Management and patient outcomes following admission with acute cholecystitis in Ireland: A national registry-based study.

Introduction: Acute cholecystitis is a common general surgical emergency, accounting for 3-10 % of all patients attending with acute abdominal pain. International guidelines suggest that emergency cholecystectomy is the treatment of choice for uncomplicated acute cholecystitis where feasible. There is a paucity of published data on the uptake of emergency cholecystectomy in Ireland.

Challenges and Opportunities for Precision Surgery for Colorectal Liver Metastases.

The incidence of colorectal cancer and colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) is increasing globally due to an interaction of environmental and genetic factors. A minority of patients with CRLM have surgically resectable disease, but for those who have resection as part of multimodal therapy for their disease, long-term survival has been shown. Precision surgery-the idea of careful patient selection and targeting of surgical intervention, such that treatments shown to be proven to benefit on a population level are the optimal treatment for each individual patient-is the new paradigm of care.

Learning curve analyses in spine surgery: a systematic simulation-based critique of methodologies.

Background Context: Various statistical approaches exist to delineate learning curves in spine surgery. Techniques range from dividing cases into intervals for metric comparison, to employing regression and cumulative summation (CUSUM) analyses. However, their inherent inconsistencies and methodological flaws limit their comparability and reliability.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Disability Index is a valid and reliable measure of disability in an English-speaking hospital practice and predicts long-term requirement for treatment escalation.

Objective: The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Disability Index (IBD-DI) was developed according to WHO standards and has been validated in population-based cohorts. However, there are limited data on its relationship to various psychosocial and economic variables or its relevance to hospital clinical practice. The study aims were to determine the validity and reliability of the IBD-DI in an English-speaking hospital out-patient population and to evaluate its association with short and long-term disease activity.

Computed Tomography-Based Radiomics Using Tumor and Vessel Features to Assess Resectability in Cancer of the Pancreatic Head.

The preoperative prediction of resectability pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is challenging. This retrospective single-center study examined tumor and vessel radiomics to predict the resectability of PDAC in chemo-naïve patients. The tumor and adjacent arteries and veins were segmented in the portal-venous phase of contrast-enhanced CT scans, and radiomic features were extracted.

Evidence from a Smoking Management Service in a University Teaching Hospital in Dublin, Ireland monitored by repeat surveys, 1997-2022.

St Vincent's University Hospital (SVUH) has a comprehensive smoking management programme and since 1997 has conducted periodic surveys of inpatients, outpatients, staff and visitors to establish prevalence of smoking and associated attitudes towards the hospital's smoke-free campus policy pioneered in 2009. We report trends and describe also the online community stop smoking course (SSC) developed more recently in response to COVID-19. A questionnaire examining attitudes and smoking status was administered by census surveys of inpatients, quota or random sub-sample surveys of staff, and quota surveys with outpatients and visitors in the time period of 1997-2018.

Impact of Epithelial Histological Types, Subtypes, and Growth Patterns on Oncological Outcomes for Patients with Nonmetastatic Prostate Cancer Treated with Curative Intent: A Systematic Review.

Context: The optimal management for men with prostate cancer (PCa) with unconventional histology (UH) is unknown. The outcome for these cancers might be worse than for conventional PCa and so different approaches may be needed.

Objective: To compare oncological outcomes for conventional and UH PCa in men with localized disease treated with curative intent.

Milestones in the discovery of hepatitis C.

The discovery of hepatitis C has been a landmark in public health as it brought the opportunity to save millions of lives through the diagnosis, prevention and cure of the disease. The combined work of three researchers, Alter H, Houghton M and Rice C, which set the basis for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of hepatitis C apart from laying the ground work for a new approach to study infections in general and developing new antiviral agents. This is a story of a transfusion-associated infection.

The effect of clinician education on blood transfusion practice in obstetrics: completing the audit cycle.

Background: With blood products being a limited and expensive resource within the healthcare system, there is an ever-increasing emphasis on judicial and appropriate use.

Aims: To evaluate whether implementing contemporary society recommendations on restrictive transfusion policies would reduce inappropriate use of red blood cell transfusions, by evaluating the effect of a staff educational campaign.

Methods: An audit of peri-partum red cell concentrate (RCC) transfusion practice within a tertiary obstetric unit was undertaken, covering a 1-year period (2015), examining data related to transfusion prescribing practices.

Brief and Telehealth Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Interventions for Stress in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): A Series of Single Case Experimental Design (SCED) Studies.

Psychological intervention targeting distress is now considered an integral component of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management. However, significant barriers to access exist which necessitate the development of effective, economic, and accessible brief and remote interventions. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a therapy with demonstrated acceptability and a growing evidence base for the treatment of distress in IBD populations.

Efficacy and safety of mavrilimumab in giant cell arteritis: a phase 2, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Objectives: Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is implicated in pathogenesis of giant cell arteritis. We evaluated the efficacy of the GM-CSF receptor antagonist mavrilimumab in maintaining disease remission.

Methods: This phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolled patients with biopsy-confirmed or imaging-confirmed giant cell arteritis in 50 centres (North America, Europe, Australia).

Impact of Quilting Sutures on Surgical Outcomes After Mastectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Seroma after mastectomy and/or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is among the most common issue surgeons have to face in the early postoperative management of breast cancer. Using quilting sutures (QS) to aid in tissue approximation and decrease dead space is proposed as a simple technique to reduce seroma rate. We aimed to perform a systematic review, and analyse, in a meta-analytical model, the role of QS in improving wound outcomes and decrease volume, duration of drainage, and length of stay in hospital.

An enhanced participant information leaflet and multimedia intervention to improve the quality of informed consent to a randomised clinical trial enrolling people living with HIV and obesity: a protocol for a Study Within A Trial (SWAT).

Background: It is the investigator's responsibility to communicate the relevant information about a clinical trial to participants before they provide informed consent to take part. Systematic reviews indicate that participants often have a poor understanding of the concepts which are key to ensuring valid informed consent, such as randomisation and risks/discomforts. Paper-based participant information leaflets and informed consent forms (PIL/ICFs) are becoming longer and are often too complex for many participants.

Treating COVID-19 in the nursing home setting: an integrated approach for a complex and susceptible cohort.

Our patient, a nursing home resident, was reviewed by our frailty outreach service in November 2020. She initially was diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in September 2020 during an outbreak in her nursing home. On this occasion, she again tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Pan-European survey on the implementation of robotic and laparoscopic minimally invasive liver surgery.

Background: Laparoscopic and robotic minimally invasive liver surgery (MILS) is gaining popularity. Recent data and views on the implementation of laparoscopic and robotic MILS throughout Europe are lacking.

Methods: An anonymous survey consisting of 46 questions was sent to all members of the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

Adherence with reporting of ethical standards in COVID-19 human studies: a rapid review.

Background: Patients with COVID-19 may feel under pressure to participate in research during the pandemic. Safeguards to protect research participants include ethical guidelines [e.g.