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EUS-guided RFA shows promise for managing IPMNs

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (EUS-RFA) offers a safe, minimally invasive option for patients with branch-duct IPMNs who cannot undergo surgery.

  • Technical success reached 100% across 62 procedures, with local control in 98% of lesions.
  • Adverse events occurred in 27% of cases, mainly mild abdominal pain; no procedure-related deaths were reported.

This approach maintains pancreas-wide disease control in 80% of patients.

  • Smaller cysts and fewer worrisome features correlate with better outcomes.

Journal Article by Barras J, Lorenzo D (…) Barthet M et 2 al. in Gastrointest Endosc

Copyright © 2026 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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New model predicts treatment response in rectal cancer patients

A novel predictive model effectively identifies patients likely to achieve a pathological complete response after total neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced rectal cancer, aiding in selection for watch-and-wait strategies.

  • In a study of 308 patients, the model predicted pCR with an area under the receiver operator curve (AUROC) of 0.71.
  • External validation in 83 patients showed the model predicted persistent clinical complete response (pCCR) with an AUROC of 0.69.

This tool enhances surgical decision-making, improving patient management in rectal cancer.

  • Model recalibration boosted predictive accuracy for pCCR to 0.17.

Journal Article by Varghese C, Ng JC (…) Larson DW et 5 al. in Ann Surg

Copyright © 2026 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Negligible benefit of terminal ileal intubation in asymptomatic colonoscopy

Routine terminal ileal intubation in asymptomatic patients undergoing colon cancer screening shows minimal diagnostic value.

  • Overall diagnostic yield for any ileal finding is just 1.74%.
  • Yield for clinically significant pathology is only 0.28%, with Crohn’s disease detection at 0.1%.

Surgeons should reconsider routine TII during screening and surveillance colonoscopies due to negligible benefit.

Review by Scalvini D, Maimaris S (…) Anderloni A et 14 al. in Gastrointest Endosc

Copyright © 2026 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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New risk scoring for achalasia post-POEM reveals critical patterns.

  • The JAMS POEM score effectively predicts short-term clinical failure (AUROC 0.71) but loses accuracy long-term (AUROC 0.54).
  • A three-tiered risk stratification identifies an intermediate-risk group with a 10-year failure rate of 35.8%, suggesting different follow-up strategies.

Surgeons should consider long-term outcomes when applying the JAMS POEM score for better patient surveillance.

  • In the low-risk group, failure rates are stable at 29.1%, while high-risk patients face early failures at 37.5%.

Journal Article by Li M, Hu X (…) Lyu B et 5 al. in Gastrointest Endosc

Copyright © 2026 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Surgeons Flourish Despite Challenges With Social Connectivity

Surgeons report high levels of professional flourishing, impacting well-being and burnout strategies.

  • 30% of surveyed surgeons scored an average of 7.98 on a 10-point flourishing scale.
  • Financial stability (8.57) and sense of purpose (8.50) were top-rated; social connections lagged (7.41).

Surgeons working fewer hours and viewing their role as a calling showed significant flourishing increases.

  • 88% of surgeons see surgery as a calling, suggesting that nurturing purpose and community could enhance surgical well-being.

Journal Article by Ig-Izevbekhai K, De Bie FR (…) Antiel RM et 6 al. in J Am Coll Surg

Copyright © 2026 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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New Metric Improves Outcomes in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Surgeons should consider the margin-to-size ratio (MSR) as a key factor for patient outcomes in resectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).

  • Higher MSR significantly improves recurrence-free survival (RFS), with an HR of 0.59.
  • An MSR threshold of 0.142 predicts better 3-year RFS: 55.7% for high MSR vs. 45.2% for low MSR.

This approach may help tailor surgical margins based on individual tumor characteristics, enhancing patient outcomes.

Journal Article by Kawashima J, Sahara K (…) Pawlik TM et 7 al. in J Am Coll Surg

Copyright © 2026 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Effective outcomes for laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair with cTIF

Laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair combined with consecutive transoral incisionless fundoplication (cTIF) achieves high success rates in GERD patients.

  • 92% of patients achieved complete clinical success within 12 months.
  • Symptom improvement was reported by 90% and 84% normalized esophageal acid exposure.

Most patients (84%) stopped daily proton pump inhibitors, enhancing long-term management potential for surgeons.

  • Serious adverse events occurred in only 1.6% of cases, indicating the procedure’s safety.

Journal Article by Kolb JM, Canto MI (…) Nguyen NT et 9 al. in J Am Coll Surg

Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Surgeons.

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Surgeon Sleep and Patient Risk Linked to Major Events

Surgeons’ inconsistent sleep timing significantly impacts patient safety, with notable implications for surgical outcomes.

  • Social jet lag of 2 hours or more increases the risk of major adverse events by 36% compared to less than 1 hour.
  • Nearly 20% of surgeries (1410 out of 7117) led to major complications.

Surgeons who manage their sleep better may reduce patient risk and burnout, suggesting that addressing sleep habits should be part of preoperative protocols.

  • Midsleep time variability over 60 minutes did not correlate with adverse outcomes.

Journal Article by Pascal L, Polazzi S (…) Duclos A et 3 al. in JAMA Surg

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Documentation Gaps in Multidisciplinary Tumor Board Meetings

Tumor board documentation is inconsistent, impacting cancer patient care.

  • Only 51.7% of cases had adequate documentation, significantly varying by cancer type (5.5% for breast vs. 97.0% for colorectal).
  • Among documented cases, 44.7% of notes were unstructured, lacking important details like attendees’ specialties (29.3%) and clinical trial eligibility (15.8%).

Improving documentation standards could enhance the quality of multidisciplinary cancer care.

  • 55.7% of notes noted if patients were informed of recommendations, primarily by phone (71.8%).

Journal Article by Riner AN, Alobuia W (…) Cloyd JM et 5 al. in Ann Surg Oncol

© 2026. The Author(s).

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Colonic obstruction management redefined: SEMS trumps surgery.

Using self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) as bridge-to-surgery improved outcomes for obstructive left colon cancer.

  • One-year stoma rates were lower with SEMS (44.4%) compared to emergency surgery (73.4%).
  • Fewer readmissions (4.2% vs 15.9%) and faster chemotherapy initiation (76.1% vs 55.8%) were noted with SEMS.

Consider SEMS for selected patients to reduce stoma rates and enhance quality of life post-treatment.

  • Major morbidity and mortality rates were similar in both groups.

Journal Article by Giordano A, Mastronardi M (…) Podda M et 12 al. in Surg Endosc

© 2026. The Author(s).

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