of rectal bleeding one day after he had a screening colonoscopy with polypectomy.

Kayexalate-Induced Esophageal Ulceration in a Patient with Decompensated Cirrhosis: A Review of the Literature.

Hyperkalemia is one of the most common electrolyte abnormalities encountered in clinical practice. The treatment of hyperkalemia includes removal of excess potassium from the body using cation exchange resins, e.g.

Paclitaxel-Induced Bowel Perforation: A Rare Cause of Acute Abdomen.

Paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic agent, is routinely administered for the treatment of various solid organ malignancies. In rare instances, patients receiving infusions of paclitaxel may present with signs of an acute abdomen. Ischemia and necrosis of the bowel wall from chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and direct toxic effects of the drug have been implicated as the cause.

A Rare Case of Splenic in a HIV-Positive Patient.

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive individuals with the CD4 count less than 200 cells/mm are at risk for opportunistic infections. , a fungal pathogen, is a common cause of opportunistic infections with predominantly pulmonary involvement. Disseminated infection presenting with hepatosplenic lesion is extremely rare.

Recent Anti-platelet Therapy Revealing Underlying Undiagnosed Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor in Otherwise Healthy Patient.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are uncommon tumors of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that arise from primitive mesenchymal cells. Usually, GIST presents as chronic gastrointestinal symptoms or obscure gastrointestinal bleed. Not many cases have been reported in the literature with acute symptoms in the setting of recent aspirin use.

Endoscopic Repair of Gastrocolic and Colocutaneous Fistulas Complicating Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tube.

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube feeding has become one of the options for supplemental feeding in a selected group of patients. It is a generally safe procedure usually undertaken by a gastroenterologist or a surgeon in most cases but with over 200,000 tubes being placed yearly, there is bound to be complications. Some of the encountered complications include bleeding, site infection, tube migration, and inadvertent creation of fistula.

Chemical colitis caused by hydrogen peroxide vaginal douche: A case report.

Background: Hydrogen peroxide is one of the most common household disinfectants worldwide. Hydrogen peroxide has been documented as a rare cause of chemical colitis.

Case Summary: We present a case of 31 years old lady who presented to our hospital with rectal bleeding and abdominal pain after using hydrogen peroxide vaginal douche as an enema.

Acute Diverticulitis: A Rare Cause of Abdominal Pain.

There is an increasing incidence of diverticulosis and diverticulitis in the younger populations; and its occurrence in very young individual is concerning. Here we report a rare and interesting case of a 20-year-old man who presented with 3-day history of epigastric abdominal pain associated with diarrhea and nausea. His abdominal examination revealed mild tenderness in the right lower abdominal quadrant.

Rare sequalae of hiatal hernia causing pancreatitis and hepatitis: A case report.

Background: Hiatal hernia (HH) contents commonly include stomach, transverse colon, small intestine, and spleen but herniation of the pancreas is an extremely rare phenomenon.

Case Summary: 79-year-old female with multiple comorbidities presented to emergency department with complaints of weight loss for 6 mo and abdominal pain for one day. Physical examination revealed cachectic and dehydrated female and bowel sounds could be auscultated on the right side of chest.

Evaluation of the combined effect of factors influencing bowel preparation and adenoma detection rates in patients undergoing colonoscopy.

Background: Colonoscopy is a commonly used modality for screening and surveillance of colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, it is essential to have adequate bowel preparation (prep) for the procedure which depends on type of bowel regimens, diet before colonoscopy and timing of the procedure.

Aims: The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of multiple factors on adenoma detection rate (ADR) and prep quality of colonoscopy.

Predicting the presence of adenomatous polyps during colonoscopy with National Cancer Institute Colorectal Cancer Risk-Assessment Tool.

Aim: To evaluate the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Risk Assessment Tool as a predictor for the presence of adenomatous polyps (AP) found during screening or surveillance colonoscopy.

Methods: This is a retrospective single center observational study. We collected data of adenomatous polyps in each colonoscopy and then evaluated the lifetime CRC risk.

Perioperative Management of Neurological Conditions.

Perioperative care of the patients with neurological diseases can be challenging. Most important consideration is the management and understanding of pathophysiology of these disorders and evaluation of new neurological changes that occur perioperatively. Perioperative generally refers to 3 phases of surgery: preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative.