What should be included in case report forms? Development and application of novel methods to inform surgical study design: a mixed methods case study in parastomal hernia prevention.

Objectives: To describe the development and application of methods to optimise the design of case report forms (CRFs) for clinical studies evaluating surgical procedures, illustrated with an example of abdominal stoma formation.

Design: (1) Literature reviews, to identify reported variations in surgical components of stoma formation, were supplemented by (2) intraoperative qualitative research (observations, videos and interviews), to identify unreported variations used in practice to generate (3) a 'long list' of items, which were rationalised using (4) consensus methods, providing a pragmatic list of CRF items to be captured in the Cohort study to Investigate the Prevention of parastomal HERnias (CIPHER) study.

Setting: Two secondary care surgical centres in England.

Computed Tomography Colonography (CTC): Is It Really the Non-Invasive Option We Think It Is? A Patient Experience Study.

Computed tomography colonography (CTC) is seen as a more tolerable alternative to colonoscopy, but patients struggle with the steps required for optimal diagnostic imaging. This prospective study aims to understand the experience of patients undergoing CTC. A survey was completed by a convenience sample of patients before and after CTC over 7 months.

Laparoscopic rectopexy for external prolapse in children.

Purpose: This study reports the results of laparoscopic rectopexy in children.

Methods: Results were obtained from a prospective database for all laparoscopic rectopexy procedures performed for external prolapse in a tertiary referral centre from 2006 to 2013. Outcomes included recurrence of symptoms and/or visible prolapse as well as the need for further surgery

Results: Eighteen procedures including both suture and mesh rectopexy were performed in 11 patients.

Follow up of children undergoing antegrade continent enema: experience of over two hundred cases.

Purpose: Antegrade continent enema (ACE) procedures have been used as a treatment of constipation and soiling. Little is known about the long-term results of these procedures, particularly as patients progress into adulthood. This study presents the long-term outcomes of ACE in children, with follow up into adulthood, over a fifteen-year period.

Innovations and developments in surgical coloproctology.

The field of coloproctology covers the treatment of both benign and cancerous disease of the colon, rectum and anus. Significant recent developments in the surgical treatment of colorectal cancer include the development of minimally invasive techniques for colorectal resections and the use of stenting for obstructed patients. The introduction of widespread screening aims to diagnose the disease at an earlier stage.

Parastomal hernias as the predominant stoma complication after laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

Many colorectal procedures can be performed laparoscopically and frequently involve the formation of a stoma. This study aims to demonstrate whether there is an association between stoma complications and the operative technique: laparoscopic or open. A review was conducted of all patients undergoing stoma formation at a single center throughout 2009.

Laparoscopic retrieval of a missing pancreatic pseudocyst drain.

A 20-year woman who presented with acute pancreatitis developed a pseudocyst that was successfully drained by endoscopic placement of a stent as a cystogastrostomy. The first stent used went fully into the cyst and was irretrievable. Two years later a computed tomography showed the stent lying anterior to the left kidney.