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Background Robot-assisted surgery is being increasingly adopted in treating colorectal cancer, and the transition from laparoscopic surgery to robot-assisted surgery is a trend. The evidence of the benefits of robot-assisted surgery is sparse. However, findings are associated with improved patient-related outcomes and overall morbidity rates compared to laparoscopic surgery. This induction is unclear, considering both surgical modalities are characterized as minimally invasive. This study aims to evaluate the systemic and peritoneal inflammatory stress response induced by robot-assisted surgery compared with laparoscopic surgery for elective colon cancer resections in a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial. Methods This study is a single-centre randomized controlled superiority trial with 50 colon cancer participants. The primary endpoint is the level of systemic inflammatory response expressed as serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels between postoperative days one and three. Secondary endpoints include (i) levels of systemic inflammation in serum expressed by a panel of inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines measured during the first three postoperative days, (ii) postoperative surgical and medical complications (30 days) according to Clavien-Dindo classification and Comprehensive Complication Index, (iii) intraoperative blood loss, (iv) conversion rate to open surgery, (v) length of surgery, (vi) operative time, (vii) the number of harvested lymph nodes, and (viii) length of hospital stay. The exploratory endpoints are (i) levels of peritoneal inflammatory response in peritoneal fluid expressed by inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines between postoperative day one and three, (ii) patient-reported health-related quality of recovery-15 (QoR-15), (iii) 30 days mortality rate, (iv) heart rate variability and (v) gene transcript (mRNA) analysis. Discussion To our knowledge, this is the first clinical randomized controlled trial to clarify the inflammatory stress response induced by robot-assisted or laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer resections. Trial registration This trial is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04687384) on December, 29, 2020, Regional committee on health research ethics, Region of Southern Denmark (N75709) and Data Protection Agency, Hospital Sønderjylland, University Hospital of Southern Denmark (N20/46179).

Aim Robotic-assisted ventral hernia repair (rVHR) has become an attractive alternative to current laparoscopic and open procedures. The present study aims to determine short-and long-term complications following rVHR Material and Methods Patients undergoing rVHR from 01/01 2017 until 21/06 2020 were identified from the electronic medical record system. The medical case notes were reviewed and a telephone interview conducted to determine short and long-term complications. Patients with symptoms related to the repair were examined by a specialist in hernia surgery. US or CT scan was performed to determine the presence of absence of complications Results 85 patients were included. Mean age was 57.8 years, 54 were males (63.5%). Mean ASA-score was 2.12 and BMI was 30.2 kg/m2. 11 patients (13%) had diabetes, 22 (26%) were active smokers, 37 (44%) had hypertension and 7 (8%) were taking anti-coagulants. The mean hernial defect was 16.1 cm2 and the mesh size was 205.4 cm2. Mean length of stay was 0.5 days and the follow-up time was 94 weeks. Hematoma was encountered in 10 (11.8%) patients. 8 (9.4%) reported of seroma and 1 (1.2%) of a superficial wound infection complicated by skin necrosis. 5 patients (5.9%) reported of chronic pain. 2 patients (2.3%) developed recurrence. Conclusions The study demonstrates that rVHR is feasible and associated with few complications and a very low recurrence rate. Patients who had pain before surgery were likely to have less pain following the procedure. Due to the short hospital stay the procedure is suitable as an outpatient procedure.

Background Robot-assisted surgery is increasingly implemented for the resection of colorectal cancer, although the scientific evidence for adopting this technique is still limited. This study’s main objective was to compare short-term complication rates, oncological outcomes, and the inflammatory stress response after colorectal resection for cancer performed laparoscopic or robot-assisted. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study comparing the robot-assisted approach to laparoscopic surgery for elective malignant colorectal neoplasm. Certified colorectal and da Vinci ® robotic surgeons performed resections at a Danish tertiary colorectal high volume center from May 2017 to March 2019. We analyzed the two surgical groups using uni- and multivariate regression analyses to detect differences in intra- and postoperative clinical outcomes and the inflammatory stress response. Results Two hundred and ninety-eight patients were enrolled in the study. Significant differences favoring robot-assisted surgery was demonstrated for; length of hospital stay (4 days, interquartile range (4, 5) versus 5 days, interquartile range (4–7), p < 0.001), and intraoperative blood loss (50 mL, interquartile range (20–100) versus 100 mL, interquartile range (50–150), p < 0.001) compared to laparoscopic surgery. The inflammatory stress response was significantly higher after laparoscopic compared to robot-assisted surgery reflected by an increase in C-reactive protein concentration (exponentiated coefficient = 1.23, 95% confidence interval (1.06–1.46), p = 0.008). No differences between the two groups were found concerning mortality, microradical resection rate, conversion to open surgery, and surgical or medical short-term complication rates. Conclusion Robot-assisted surgery is feasible and can be safely implemented for colorectal resections. The robot-assisted approach, when compared to laparoscopic surgery, was associated with improved intra- and postoperative outcomes. Extensive prospective studies are needed to determine the short- and long-term outcomes of robotic surgery for colorectal cancer.

Objective: The aim was to clarify the influence of biopsy technique and the effects of temporal delay between sampling and freezing on tissue contents of labile metabolites. Methods: Cardiac and skeletal muscle concentrations of adenine nucleotides, phosphocreatine, creatine, and glycogen in pigs were determined in endomyocardial and transmural myocardial biopsies and in skeletal muscle biopsies obtained with either endomyocardial bioptome or Tru-cut needle. The influence of the temporal delay between biopsy sampling and freezing was evaluated by keeping the biopsies at room temperature for varying intervals up to 300 s before freezing. Results: Skeletal muscle showed higher concentrations of creatine compounds and lower contents of ADP and AMP than cardiac muscle, whereas ATP, total adenine nucleotide pool, and glycogen were similar. Lower phosphocreatine contents were found both in endomyocardial biopsies and in skeletal muscle biopsies obtained with bioptome compared to transmural myocardial biopsies and skeletal muscle biopsies obtained with Tru-cut needle, respectively. Other metabolites were unaffected by the biopsy technique. With extended delays between biopsy sampling and freezing, an increase in skeletal muscle phosphocreatine averaging 26% after 5 min was observed. In the heart, a decrease in glycogen content averaging 42% after 5 min was found. These changes were not related to the biopsy procedure and were not observed within the period usually required to freeze biopsies in experimental as well as clinical settings. Conclusions: There are essential metabolic differences between cardiac and skeletal muscle. Low endomyocardial phosphocreatine levels are influenced by the biopsy technique, compromising the use of endomyocardial biopsies for establishing myocardial phosphocreatine content. Reliable measurements of adenine nucleotides and glycogen can be obtained with endomyocardial biopsies. Cardiovascular Research 1994; 28 :524-527

The thrombotic response to percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was investigated in 31 patients treated for 1-10 cm femoropopliteal (n = 28) and tibial (n = 3) artery obstructions by measurement of cross-linked fibrin degradation products (XL-FDP) in peripheral blood samples drawn before and 30 min after PTA. XL-FDP increased from 400 +/- 147 ng/ml to 700 +/- 445 ng/ml (median +/- S.E., p = 0.0005). XL-FDP rose from 320 +/- 110 ng/ml to 540 +/- 102 ng/ml in 23 patients, whose ankle/brachial systolic blood pressure index (ABI) increased0.15 after PTA, whereas XL-FDP increased from 850 +/- 450 ng/ml to 2620 +/- 1472 ng/ml in eight patients, who failed to increase ABI in spite of preceding recanalisation. XL-FDP increased by more than 1000 ng/ml in 1/23 (4.3%) patients with uncomplicated PTA and in 6/8 (75%) patients with haemodynamic failure (p = 0.0005). Using a XL-FDP increase of 1000 ng/ml as cut-off, estimates of positive and negative predictive values (95% confidence limits) for early failure of PTA were 85.7% (42.1-99.6%) and 91.7% (73.0-99.0%), respectively. We conclude from this pilot study that femorotibial PTA produces a hypercoagulable state which may result in failure of early patency due to rethrombosis. We suggest for the first time XL-FDP as a marker of early rethrombosis in PTA, and report a sequential XL-FDP assay which may be useful for identification of high-risk patients requiring thrombolytic therapy after PTA for maintenance of early vascular patency.

Increased glutamate utilization is a part of the metabolic adaptation to oxygen deprivation by the heart. The effect of low-dose L-glutamate (2 mmol/L) during continuous reperfusion after aortic unclamping on postcardioplegic recovery was studied in pig hearts similar in size, anatomy, and function to the human adult heart. After cold crystalloid cardioplegic arrest (CCC) with Bretschneider solution no 3, hearts were excised from pigs weighing 70-80 kgs (heart weight, average +/- SEM: 308 +/- 4 grams), and reperfused in an isolated blood-perfused heart model for 120 minutes. Three groups of hearts were compared. One group of hearts was subjected to 30 minutes of CCC only (30 min group; n = 9), another group of hearts to 90 minutes of CCC and storage (Control group: n = 16), and a third group to 90 minutes of CCC and storage, but with L-glutamate added to the blood reperfusate (2 mmol/L) (Glutamate group: n = 18). In the Control group 14 of 16 hearts (88%) needed electrical defibrillation after start of reperfusion, significantly more (p < 0.05) than the 8 of 18 (44%) in the Glutamate group; the difference between the 30-min (2 of 9 [22%]) and the Glutamate group was not significant (p = 0.48). Developed left-ventricular pressure (DLVP) and positive dP/dtmax (+dP/dtmax) was significantly higher in the Glutamate group than in the Control group during early reperfusion (DLVP: p < 0.05: +dP/dtmax: p < 0.01) and the entire reperfusion (DLVP and +dP/dtmax: p < 0.05), while reperfusion responses in the Glutamate and 30-min groups were not significantly different. Furthermore, myocardial oxygen uptake was significantly higher in the Glutamate group than in the Control group (p < 0.001), but not higher than that in the 30-min group. Decreased lactate release was found in the Glutamate group compared to the Control group during early reperfusion (p < 0.01), and the entire reperfusion (p < 0.001). No differences were found between the Control and Glutamate groups in alanine exchange. Thus, L-glutamate has a beneficial effect in pig hearts on both functional and metabolic recovery after cold crystalloid cardioplegia and storage when present in a concentration even as low as 2 mmol/L during continuous reperfusion after aortic unclamping. A possible mechanism is a glutamate-induced stimulation of the malate-aspartate shuttle leading to increased intramyocardial lactate utilization.

Perforation is a known but rare complication to Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES). Most of the perforations are located in the periampullary area due to ES. This report presents an unusual perforation in the third part of the duodenum following ES. The patient an eigthy-sixt-year-old man underwent ERCP with ES. The patient had Magnetic Resonance Cholangio-pancreatography (MRCP) and Computerized Tomography (CT) verified cholelithiasis and intra- and extrahepatic cholestasis. The perforation was not found under the ERCP procedure but was clinically revealed when the patient developed pneumoscrotum after the procedure. A CT-scan with oral contrast later confirmed the duodenal perforation.

Objective: The aim was to establish a reliable reference system for biochemical measurements in endomyocardial biopsies. Methods: Myocardial tissue samples were obtained from pigs before and after cardioplegic arrest and reperfusion. Non-collagen protein content was evaluated as a non-specific reference system and compared with total creatine content representing a specific myocardial reference system. The influence of base strength, extraction temperature, and extraction time on protein yields was determined in tissue precipitates redissolved in NaOH. Interference from protein of collagenous origin was excluded by hydroxyproline determinations. Variability of myocardial ATP content in relation to non-collagen protein and total creatine was compared in endomyocardial biopsies taken before and after cardioplegic arrest and reperfusion. Results: The two methods showed comparable analytical precision. Apart from an interference in 1.0 mol·litre−1 NaOH for extended extraction periods at high temperatures, myocardial protein yields increased with increasing base strength, extraction temperature, and extraction time. During cardioplegic arrest and reperfusion heart weight increased due to oedema. Simultaneously, myocardial non-collagen protein content decreased. No change in total creatine was found during cardioplegic arrest but there was a significant loss of creatine after reperfusion. Comparison of variability in myocardial ATP content with non-collagen protein or total creatine as reference systems revealed no difference. Conclusions: Determination of non-collagen protein can be optimised with standardised conditions for protein extraction in tissue precipitates. Employment of total creatine as a reference system does not reduce variability of myocardial metabolite determinations in endomyocardial biopsies compared with non-collagen protein. Loss of myocardial creatine may in itself provide additional information about myocardial injury but this makes it unsuitable as a reference system for measuring metabolic changes during reperfusion. Multiple biopsies seem necessary for estimation of myocardial energy stores. Cardiovascular Research 1993; 27 : 2113-2117

Metabolic adaptation of the ischemic human heart includes release of lactate, augmented uptake of glucose and glutamate, together with increased release of citrate and alanine. In the present study exchanges of these metabolites were examined in relation to left ventricular function (LVF) in pig hearts during reperfusion after hypothermic cardioplegic-induced global ischemia and storage. Three groups of pig hearts were studied. Group I consisted of 11 hearts subjected to 9 minutes of warm ischemia prior to cold chemical cardioplegia with Bretschneider's cardioplegic solution (CCC), and hypothermic storage (HS), for a total of 180 minutes. Groups II and III, 8 hearts in each, were subjected to 90 and 180 minutes of CCC and HS, without precardioplegic warm ischemia. All hearts were reperfused in an isolated blood-perfused Langendorff model. Myocardial oxygen uptake and LVF were two-fold depressed in Group I compared to Groups II and III during the first 25 minutes of reperfusion. An increased uptake of glucose (p < 0.05) and augmented release of lactate (p < 0.01) and citrate (p < 0.001) were found during the reperfusion period in the hearts subjected to precardioplegic warm ischemia, indicating an increased total ischemic burden compared to Groups II and III. No significant changes in LVF or myocardial metabolism were noted between Groups II and III during reperfusion. In all three heart groups a substantial release or loss of glutamate was found at start of reperfusion, although in the preischemic state prior to cardioplegia pig hearts were found to extract glutamate from the circulation to an extent similar to that of the human heart.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)