Victor Strassmann

Long term (five-year) survival following radical surgical treatment plus adjuvant chemotherapy (FAM) in advanced gastric cancer: a controlled study

Several drugs and their associations are being used for adjuvant or complementary chemotherapy with the aim of improving results of gastric cancer treatment. The objective of this study was to verify the impact of these drugs on nutrition and on survival rate after radical treatment of 53 patients with gastric cancer in stage III of the TNM classification. A control group including 28 patients who had only undergone radical resection was compared to a group of 25 patients who underwent the same operative technique followed by adjuvant polychemotherapy with FAM (5-fluorouracil, Adriamycin, and mitomycin C). In this latter group, chemotherapy toxicity in relation to hepatic, renal, cardiologic, neurological, hematologic, gastrointestinal, and dermatological functions was also studied. There was no significant difference on admission between both groups in relation to gender, race, macroscopic tumoral type of tumor according to the Borrmann classification, location of the tumor in the stomach, length of the gastric resection, or response to cutaneous tests on delayed sensitivity. Chemotherapy was started on average, 2.3 months following surgical treatment. Clinical and laboratory follow-up of all patients continued for 5 years. The following conclusions were reached: 1) The nutritional status and incidence of gastrointestinal manifestation were similar in both groups; 2) There was no occurrence of cardiac, renal, neurological, or hepatic toxicity or death due to the chemotherapeutic method per se; 3) Dermatological alterations and hematological toxicity occurred exclusively in patients who underwent polychemotherapy; 4) There was no significant difference between the rate and site of tumoral recurrence, the disease-free interval, or the survival rate of both study groups; 5) Therefore, we concluded, after a 5-year follow-up, chemotherapy with the FAM regimen did not increase the survival rate.

Avaliaçäo da hernioplastia protética atensional no tratamento das hérnias inguinais

This is the inicial experience in Brazil with the routine use of prosthetic tensionless repair of common inguinal hernias. Before that many groups had been using prosthetic material in selected cases, mostly recurrences. Seventy six patients were operated on, 12 of them bilaterally so that there were 88 procedures over direct (26,1%), indirect (56,8%) and both direct and indirect hernias (17,1 %). The hernia sacs are reduced to the abdominal cavity and the abdominal wall is reinforced by the placement of a polipropilen mesh on the transversalis fascia. The technique is detailed described. Only minimal pain occurred in the postoperative period. There were no infeccion, no rejection, and until now (30 months of medium follow up), no signs of recurrences. Many aspects of the surgical treatment of inguinal hernias are discussed including results, feseability, risks and costs. It is concluded that prosthetic tensionless repair of inguinal hernias is easy, fast, safe and cheap. It does not require general anaesthesia neither complex material. It has excellent results and as it does not create tension sutures, it causes less pain and allows normal physical activity very soon. It suggests that, in common inguinal hernias, maybe we can spare the patient and community from the higher costs of laparoscopic surgery since we can obtain excellent results with an easier and cheaper method.

Fatal pulmonary thromboembolism in gastrectomy intraoperative procedures by gastric adenocarcinoma: case report

The case of a patient with gastric adenocarcinoma with indication for gastrectomy is reported. The surgery took place without complications. A palliative, subtotal gastrectomy was performed after para-aortic lymph nodes compromised by neoplasm were found, which was confirmed by pathological exam of frozen sections carried out during the intervention. At the end of the gastroenteroanastomosis procedure, the patient began to show intense bradycardia: 38 beats per minute (bpm), arterial hypotension, changes in the electrocardiograms waveform (upper unlevelling of segment ST), and cardiac arrest. Resuscitation maneuvers were performed with temporary success. Subsequently, the patient had another circulatory breakdown and again was recovered. Finally, the third cardiac arrest proved to be irreversible, and the intra-operative death occurred. Necropsy showed massive pulmonary embolism. The medical literature has recommended heparinization of patients, in an attempt to avoid pulmonary thromboembolism following major surgical interventions. However, in the present case, heparinization would have been insufficient to prevent death. This case indicates that it is necessary to develop preoperative propedeutics for diagnosing the presence of venous thrombi with potential to migrate, causing pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). If such thrombi could be detected, preventative measures, such as filter installation in the Cava vein could be undertaken.

Tratamento cirúrgico da doença pilonidal: meta-análise dos principais procedimentos adotados mundialmente

OBJETIVO: Analisar e comparar os diversos procedimentos cirurgicos descritos para o tratamento da doenca pilonidal. METODO: Foram selecionados 34 trabalhos publicados em revistas indexadas, totalizando 8698 doentes operados. Realizou-se meta-analise para comparacao das sete principais tecnicas cirurgicas descritas na literatura, quanto aos resultados em relacao a recidiva e ao tempo de cicatrizacao no pos-operatorio. RESULTADOS: Do total de doentes estudados, houve recidiva em 230 doentes (2,6%). O tempo de cicatrizacao no pos-operatorio foi significantemente maior no grupo de excisao sem sutura. As recidivas foram estatisticamente semelhantes nos metodos: excisao sem sutura, marsupializacao, incisao e curetagem, excisao e retalho e tecnica de Karidakys. Os metodos que apresentaram maior indice de recidiva (estatisticamente significante - p<0,001) foram: excisao e sutura primaria e o metodo de Bascom. CONCLUSOES: Conclui-se, por esse estudo, que os resultados em relacao a recidiva sao estatisticamente semelhantes em todos os metodos, com excecao da excisao e sutura primaria e da tecnica de Bascom, que apresentaram recidivas mais frequentes. O tempo de cicatrizacao foi maior nos individuos operados pela tecnica de excisao sem sutura primaria.