Laparoscopic Management of Acute Small Bowel Obstruction in Non-Selected Patients: A 10-Year Experience.

The laparoscopic approach to the management of small bowel obstruction (SBO) has been associated with reduced length of hospital stay, complications, and mortality. The laparoscopy-first approach has been limited to highly selective cases to date. In this retrospective observational study, we report our 10-year experience and outcomes within a dedicated Emergency Surgery unit that adopted a non-selective approach in the laparoscopic management of SBO.

Requirement of preoperative blood typing for cholecystectomy and appendectomy: a systematic review.

Purpose: Blood typing, or group and save (G&S) testing, is commonly performed prior to cholecystectomy and appendectomy in many hospitals. In order to determine whether G&S testing is required prior to these procedures, we set out to evaluate the relevant literature and associated rates of perioperative blood transfusion.

Methods: Studies from January 1990 to June 2021 assessing the requirement of preoperative G&S testing for elective or emergency cholecystectomy and appendectomy were retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL databases.

Clinical benefits of a combined physician associate and senior specialist-led emergency surgery ambulatory emergency care clinic introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: A well-designed ambulatory emergency care (AEC) can alleviate demand for inpatient beds by reducing admissions or supporting early discharges. Increasing service demands and workforce gaps present major challenges to surgical departments. Physician's associates (PAs) have been suggested as one way to address this, but previous barriers include lack of job role clarity, and inability to prescribe or request ionising radiation.

Adult necrotising enterocolitis-pig-bel disease: a Pacific disease in London.

Adult necrotising enterocolitis secondary Clostridium perfringens type C-pig-bel disease-is rarely seen outside of Pacific populations, with the highest incidence being in Papau New Guinea. We present the first reported case of pig-bel disease in a previously well patient without diabetes following food poisoning since 1996. In this case, the enterotoxin-induced disease necessitated emergency laparotomy and bowel resection following the failure of medical treatment and worsening septic shock.

A Model Example: Coexisting Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome and the Nutcracker Phenomenon.

Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is a rare cause of gastrointestinal obstruction, caused by external compression of the third part of the duodenum by the SMA. It may be associated with the Nutcracker phenomenon: external compression of the left renal vein. To our knowledge, there are few reports in the literature describing the coexistence of these two conditions and so we take this opportunity to highlight a rare cause of the acute abdomen that might otherwise be overlooked in cases of nonspecific abdominal findings and potentially unremarkable initial investigations.

Smartphones let surgeons know WhatsApp: an analysis of communication in emergency surgical teams.

Background: Outdated communication technologies in healthcare can place patient safety at risk. This study aimed to evaluate implementation of the WhatsApp messaging service within emergency surgical teams.

Methods: A prospective mixed-methods study was conducted in a London hospital.

Escalation of care in surgery: a systematic risk assessment to prevent avoidable harm in hospitalized patients.

Objective: To systematically risk assess and analyze the escalation of care process in surgery so as to identify problems and provide recommendations for intervention.

Background: The ability to escalate care appropriately when managing deteriorating patients is a hallmark of surgical competence and safe postoperative care. Healthcare-Failure-Mode-Effects-Analysis (HFMEA) is a methodology adapted from safety-critical industries, which allows for hazardous process failures to be prospectively identified and solutions to be recommended.

A tool for training in decision making for emergency general surgery--explicit training is possible through facilitation.

Background: Emergency general surgery is increasingly recognized as an area for improvement within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Our aim was to test the feasibility of a tool we developed in assessing and facilitating surgical decision making by trainees in the emergency setting.

Methods: A decision-making tool based on common decisions in surgery was designed and incorporated prospectively into patient clerking.

A rare case of small bowel obstruction secondary to ovarian torsion in an IVF pregnancy.

A 39- year-old woman, who conceived following in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, presented at 12 weeks gestation with symptoms of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. Subsequent investigations found small bowel obstruction  secondary to ovarian torsion. Surgical management to remove a necrotic ovary and fallopian tube led to a good recovery from the acute illness.