Perioperative blood transfusion is associated with an increased risk for post-surgical infection following pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Background/purpose: Perioperative blood transfusion is common after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) and may predispose patients to infectious complications. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between perioperative blood transfusion and the development of post-surgical infection after PD.

Methods: Patients who underwent PD from 2014 to 2015 were identified in the NSQIP pancreas-specific database.

Association of postoperative hyperglycemia with outcomes among patients with complex ventral hernia repair.

Importance: Patients with medically complex conditions undergoing repair of large or recurrent hernia of the abdominal wall are at risk for early postoperative hyperglycemia, which may serve as an early warning for delays in recovery and for adverse outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate postoperative serum glucose level as a predictor of outcome after open ventral hernia repair in patients with major medical comorbidities.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We performed a retrospective medical record review of 172 consecutive patients who underwent open ventral hernia repair at Penn State Milton S.

Gastric sleeve leak: a single institution's experience with early combined laparoendoscopic management.

Background: Sleeve gastrectomy is an effective weight loss procedure that is technically less complex than Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. However, staple line leak (SLL) remains a significant complication of this procedure with reported incidence ranging from 1%-7%. Multiple treatment strategies for SLL are reported including surgical re-exploration, percutaneous drainage, and endoscopic stenting.

Emphysematous gastritis and gastric emphysema: similar radiographic findings, distinct clinical entities.

Introduction: Despite similar appearances on imaging studies, emphysematous gastritis (EG) and gastric emphysema (GE) are rare clinical entities encountered in surgical practices. The purpose of this review is to clarify the presentation, natural history, and optimal treatment strategies for these two disorders.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature review for reported adult cases of EG and GE in MEDLINE.

Training current and future robotic surgeons simultaneously: initial experiences with safety and efficiency.

Robotic surgery is experiencing a rapidly-increasing presence in the field of general surgery. The adoption of any new technology carries the challenge of training current and future surgeons in a safe and effective manner. We report our experience with the initiation of a robotic general surgery program at an academic institution while simultaneously incorporating surgical trainees.

Positive and negative volume-outcome relationships in the geriatric trauma population.

Importance: In trauma populations, improvements in outcome are documented in institutions with higher case volumes. However, it is not known whether improved outcomes are attributable to the case volume within specific higher-risk groups, such as the elderly, or to the case volume among all trauma patients treated by an institution.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that outcomes of trauma care for geriatric patients are affected differently by the volume of geriatric cases and nongeriatric cases of an institution.

Variation in the management of adolescent patients with blunt abdominal solid organ injury between adult versus pediatric trauma centers: an analysis of a statewide trauma database.

Background: Optimal management of adolescent trauma patients with blunt abdominal solid organ injury (SOI) remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to identify management differences in adolescents with SOI treated at adult trauma centers (ATC) versus pediatric trauma centers (PTC). We hypothesized that adolescents with SOI would undergo different treatment at ATC and PTC.

Injured adolescents, not just large children: difference in care and outcome between adult and pediatric trauma centers.

Adolescent injury victims receive care at adult trauma centers (ATCs) and pediatric trauma centers (PTCs). The purpose of this study was to identify care variations and their impact on the outcome of adolescent trauma patients treated at PTC versus ATC. We queried the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation database for trauma patients between 13 and 18 years of age from 2005 to 2010.