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New tool effectively identifies post-treatment quality of life issues

A six-symptom Lasors tool has been validated for identifying patients suffering from poor health-related quality of life after curative oesophageal cancer treatment. In a cohort of 263 patients, four symptoms—reduced energy, low mood, frequent diarrhea, and bloating—were significantly linked to diminished quality of life. The tool demonstrated strong diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.858, assisting in the early identification of at-risk patients and enhancing survivorship care planning.

Validation Study by Paine H, Chidambaram S (…) Markar SR et 20 al. in Br J Surg

© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of BJS Foundation Ltd.

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New frailty scoring tool predicts surgical outcomes better

A new Modified 4-Factor Functional Frailty Index (mFF-4) was developed to enhance predictions of surgical outcomes for patients aged 75 and older. An analysis of 265,041 individuals demonstrated that the mFF-4 scored higher for 30-day outcomes than the traditional 5-factor Modified Frailty Index (mFI-5), indicating improved accuracy, particularly regarding mortality and postoperative complications. For patients classified as high frailty (mFF-4=2+), odds of adverse outcomes significantly increased, suggesting this tool better reflects the frailty phenotype.

Journal Article by Agathis AZ, Wu J and Divino CM in J Am Coll Surg

Copyright © 2025 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Immune-nutritional indicators effectively predict short-term mortality in older surgical patients.

An analysis of 4,120 older patients indicated that immune-nutritional indicators, including the mgps, pni, and conut score, are effective in predicting 90-day postoperative survival after emergency gastrointestinal surgery. ROC curves demonstrated strong predictive power with an AUC of 0.68 for all models assessed. Notably, high-risk scores from the lasso cox model correlated with worse outcomes. A nomogram developed from key variables achieved a c-index of 0.706, enhancing patient risk assessment.

Journal Article by Jin Z, Yang T and Wang Z in BMC Gastroenterol

© 2024. The Author(s).

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New scoring model predicts gangrenous appendicitis risk

A scoring model developed from a study of 171 patients undergoing appendectomy demonstrates effective prediction of gangrenous appendicitis. Key independent predictors include a CT value of ≥24 Hu, an appendiceal diameter of ≥12 mm, presence of cecal mucosal edema, and C-reactive protein level of ≥5.4 mg/dl. The model classifies patients into three risk categories, indicating probabilities of 0%, 15%, and 97% for low, moderate, and high risk, respectively, facilitating surgical decision-making.

Journal Article by Suzuki T, Matsumoto A (…) Matsumoto H et 2 al. in Scand J Surg

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Higher Ideal Outcomes Achieved in Left Pancreatectomy

The analysis of over 20,000 patients undergoing left pancreatectomy revealed an overall ideal outcome rate of 59.1%, with significant variation across North America, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Minimally invasive procedures yielded notably higher ideal outcomes (65.4%) compared to open surgeries (53.3%). Postoperative pancreatic fistula rates showed the largest discrepancies between regions, emphasizing differing surgical effectiveness. This new composite outcome measure can facilitate improved comparisons and evaluations in pancreatic surgery outcomes across various audits.

Journal Article by Hendriks TE, Augustinus S (…) Tingstedt B et 15 al. in Ann Surg

Copyright © 2025 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Robotic surgical education needs comprehensive training and assessment

Robotic surgery has rapidly evolved, necessitating specialized training for surgeons due to its unique cognitive and psychomotor demands. Existing programs like the fundamentals of robotic surgery mainly address basic skills, leaving a gap in advanced training and performance assessment. New evaluation tools are emerging to support this need. Looking ahead, advancements in technology, including artificial intelligence and virtual reality, promise to further revolutionize robotic surgery and simulation education in the coming decades.

Journal Article by Hatcher AJ, Beneville BT and Awad MM in BMC Surg

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Cardiovascular and kidney diseases elevate mortality risk after surgery

The study analyzes over 514,000 major surgeries and reveals that the combination of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) significantly increases long-term mortality risk. Results indicate that higher CKD stages correspond to markedly elevated mortality rates in patients with CVD, with hazard ratios rising from 1.38 for stage III to 2.70 for stage V. Thus, understanding the interaction between these conditions is crucial for risk assessment in surgical outcomes.

Journal Article by Zamani N, Sharath SE and Kougias P in Am J Surg

Published by Elsevier Inc.

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EUS-CDS reduces major complications in pancreatic surgery.

A study analyzing 937 patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy after biliary drainage revealed significant findings regarding endoscopic ultrasound-guided choledochoduodenostomy (EUS-CDS) versus conventional techniques. Major postoperative complications were lower in the EUS-CDS group (19%) compared to the ERCP group (33%). The overall complication rates were similar across methods. Furthermore, surgeons indicated that EUS-CDS rarely complicated surgical procedures, with most reporting minimal impact on complexity. These results suggest EUS-CDS promotes safer outcomes for patients.

Journal Article by Fritzsche JA, de Jong MJP (…) Voermans RP et 22 al. in Endoscopy

The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Histotripsy shows promising safety for treating liver tumors

A real-world safety analysis of histotripsy in 230 liver tumor patients revealed a low complication rate of 5.2%, with the majority classified as minor. Complications greater than grade II were rare, occurring in just 1.3% of cases. This novel non-invasive ultrasound technology, approved by the FDA, demonstrates a favorable safety profile in comparison to existing liver-directed therapies. These findings mark a significant step forward in evaluating this approach for liver tumor treatment.

Journal Article by Wehrle CJ, Burns K (…) Kwon CD et 18 al. in J Gastrointest Surg

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Outperforms Sleeve Gastrectomy in Long-Term Outcomes

After a decade of follow-up in the SM-BOSS trial, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) demonstrated superior efficacy in achieving percentage excess body mass index loss compared to sleeve gastrectomy (SG), with means of 65.9% and 56.1% respectively. Though total weight loss showed no significant difference, patients undergoing SG faced higher conversion rates due to inadequate weight loss and increased gastroesophageal reflux incidences. These findings highlight the long-term advantages of RYGB for severe obesity treatment.

Journal Article by Kraljevic M, Süsstrunk J (…) Peterli R et 7 al. in JAMA Surg

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