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Background: Stoma creation is standard in general surgery, yet complication rates remain high., Purpose: This study investigated the incidence and risk factors for early postoperative stoma complications in elective vs emergency surgery., Methods: All patients who underwent stoma creation between June 2015 and November 2020 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the surgery type: elective vs emergency., Results: A total of 375 patients were included in this study. Two hundred fifty-three patients (67.5%) underwent elective stoma creation, while 122 (32.5%) underwent stoma creation during an emergency surgery. In the emergency group, white blood cell, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine levels were statistically significantly higher (P = .001, .001, and .002, respectively). Albumin levels were statistically significantly lower in the emergency group (P = .001). The mean Emergency Surgery Score was 5.17 ± 2.73 in the emergency group compared to 4.4 ± 2.44 in the elective group (P = .006). Colorectal cancer was the most common cause of stoma creation in both groups. In terms of stoma creation, colostomy was statistically significantly more common in the emergency group (59%, P = .001), compared to ileostomy in the elective group (58.9%, P = .001). Complications were observed in 135 of all patients (36%). Necrosis was statistically significantly more common in emergency cases (9.9%, P < .001)., Conclusion: Surgeons should strive to optimize the patient's condition prior to the operation and, if possible, perform stoma marking or involve a stoma nurse in the operating room to select the most suitable site. In high-risk patients, where complications are more likely, the use of a stoma should be minimized and definitive management should always be pursued if feasible.

Interventional radiology (IR) is a rapidly growing specialty and is increasingly developing new procedures and minimally invasive interventions; thus, it might be challenging for non-specialists to keep up with all the new findings of IR. In this study, we tried to determine the level of awareness of family physicians and general practitioners about IR in the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia. A self-completed online questionnaire was distributed among family physicians in the Qassim Region, with a total of 197 respondents. We found that the overall awareness level of family physicians and general practitioners about IR in the Qassim Region was low, with only 56 (28.4%) having an overall good knowledge level regarding IR, while 141 (74.6%) had poor knowledge. A total of 85 (43.1%) of the study participants reported that they would greatly benefit from more education about IR. The results demonstrate that there is a significant knowledge gap among family and general physicians about IR. Therefore, we suggest that there needs to be more education about IR and its developing procedures to promote collaboration among family medicine physicians, general physicians, and interventional radiologists., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Algharras et al.)