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Assessing Trauma Care Capacity in Burkina Faso

A new tool evaluates trauma care in low-resource conflict settings, crucial for improving surgical outcomes.

  • Only 30.6% of facilities can perform damage control laparotomy, with a stark contrast between regions (70%) and districts (15.4%).
  • While 75% have blood banks, just 44.4% access tranexamic acid, and 33.3% have essential hemostatic supplies.

This data highlights urgent needs in equipment, training, and infrastructure to enhance trauma care, potentially saving lives in these settings.

  • Less than half can perform essential war surgery procedures like chest tube placement and amputations.

Journal Article by Nacanabo YAR, Dahourou DL (…) Wild HBH et 7 al. in World J Surg

© 2025 International Society of Surgery/Société Internationale de Chirurgie (ISS/SIC).

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New Model Reveals Therapeutic Benefits of Chanling Gao in Liver Metastasis

Chanling Gao shows promise in managing liver metastasis from colorectal cancer, a major mortality factor in CRC, opening doors for enhanced treatment strategies.

  • A new AI-driven model predicts prognosis using 11 key genes, improving survival prediction over existing methods.
  • Patients with low-risk scores displayed a “hot tumor” phenotype, indicating better responses to immunotherapy; high-risk patients showed the opposite.

This model suggests tailored treatment plans based on risk assessment could significantly impact surgical interventions and patient outcomes.

  • Targeting the tp53/cdk1/ccnb1 pathway may further enhance therapeutic strategies for CRC-related liver metastasis.

Journal Article by Yang B, Huang W (…) Tang D et 5 al. in Int J Surg

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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Excessive Testing in Elective Surgery: Major Savings Potential

Preoperative testing often exceeds guidelines, leading to unnecessary costs and patient burden.

  • 89% of 501 patients underwent at least one unnecessary test, primarily full blood counts and chest X-rays.
  • Potential cost savings of ZAR 857,987 annually if NICE guidelines were followed.

This highlights a critical opportunity for surgeons to reassess preoperative testing protocols and reduce waste.

  • Over-testing was notably higher in general surgery, ASA 2 patients, and those over 35 years old.

Journal Article by Wronski SV and Venter S in S Afr Med J

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Trauma Scoring Systems Help Predict Transfusion Needs and Mortality

Rapid assessment tools can enhance early trauma management and improve patient outcomes.

  • Massive transfusion was needed in 19.7% of trauma patients, primarily due to firearm injuries.
  • The shock index showed the best predictive accuracy for transfusion needs (AUC=0.911).
  • The trauma-related injury severity score (TRISS) was the most effective for predicting in-hospital mortality (AUC=0.975).

These findings underscore the importance of using validated scoring systems to guide therapeutic decisions in trauma surgery.

Journal Article by Türkoğlu B, Karakaş B (…) Ünlü A et 5 al. in Ulus Travma Acil Cerrahi Derg

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Prunes cut low anterior resection syndrome risk in rectal cancer patients

Prune consumption significantly lowers the risk of low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) after surgery.

  • LARS incidence dropped from 74.6% to 27.3% with daily prune intake (p<0.001).
  • Major LARS occurrence decreased from 61.9% to 18.2% (p<0.001).

Consider recommending prunes to enhance recovery and improve patient quality of life post-surgery.

  • Patients consuming prunes reported fewer symptoms like constipation and sleep disturbances.

Journal Article by Pyo DH, Shin JK (…) Cho YB et 5 al. in Ann Coloproctol

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High Trauma Volume Hospitals Cut Delays in Blunt Intestinal Injuries

Patients with blunt intestinal injuries benefit from surgery in high-volume trauma centers, reducing delays and complications.

  • Patients in low-volume hospitals had an average surgery wait of 18 hours, compared to 15 hours in high-volume centers (p<0.001).
  • High-volume facilities saw a 42% lower risk of post-injury sepsis (aOR 0.58).

Surgeons should prioritize referral to high-volume centers to enhance patient outcomes in these complex cases.

  • Similar trends were noted with high blunt trauma and overall trauma volumes linked to reduced delays in surgery.

Journal Article by Arda Y, Panossian VS (…) Kaafarani HMA et 8 al. in Ann Surg

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

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Optimizing Fistula Prevention in Pancreatoduodenectomy

Identifying effective strategies for preventing postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) can significantly impact patient outcomes after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD).

  • Overall POPF rate was 15.1%; drains alone showed no association with POPF.
  • For moderate fistula risk score patients, drains alone reduced POPF from 19.8% to 13.1%.
  • High-risk patients benefited most from a drain combined with a stent, lowering POPF from 38.5% to 23.7%.

Emphasizing these optimal strategies could cut fistula rates by a third, and up to half when early drain removal is applied.

Journal Article by Judish MM and Vollmer CM in Ann Surg

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

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New tool predicts esophageal stricture risk after ESD

Surgeons can now better predict the risk of esophageal stricture following extensive endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early esophageal cancer.

  • A nomogram developed from a study of 1,043 patients categorizes stricture risk as low (2.3%), intermediate (48.8%), or high (75%).
  • In a matched cohort of 44 patients, a combination of glucocorticoids and functional exercise reduced stricture rates to 31.8% versus 63.6% with glucocorticoids alone (p=0.035).

Consider using the nomogram for personalized patient management and to implement glucocorticoids with exercise for high-risk individuals.

Journal Article by Tian S, Shi L and Jiang J in Surg Endosc

© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

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Increase in Laparoscopic Surgery for Small Bowel Obstruction

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for adhesive small bowel obstruction (SBO) has surged and leads to better outcomes than open surgery.

  • MIS usage rose from 27% to 45% from 2011 to 2021.
  • Complications dropped significantly with MIS (15.2% vs. 27.7% for open, p < 0.001).
  • Patients had shorter hospital stays with MIS (4 days vs. 8 days, p < 0.001).

Adoption of MIS is supported by these outcomes, but careful patient selection based on age and comorbidities is essential for optimal results.

Journal Article by La Riva A, Perez-Soto RH (…) Romero-Velez G et 8 al. in Surg Endosc

© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

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Effective Tourniquet Management Could Save Limbs

Prolonged tourniquet use in combat can lead to serious complications like limb loss; reassessment is crucial.

  • Current practices often overlook timely reassessment, increasing risk of avoidable morbidity.
  • Data shows that tourniquet conversion and optimization are rarely implemented in the field.

Emphasizing these skills as essential for all personnel can drastically improve patient outcomes.

  • Recommendations include updating training protocols to ensure reassessment occurs within 2 hours of application.

Editorial by Beerbaum M, White J and Henderson J in J Spec Oper Med

2025.

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