ERC-Related Procedures and Skeletal Muscle Mass Loss in Biliary Tract Cancer Patients
ERC-related procedures before biliary tract cancer surgery increase the risk of skeletal muscle mass loss. Post-ERC complications like pancreatitis and cholangitis are independent risk factors for large muscle mass decrease. Skeletal muscle mass decreases in most patients with BTC undergoing ERC, highlighting the importance of preoperative assessment and interventions to prevent sarcopenia.
Removing large common bile duct stones with a robot rather than laparoscopically was linked to fewer complications and shorter hospital stays, at a higher cost, in a study from one Chinese hospital.
Robot-assisted bile duct exploration gave fewer complications and shorter hospital stays than laparoscopy, even in patients with hilar adhesions, in a Chinese retrospective study of 212 matched patients.
Removing the rectal tumor and liver spread in one operation did not clearly raise complications or hurt survival compared with two separate operations, a French national study found.
