Eliana Steinman

Open pelviperineal trauma

The authors present their results in the management of 48 patients with complex pelviperineal injuries treated at the Surgical Emergency Ward of the University of São Paulo School of Medicine General Hospital. The distinct factors influencing the morbidity and mortality rates are discussed as well as the importance of an aggressive treatment in the initial approach of these patients. The following steps are virtually essential for the achievement of results comparable to those presented in the present protocol: exhaustive irrigation of the perineal wound with saline solution followed by surgical debridement and removal of all devitalized areas, maintenance of the wound open, early maturation transverse colostomy with total fecal flow diversion, periodic surgical revisions at intervals of 24 to 72 hours, large doses of antibiotic therapy, nutritional support with full parenteral feeding, and appropriate management of bone injuries and skin grafts. Adopting of measures proposed in this protocol yielded a decrease in mortality rate from 70% to 31.5%.

Gallstone ileus as a cause of upper intestinal obstruction

Gallstone ileus, a mechanical intestinal obstruction caused by the passage of a gallstone into the intestinal lumen through a fistula, although not common, deserves to more carefully studied due to its morbidity and mortality. Its incidence among older-age groups explains its association with chronic and degenerative diseases, which increase the complexity of the treatment choice. The need and appropriateness of a surgical approach to a cholecystenteric fistula to solve the obstructive emergency, in a one or two stage procedure, has been discussed in the literature. It has also been reported that gallstone ileus is an uncommon cause of upper intestinal obstruction. Intestinal obstruction is seen more frequently after a gallstone impacts at the ileocecal valve. The authors report a case of gallstone ileus as a cause of upper intestinal obstruction and discuss its diagnosis and treatment.

Avaliação diagnóstica da laparoscopia associada à análise do líquido intraperitoneal nas lesões intra-abdominais provocadas por arma de ar comprimido: estudo experimental em cães

The high incidence of death as a result of injuries by firearms contributed to the introduction of new diagnostic techniques. Such as the use of videolaparoscopy emergency situations. The present experiment intends to evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopy associated with the analysis of intraperitoneal liquid by Gram-stainingm as wekk as ti measure the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of videolaparoscopy compared to exploratory laparotomy in the diagnostic of intraabdominal lesions. Twenty dogs were submitted to abdominal penetrating trauma by air-gun close to the abdominal wall. During videolaparoscopy, a systematic evaluation of the abdominal cavity was performed and material for Gram-stain was collected. Videolaparoscopy was followed by exploratory laparotomy and results of both methods were compared, and accuracy, sensitivity and specificity calculated. Videolaparoscopy showed an accuracy of 88,29%, a sensitivity of 88,29% and a specificity of 100%. The positive predictive value of Gram-stain was 100%. It can be concluded that videolaparoscopy is efficient in the diagnosis of a large number of intraabdominal lesions induced by air-gun in hemodynamically stable dogs. Nevertheless, some lesions localized in mesentery, small intestine, colon, spleen, left kidney and vascular structures evident by exploratory laparotomy remained undetected by videolaparoscopy. Concomitant analysis of intraperitoneal liquid by Gram-staining can increase the efficacy and decrease the possibility of missing in the diagnosis of such lesions.