Publications by authors named "Plitzko G"

Background: Esophagectomy carries a high risk of morbidity and mortality compared to other major surgeries. With the aim of creating an easy-to-use clinical preoperative risk assessment tool and to validate previously described risk factors for major complications following surgery, esophagectomies at two tertiary medical centers were analyzed.

Methods: A total of 450 patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal carcinoma at the University Medical Centre, Hamburg, or at the Medical Center University Duisburg-Essen, Germany (January 2008 to January 2020) were retrospectively analyzed.

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Background: Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and is the third most common cause of cancer related death. Improving postoperative results by understanding risk factors which impact outcomes is important. The current study aimed to compare immediate perioperative outcomes following gastrectomy.

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Purpose: With robotic surgical devices, an innovative tool has stepped into the arena of minimally invasive hernia surgery. It combines the advantages of open (low recurrence rates and ability to perform complex procedure such as transverse abdominis release) and laparoscopic surgery (low rate of wound and mesh infections, less pain). However, a superiority to standard minimally invasive procedures has not yet been proven.

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To determine whether a new surgical method using a flexible endoscope (FlexVATS) to perform sparing debridement and apply negative-pressure therapy without extensive decortication may be an alternative treatment option for empyema. Surgical treatment of pleural empyema is associated with considerable postoperative complications and mortality rates, and alternative treatment options are being explored to improve patient outcomes. This was a prospective case series.

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Background: Pleural empyema is a serious and potentially deadly disease leading to a significant burden on health care systems. Conservative and surgical treatment results remain poor, with high morbidity and mortality rates. Patients with pleural empyema are often multimorbid and poor candidates for surgery.

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Pleural empyema is a serious condition leading to a significant burden on health care systems due to protracted hospitalisations. Treatment ranges from non-surgical interventions such as antibiotic therapy and chest tube placement to thoracoscopic or open surgery. Various risk factors which impact outcomes have been investigated.

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During metastasis, cancer cells invade, intravasate, enter the circulation, extravasate, and colonize target organs. Here, we examined the role of interleukin (IL)-22 in metastasis. Immune cell-derived IL-22 acts on epithelial tissues, promoting regeneration and healing upon tissue damage, but it is also associated with malignancy.

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Ulcer disease in excluded segments after Roux-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is rare but can evolve into a life-threatening situation. The excluded segments exhibit a different behavior from that of non-altered anatomy; perforated ulcers do not result in pneumoperitoneum or free fluid, and therefore must be met with a low threshold for surgical exploration. The anatomical changes after RYGB impede routine access to the remnant stomach and duodenum.

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Background: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has become the most frequently performed bariatric procedure to date. However, LSG is known to worsen pre-operative and result in de novo gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Pre-operative evaluation reveals a high percentage of silent GERD of so far unknown influence on post-operative GERD.

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Even though the incidence of complicated peptic ulcer disease (PUD) has decreased in the last decades, it remains a condition with a significant mortality. Whilst diagnosis and treatment of PUD in morbidly obese patients can be challenging, patients with excluded segments - such as after Roux-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) - present an even greater problem, as the subsequent altered anatomy impedes the common modalities used for diagnostic and therapeutic measures. We report the cases of two patients after RYGB with perforated duodenal ulcers in the intention to highlight problems regarding diagnosis and treatment.

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Preconditioning with noble gases serves as an effective strategy to diminish tissue injury in different organs. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of pretreatment with the nonanesthetic noble gas helium on hepatic injury after warm ischemia and reperfusion (IR) in comparison to ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Anesthetized and ventilated rats were randomized into six groups (n = 8/group): sham: after laparotomy, the portal triad was exposed without clamping; IPC was performed with 10 min of partial liver ischemia and 10 min of reperfusion; HePC: three cycles of 5 min with inhalation of helium 70 vol% and intermittent washout; IR: 45 min of ischemia followed by 240 min of reperfusion; IPC-IR: IPC followed by hepatic IR; HePC-IR: pretreatment with helium 70 vol% followed by hepatic IR.

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