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The authors present a case of postoperative enterogastric intussusception after previous Billroth II-gastrectomy, associated with a Braun's W-anastomosis of the efferent small bowel loop. Loss of viability of the incarcerated jejunal loop required segmental small bowel resection. Total recovery was obtained. Literature is reviewed concerning diagnosis and treatment of adult intestinal intussusception.

34 patients with gastric carcinoma, treated by total gastrectomy, had a reconstruction procedure, consisting of a pouch as proposed by Lygidakis or as a variant of the procedure: the beta-modification. In 31 patients a total gastrectomy was performed for histologically proven gastric adenocarcinoma. Two patients presented with a gastric lymphoma and one with a gastric leiomyosarcoma. Operative mortality was 8.8%. Two patients (5.8%) developed leakage of the oesophago-enteral anastomosis and subsequently died from sepsis, while a third patient died from a postoperative pneumonia. Early complications occurred in 4 patients and consisted of dysphagia, due to stenosis of the oesophago-enteric anastomosis. All 4 patients (12.9%) were treated with endoscopic dilatation and were cured of their dysphagia. One patient developed a late peptic ulcer at the pouch anastomosis and needed a reintervention. Nine patients died from extension of their primary disease within the first postoperative year. The 22 surviving patients are all without symptoms and regained their pre-illness weight. In conclusion, the proposed technique of pouch reconstruction has an acceptable operative mortality and morbidity comparable to or even better than in previously described methods. The long term functional results are better and more patients gain weight.

The potential beneficial effect of postoperative peripheral parenteral nutrition (PPN) was assessed in ten patients undergoing colorectal surgery and compared with the conventional use of intravenous fluids in ten controls. Clinical and biological parameters were checked. A significant improvement in the nitrogen-balance, which was not positive during the first postoperative days was observed. All other daily measured parameters (lipid metabolism, electrolytes, glucose levels and plasma pH) remained within normal ranges. In our opinion, short-term postoperative PPN may lessen protein losses and is indicated in those patients who may have a prolonged paralytic ileus without risking complications of central venous access. However, peripheral solutions may cause phlebitis and PPN is by no means an alternative to central TPN.

The indications for total parenteral nutrition are compared with those for enteral alimentation. The indications for parenteral nutrition (nutrition support and hyperalimentation) in gastro-intestinal surgery, traumatology and burn care are discussed. Prophylactic TPN, supplemental TPN and therapeutic TPN are covered as well as their merit in the treatment of surgical complications.

The use of enteral feeding systems in patients with enterocutaneous fistulae is reviewed. The following problems are discussed: methods of administration, effects of enteral nutrition on patients with a gastro-intestinal fistula, clinical results (nutritional schemes, timing of nutritional support and caloric input). It is concluded that an enteral feeding system is the first choice in cases of distal GIT-fistulae, and in low-output fistulae. In other cases, it may be used in combination with TPN. The need for fistula-registration is thought to be of importance in view of prospective studies in this field.

The frequency of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) determined by the 125I-fibrinogen test and confirmed by phlebographic studies, is 20 to 30 % in high-risk patients over the age of forty undergoing major surgery. Comparison of this figure with the incidence of clinically detected thrombosis (5 to 10 %) shows that physical signs are unreliable in the detection of this disease. The ultimate fate of these thrombi is unknown. The majority will probably disappear spontaneously; some will be responsible for the development of a "post-phlebitic syndrome" in the extremities and some will propagate and may produce a fatal pulmonary embolus. Besides the currently used physical methods of prophylaxis, some new pharmalogical techniques for the prevention of postoperative deep-vein thrombosis have been tested and advocated in neighbouring countries. Oral anticoagulants have been used routinely for many years by most Dutch surgeons but have never become very popular in other countries. They need extensive laboratory control and, in spite of this, up to 20 % overdosage bleedings have been recorded. As both the administration of low-dose subcutaneous heparin and IV dextran have been reported to provide effective prophylaxis against deep venous thrombosis, we decided to study and compare their efficacy in a randomized clinical trial in order to assess their practical value in daily surgical practice. 119 adult patients undergoing abdominal surgery have been investigated. They have been devided at random in three groups : a dextran 40 group (n=39), a heparin group (n=39) and a control group (n=41 patients). DVT was diagnosed by the fibrinogen uptake test in 21,9 % patients in the control group in 12,8 % patients in the dextran group, and in 10,2 % patients in the heparin group. For the highrisk patients over the age of 70, the administration of low dose SC heparin, as well as the administration of IV low molecular weight dextran significantly reduced the incidence of postoperative DVT in the lower extremities (p less than 0.05). The dextran 40 and heparin groups were not significantly different. The techniques are simple and do not need laboratory control. No deleterious side effects have been noted. A large-scale multicentre international, clinical trial (4121 patients) recently showed that low-dose heparin prophylaxis not only lowered the incidence of postoperative deep-vein trombosis without severely augmenting the risk of bleeding, but also significantly reduced the frequency of fatal pulmonary embolism in the postoperative period. It is suggested that the administration of low-dose subcutaneous heparin should become a routine prophylactic measure in daily surgical practice.

This is the case of a patient who underwent splenectomy after traumatic rupture of the spleen. After the operation, while on parenteral feeding, the patient presented with fever and septicemia during approximately 2 months; no origin to this could be found. Two months after the accident the patient died of perforation of a subdiaphragmatic abscess into the stomach and the lung. The authors discuss the possibilities of coming to an earlier diagnosis. They recognize the necessity of a more aggressive attitude to establish the diagnosis.

The use of muscle transpositions following the technique of Ger is discussed in fifteen cases where important soft tissue defects in the leg, some of them combined with complicated fractures, made spontaneous healing or coverage with split skin grafts impossible.