Background/objective: Despite surgery being the primary curative treatment for cancer, patients with compromised preoperative physical, nutritional, and psychological status are often at a higher risk for complications. While various screening tools exist to assess physical, nutritional, and psychological status, there is currently no standardised self-reporting tool, or established cut-off points for comprehensive risk assessment. This study aims to develop, validate, and implement an online self-reporting preoperative screening tool that identifies modifiable risk factors in cancer surgery patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Ventilatory function measured by spirometry is commonly performed preoperatively in people undergoing coronary artery graft surgery (CAGS). Minimal information exists on the associations between spirometry parameters, postoperative pulmonary complications (PPC), and prolonged (≥7 days) length of hospital stay (LOHS) following cardiac surgery. This study aims to investigate the relationships between preoperative spirometry values with both PPC and prolonged LOHS in patients undergoing CAGS, and to compare the predictive value of preoperative spirometry against other known PPC risk factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To assess sample size calculation reporting in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating prehabilitation interventions in oncological surgery patients.
Data Sources: A systematic literature search was performed in multiple medical databases from inception to April 2023, including MEDLINE, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CINHAL, AMED, and PsychINFO.
Study Selection: The inclusion criteria used were randomised controlled trials evaluating effectiveness of exercise, nutrition, and/or psychological interventions on postoperative outcomes of adult patients undergoing oncological surgery.
Background And Objective: Sarcopenia, characterized by the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass (MM) and muscle function, is a common and debilitating condition in cancer patients, significantly impacting their quality of life, treatment outcomes, and overall survival. The pathophysiology of sarcopenia is multifactorial, involving metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory changes. Recent research highlights the role of chronic inflammation in the development and progression of sarcopenia, with pro-inflammatory cytokines being key mediators of muscle catabolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To explore the perspectives and experiences of patients and carers living with the long-term consequences of pelvic exenteration.
Summary Background Data: Pelvic exenteration is accepted as the standard of care for selected patients with locally advanced or recurrent rectal cancer. With contemporary 5-year survival reported at 40-60%, the number of long-term survivors is expected to increase.
Aim: Cytoreductive surgery provides a chance for long-term survival and cure in selected patients with colorectal peritoneal metastases. As clinical and academic interest in this field increases, heterogeneity in outcome reporting hinders the valid and meaningful synthesis of data into high-quality meta-analyses. The aim of this systemic review was to investigate variability in outcome reporting following cytoreductive surgery with or without intraperitoneal chemotherapy for colorectal peritoneal metastases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The treatment of locally recurrent rectal cancer has evolved dramatically in recent decades. As the boundaries of exenterative surgery continue to be pushed, one of the unanswered and controversial questions is the role of radical salvage surgery for locally recurrent rectal cancer in the setting of oligometastatic disease.
Objective: To investigate the impact of synchronous or previously treated distant metastases on survival after pelvic exenteration for locally recurrent rectal cancer.
Aim: Pelvic exenteration is the only potentially curative treatment for patients with locally advanced or recurrent rectal cancer. This study aimed to investigate how patients decide to undergo such radical surgery.
Method: This qualitative study employed an exploratory interpretive design informed by hermeneutic philosophy.
Solving the plastic crisis requires high recycling quotas and technologies that allow open loop recycling. Here a biological plastic valorization approach consisting of tandem enzymatic hydrolysis and monomer conversion of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate into value-added products is presented. Hydrolysates obtained from enzymatic degradation of pre-treated post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate bottles in a stirred-tank reactor served as the carbon source for a batch fermentation with an engineered Pseudomonas putida strain to produce 90mg/L of the biopolymer cyanophycin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The evidence on the effectiveness of prehabilitation in patients undergoing bladder cancer surgery remains lacking. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of prehabilitation on reducing postoperative morbidity and length of hospital stay in patients undergoing bladder cancer surgery.
Materials And Methods: This systematic review included randomized controlled trials investigating the effect of prehabilitation on postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing bladder cancer surgery.
Radiological embolisation has emerged as a safe and effective alternative to surgery for varicocele treatment. While systematic reviews have compared embolisation to surgery, attempts to compare different embolisation materials have been limited. The objective was to conduct a systematic review assessing the potential benefits of combining coils with sclerosants for varicocele embolisation on fertility, pain, recurrence and complication rates in male patients, as compared to using coils alone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to update the body of evidence on the efficacy of prehabilitation with exercise interventions, in reducing postoperative complications and length of hospital stay after cancer surgery.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on MEDLINE, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, AMED, and PsycINFO to identify randomized controlled trials investigating the impact of prehabilitation with exercise interventions for patients undergoing cancer surgery. Primary and secondary outcomes assessed were postoperative complications and length of hospital stay, respectively.
Objective Approximately 30% of Australians reside in rural communities, where accessing healthcare facilities can be challenging due to considerable distance. This can result in disparities in healthcare equity, subsequently increasing risk of adverse health outcomes, delayed diagnosis, and diminished quality of life. These geographical constraints may be exacerbated in advanced cancers for which treatment is available only at selected centres with appropriate expertise.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mechanisms linking a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) are not fully understood. Using the UK Biobank available proteomic and genomic data, we evaluated the biological mechanisms linking both conditions. In participants with a history of MDD at baseline (n=3,615), we found that plasma levels of NfL, GFAP, PSG1 were associated with higher risk (HR=1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pelvic exenteration (PE) is a radical procedure involving multi-visceral resection for locally advanced pelvic malignancies. Such radical surgery is associated with prolonged operating theater time and hospital stay, as well as a substantial risk of postoperative complications, and therefore significant financial cost. This study aimed to comprehensively detail the inpatient cost of PE at a specialist center in the Australian public sector.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Pelvic exenteration provides significant survival benefits for selected patients diagnosed with locally advanced rectal cancer. However, in-hospital postoperative morbidity such as abdominal abscess, sepsis, and anastomotic leak remain highly prevalent, which can have short/long-term impacts on patient quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to determine the influence of postoperative morbidity on QoL outcomes in patients following pelvic exenteration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSC) have been investigated as a form of wound healing enhancement. The objective of this work was to evaluate the association of red propolis (RP) and PRP as inducers of ADSC for application in tissue regeneration. Adipose tissue post-collection and post-cryopreservation was isolated with type II collagenase, characterized by flow cytometry, and differentiated into osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipose cell.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF