Comparison of Outcomes of antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial: a protocol for the pragmatic randomised study of appendicitis treatment.

Introduction: Several European studies suggest that some patients with appendicitis can be treated safely with antibiotics. A portion of patients eventually undergo appendectomy within a year, with 10%-15% failing to respond in the initial period and a similar additional proportion with suspected recurrent episodes requiring appendectomy. Nearly all patients with appendicitis in the USA are still treated with surgery.

Ligation of Intersphincteric Fistula Tract: a Sphincter-Sparing Option for Complex Fistula-in-Ano.

Fistulae-in-ano represent one of the more challenging anorectal diseases faced by surgeons, as appropriate management requires careful balance between the need for local sepsis control and patients' desire to maintain fecal continence. The ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure, first described by Rojanasakul and colleagues in 2007, represents a sphincter-sparing technique for fistula management which has become our method of choice for transsphincteric fistulas. With this technique, patients frequently enjoy successful fistula healing.

Relationship between model for end-stage liver disease score and 30-day outcomes for patients undergoing elective colorectal resections: an American college of surgeons-national surgical quality improvement program study.

Background: Patients with liver disease face significant risk of complications and death when considering elective colorectal resection for benign or malignant indications.

Objective: We sought to determine the relationship between Model of End-Stage Liver Disease score and 30-day outcomes in patients undergoing elective colorectal resections.

Design: This was a retrospective cohort study.

Adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II right-sided and left-sided colon cancer: analysis of SEER-medicare data.

Background: Survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy is established for stage III colon cancer; however, uncertainty exists for stage II patients. Tumor heterogeneity, specifically microsatellite instability (MSI), which is more common in right-sided cancers, may be the reason for this observation. We examined the relationship between adjuvant chemotherapy and overall 5-year mortality for stage II colon cancer by location (right- vs left-side) as a surrogate for MSI.