REsolution of Symptoms afTer Oesophago-gastric cancer REsection delphi (RESTOREd)-standardizing the definition, investigation and management of gastrointestinal symptoms and conditions after surgery.

Background: Oesophago-gastric cancer surgery negatively affects quality of life with a high postoperative symptom burden. Several conditions that may be diagnosed and treated after surgery are recognised. However, consensus regarding their definition and management is lacking.

Patient perspectives on key symptoms and preferences for follow-up after upper gastro-intestinal cancer surgery.

Purpose: Long-lasting symptoms and reductions in quality of life are common after oesophago-gastric surgery. Post-operative follow-up has traditionally focussed on tumour recurrence and survival, but there is a growing need to also identify and treat functional sequelae to improve patients' recovery.

Methods: An electronic survey was circulated via a British national charity for patients undergoing oesophago-gastric surgery and their families.

A Protocol is not Enough: Enhanced Recovery Program-Based Care and Clinician Adherence Associated with Shorter Stay After Colorectal Surgery.

Background: Randomised trials have shown an Enhanced Recovery Program (ERP) can shorten stay after colorectal surgery. Previous research has focused on patient compliance neglecting the role of care providers. National data on implementation and adherence to standardised care are lacking.

Endoscopic tumour morphology impacts survival in adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus.

Background: Prognostication in oesophageal cancer on the basis of preoperative variables is challenging. Many of the accepted predictors of survival are only derived after surgical treatment and may be influenced by neoadjuvant therapy. This study aims to explore the relationship between pre-treatment endoscopic tumour morphology and postoperative survival.

A mixed methods case study investigating how randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are reported, understood and interpreted in practice.

Background: While randomised controlled trials (RCTs) provide high-quality evidence to guide practice, much routine care is not based upon available RCTs. This disconnect between evidence and practice is not sufficiently well understood. This case study explores this relationship using a novel approach.

Surgery, Complications, and Quality of Life: A Longitudinal Cohort Study Exploring the Role of Psychosocial Factors.

Objective: To determine whether psychosocial factors moderate the relationship between surgical complications and quality of life (QoL).

Background: Patients who experience surgical complications have significantly worse postoperative QoL than patients with an uncomplicated recovery. Psychosocial factors, such as coping style and level of social support influence how people deal with stressful events, but it is unclear whether they affect QoL following a surgical complication.

Do patients with gastrointestinal cancer want to decide where they have tests and surgery? A questionnaire study of provider choice.

Backgrounds: Choice of provider has been an important strategy among policy makers, intended, in part, to drive improvements in quality and efficiency of healthcare. This study examined the information requirements, and decision-making experiences and preferences of patients who have had surgery for gastrointestinal cancer, to assess the status of provider choice in current practice.

Methods: The single-item Control Preferences Scale was used to determine patients' experiences and preferences when being referred for tests, and choosing where to have surgery.

Effects of Interdisciplinary Team Care Interventions on General Medical Wards: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Improving the quality of health care for general medical patients is a priority, but the organization of general medical ward care receives less scrutiny than the management of specific diseases. Optimizing teams' performance improves patient outcomes in other settings, and interdisciplinary practice is a major target for improvement efforts. However, the effect of interdisciplinary team interventions on general medical ward care has not been systematically reviewed.

Understanding how colorectal units achieve short length of stay: an interview survey among representative hospitals in England.

Background: Wide variation in the outcomes of colorectal surgery persists, despite a well-established evidence-base to inform clinical practice. This variation may be attributed to differences in quality of care, but we do not know what this means in practical terms of care delivery. This telephone interview study aimed to identify distinguishing characteristics in the organisation of care among colorectal units with the best length of stay results in England.

Outlier identification in colorectal surgery should separate elective and nonelective service components.

Background: The identification of health care institutions with outlying outcomes is of great importance for reporting health care results and for quality improvement. Historically, elective surgical outcomes have received greater attention than nonelective results, although some studies have examined both. Differences in outlier identification between these patient groups have not been adequately explored.

Long-term outcomes of extended proximal gastrectomy for oesophagogastric junctional tumours.

Background: There is no consensus on the optimum approach for resection of oesophagogastric junctional (OGJ) tumours. We prospectively evaluated the efficacy of transabdominal radical extended proximal gastrectomy with oesophagogastric anastomosis (EPGOG) for selected tumours of the OGJ.

Methods: Between 1998 and 2007, 66 selected consecutive patients with tumours of the OGJ underwent successful EPGOG.

Spinal cord ischemia following external iliac artery angioplasty: a case report.

Spinal cord ischemia (SCI) is a rare disease that leads to variable degrees of neurological deficit including permanent paraplegia. It has been reported after open and endovascular interventions of the thoracic and abdominal aorta, but it is extremely rare after interventions involving peripheral vessels. We present a case of permanent paraplegia after iliac angioplasty and stenting for critical limb ischemia and a related review of the literature.