Portal vein thrombosis associated with acute cholecystitis.

Portal venous thrombosis (PVT) is an uncommon clinical problem and is rare following cholecystectomy. This article describes a patient who developed PVT after an initially uneventful laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The patient was successfully treated with IV antibiotics and anticoagulation.

Resident Perspectives on the Value of Rural General Surgery Rotations: It's Not Just About the Cases.

Purpose: Understand the scope of cases that residents participate in during rural general surgery rotations and the value residents and program directors find in such rotations. In turn, our goal is to add to the ongoing conversation the value exposure to rural surgery brings to surgery training.

Methods: Qualitative study analyzed reviews of residents' self-reported case lists and field notes from exit interviews with the site director.

Strategies to Improve the Rural Surgical Workforce.

The rural surgical workforce is in crisis, resulting in significant health care access issues for the 60 million rural Americans. Rural surgeons encounter unique barriers to providing care for patients that are different than their urban counterparts. Rural hospitals are failing at an alarming rate.

Quality and Value in Rural Cancer Care.

Nearly 60 million people reside in rural America with only 10% of US general surgeons providing for their surgical care. Rural cancer care has been maligned in the literature due to a lack of understanding of local resource limitations and to the difficulties involved in documenting the quality of local cancer care in small and rural communities. A majority of US cancer patients are diagnosed and treated in community cancer programs, many of which are Commission on Cancer accredited and deliver care that is of high quality and value.

US Rural Surgeons Leading During COVID-19: Where Are They Now?

Rural surgeons from disparate areas of the United States report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in their communities as the virus has spread across the country. The pandemic has brought significant changes to the professional, economic, and social lives of the individual surgeons and their communities.

Rural Surgical Training in the United States: Delineating Essential Components Within Existing Programs.

Background: Rural access to surgical care has reached crisis level. Practicing in rural America offers unique challenges with limited resources and specialists. Most training programs do not provide enough exposure to the endoscopic or the surgical subspecialty skills to prepare a resident for an isolated rural environment.

Rural Standards and the Quality Equation.

The article describes the barriers rural surgeons face when attempting to measure, analyze, and benchmark the quality and value of the care they provide for their patients. Examples of suboptimal care are presented as well as special geographic and resource-related circumstances for many of these disparities of care. The article includes in-depth descriptions of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Optimal Resources for Surgical Quality and Safety Program and the ACS Rural Hospital Surgical Verification and Quality Improvement Program.

US Rural Surgeon Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Leadership in a Time of Crisis.

Nine surgeons from rural and remote communities in the United States share early experiences preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic. Relating experiences remarkably different from health care providers in urban areas in America most affected by the first stages of the outbreak, they tell the challenges of organizing resources in facilities already struggling with poverty-stricken communities far from established health care resources and supplies. From Alaska to Appalachia and the Navajo Nation to the rural midwest, they show the leadership and professionalism that exemplify rural surgery.

Simulation training for the endoscopic management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding: a nationwide survey of rural surgeons' needs and preferences analysis.

Background: Published needs analyses of rural surgeons have identified a need for training in the endoscopic management of non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB). The study aim was to survey rural surgeons regarding their requirements and preferences for a simulation model on which they could rehearse the endoscopic management of NVUGIB.

Methods: Rural surgeons were contacted via the American College of Surgery Advisory Council listserv and invited to complete an online survey.

When rural is no longer rural: Demand for subspecialty trained surgeons increases with increasing population of a non-metropolitan area.

Background: Surgery in larger, non-metropolitan, communities may be distinct from rural practice. Understanding these differences may help guide training. We hypothesize that increasing community size is associated with a desire for subspecialty surgeons.

Rural surgeons' perspectives on necessity of post-residency training are stable across generations.

Background: Training future rural surgeons is critical, but training needs are unclear. We hypothesize perspectives on necessity of subspecialty training differ among rural surgeons by generational cohort.

Methods: An online survey was sent to ACS Rural Surgery Listserv subscribers.

Training for a Career in Rural and Nonmetropolitan Surgery-A Practical Needs Assessment.

Objective: The current shortage of surgeons in rural and smaller communities is predicted to get worse. In this study, we solicited practicing rural surgeons' opinions about the skill set needed in a rural practice in order to inform curriculum development for general surgery residents who intend to embark on rural careers.

Design: We developed an online survey consisting of demographic questions and closed- and open-ended questions regarding current practice environment and scope of practice.

A rare case of iron-deficiency anemia rapidly progressing to a life-threatening event.

Giant colonic diverticula are extremely rare; however, they should be considered in a patient with a history or susceptibility to diverticular disease because of the nonspecific presentation and life-threatening complications. Giant colonic diverticula often are overlooked because of their nonspecific gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, leading to complications of obstruction, perforation, abscess formation, and sepsis. A rare and unusual presentation of a giant colonic diverticulum is the development of a bezoar.

Small bowel necrosis in association with jejunal tube feeding.

Early recognition and appropriate treatment of bowel ischemia is imperative to reduce morbidity and mortality in any situation, including in conjunction with enteral tube feeding. GI intolerance can manifest as increased nasogastric tube output, unexplained abdominal pain/distension, and pneumatosis intestinalis in critically ill patients who are on tube feedings and may be experiencing periods of splanchnic hypotension. Recommendations are to immediately cease tube feedings when these signs and symptoms are recognized, and total parenteral nutrition should be considered.