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Despite existing evidence-based practice guidelines for the management of biliary acute pancreatitis (AP), the clinical compliance with recommendations is overall poor. Studies in this field have identified significant discrepancies between evidence-based recommendations and daily clinical practice. The most commonly reported gaps between clinical practice and AP guidelines include the indications for CT scan, need and timing of artificial nutritional support, indications for antibiotics, and surgical/endoscopic management of biliary AP. The MANCTRA-1 (coMpliAnce with evideNce-based cliniCal guidelines in the managemenT of acute biliaRy pancreAtitis) study is aiming to identify the areas for quality improvement that will require new implementation strategies. The study primary objective is to evaluate which items of the current AP guidelines are commonly disregarded and if they correlate with negative clinical outcomes according to the different clinical presentations of the disease. We attempt to summarize the main areas of sub-optimal care due to the lack of compliance with current guidelines to provide the basis for introducing a number of bundles in AP patients’ management to be implemented during the next years. The MANCTRA-1 study is an international multicenter, retrospective cohort study with the purpose to assess the outcomes of patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of biliary AP and the compliance of surgeons worldwide to the most up-to-dated international guidelines on biliary AP. ClinicalTrials.Gov ID Number: NCT04747990, Date: February 23, 2021. Protocol Version V2.2. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13304-021-01118-z.

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychological well-being (PWB) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in workers of a multinational company. Methods: Employees (aged ≥ 18 years) were recruited from Latin American, North American, New Zealand and European sites of a multinational company operative during all the pandemic period. The self-reported Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWBI) was employed to assess the global PWB and the effects on 6 sub-domains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health and vitality. The influencing role of age, gender, geographical location, COVID-19 epidemiology, and restrictive measures adopted to control the pandemic was explored. Results: A total of 1335 workers completed the survey. The aggregate median PWB global score was in a positive range, with significantly better outcomes detected in the Mexican and Colombian Latin American sites compared to the other worldwide countries (p

Fibromyalgia is a widespread condition which is currently underdiagnosed, therefore we conceived this study in order to assess whether a diagnostic suspicion may be assumed during widespread screening procedures, so that patients for which a reasonable diagnostic suspicion exist may be redirected towards rheumatologic evaluation. We analyzed a sample of 1060 patients, all of whom were female and undergoing standard breast cancer screening procedures, and proceeded to evaluate the level of pain they endured during mammographic exam. We also acquired a range of other information which we related to the level of pain endured, we suggested a rheumatologic examination for those patients who endured the highest level of pain and then we evaluated how many patients in this subgroup were actually diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Out of the 1060 patients who participated to our study, 139 presented level 4 pain intensity, One patient did not go for rheumatologic examination, the remaining 138 underwent rheumatologic evaluation, and 50 (36%, 28–44, 95% CI) were diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Our study shows that assessing the level of pain endured by patients during standard widespread screening procedures may be an effective asset in deciding whether or not to suggest specialist rheumatologic evaluation for fibromyalgia.

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants due to primary surfactant deficiency. Surfactant replacement has greatly improved the short and long term prognosis of RDS but its administration criteria remain uncertain. Lung ultrasound has been recently shown as a non-invasive, repeatable, bedside tool to estimate parenchymal aeration using a semiquantitative score (LUS). The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the accuracy of LUS, assessed on the first day of life, to predict surfactant replacement. Methods will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines and the protocol has been registered in PROSPERO database (registration number: CRD42021247888). Primary outcome: in a population of preterm infants, LUS will be compared in neonates who received surfactant replacement versus those who did not. Secondary outcome will be the accuracy of lung ultrasound score to predict the need for ≥ 2 doses of surfactant.

BackgroundThree or four cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy is the standard neoadjuvant treatment prior to cystectomy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Although NCCN guidelines recommend 4 cycles of cisplatin-gemcitabine, three cycles are also commonly administered in clinical practice. In this multicenter retrospective study, we assessed a large and homogenous cohort of patients with urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) treated with three or four cycles of neoadjuvant cisplatin-gemcitabine followed by radical cystectomy, in order to explore whether three vs. four cycles were associated with different outcomes.MethodsPatients with histologically confirmed muscle-invasive UBC included in this retrospective study had to be treated with either 3 (cohort A) or 4 (cohort B) cycles of cisplatin-gemcitabine as neoadjuvant therapy before undergoing radical cystectomy with lymphadenectomy. Outcomes including pathologic downstaging to non-muscle invasive disease, pathologic complete response (defined as absence of disease -ypT0), overall- and cancer-specific- survival as well as time to recurrence were compared between cohorts A vs. B.ResultsA total of 219 patients treated at 14 different high-volume Institutions were included in this retrospective study. Patients who received 3 (cohort A) vs. 4 (cohort B) cycles of neoadjuvant cisplatin-gemcitabine were 160 (73,1%) vs. 59 (26,9%).At univariate analysis, the number of neoadjuvant cycles was not associated with either pathologic complete response, pathologic downstaging, time to recurrence, cancer specific, and overall survival. Of note, patients in cohort B vs. A showed a worse non-cancer specific overall survival at univariate analysis (HR= 2.53; 95 CI= 1.05 - 6.10; p=0.046), although this finding was not confirmed at multivariate analysis.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that 3 cycles of cisplatin-gemcitabine may be equally effective, with less long-term toxicity, compared to 4 cycles in the neoadjuvant setting.

Purpose: The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to compare antibiotic therapy and appendectomy as treatment for patients with uncomplicated appendicitis confirmed by ultrasound and/or computed tomography. Methods: The study was conducted from January 2017 to January 2018. Data regarding all patients discharged from the participating centers with a diagnosis of uncomplicated appendicitis were collected prospectively. Results: Of the 318 patients enrolled in the study, 27.4% underwent antibiotic-first therapy, and 72.6% underwent appendectomy. The matched group was composed of 87 patients in both study arms. Of the 87 patients available of 1-year follow-up in the antibiotic-first group, 64 (73.6%) did not require appendectomy. The complication-free treatment success in the antibiotic-first group was 64.4%. A statistically significant higher complication-free treatment success was found in the appendectomy group: 81.8% in the pre-matching sample and 83.9% in the post-matching sample. Patients in the antibiotic-first group reported lower VAS scores compared to those treated with an appendectomy, both at discharge (2.0 ± 1.7 vs 3.6 ± 2.3) and at 30-day follow-up (0.3 ± 0.6 vs 2.1 ± 1.7). The mean of the days of absence from work was higher in the appendectomy group (β 0.63; 95% CI 0.08-1.18). Conclusion: Although laparoscopic appendectomy remains the gold standard of treatment for uncomplicated appendicitis, conservative treatment with antibiotics is a safe option in most cases. Approximately 65% of patients treated with antibiotics are symptom-free at 1 year, without increased risk of adverse events should symptoms recur, and better outcomes in terms of less pain and shorter period of absence from work compared to patients undergoing an appendectomy. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT03080103.

Background Calgranulin-C (S100A12) is a new faecal marker of inflammation that is potentially more specific for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) than calprotectin, since it is only released by activated granulocytes. In recent years it has been confirmed that the S100A12 has comparable sensitivity and specificity to fecal calprotectin (FC) in adult patients with IBD. The aim of our study was to evaluate concentration of faecal S100A12 and calprotectin (FC) to see which of the two tests best correlated to inflammation in IBD children. Methods Between September 2019 and March 2020, we prospectively enrolled all IBD pediatric patients, both Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). Blood and faecal samples were collected in order to evaluate serological markers of inflammation, faecal S100A12A and FC. S100A12 and FC were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results One hundred seventeen consecutive children, 46 (39%) with CD and 71 (61%) with UC were enrolled in the study. The mean age was 14.6 years (range:5–18), 44% female. Twenty three children were in clinical relapse (20%). No significant differences in S100 A12A levels were found between the UC and the CD groups (mean ±ds 25 ±32mcg/ml vs 34 ±27 mcg/ml respectively, p=0.22).In the UC group we found a statistically significant correlation of both calprotectin and S100A12 with CRP (r=0.253, p=0.044 and r=0.252, p=0.040, respectively). In CD group we found that both calprotectin and S100A12 correlated with hemoglobin (r= -0.343, p=0,024; r=-0.401, p 0.008 respectively), hematocrit (r=-0.361, p=0,046; r=-0.434, p=0.015, respectively), fibrinogen (r=0.499, p< 0,001; r=0.325, p =0.038, respectively), and white blood cells count (r=0.309, p=0.044; r=0.394, p=0.021, respectively). Moreover, in CD group, FC correlated with CRP (r=0.431, p=0.004) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.430, p=0.004). Finally, S100A12 correlated with platelet count both in CD and UC group (r=0.351, p=0.021and r=0.254, p=0.038, respectively) IBD children in clinical relapse had higher values ​​of S100A12 and FC than patients in remission (66±47 mcg/ml vs 43±42 mcg/ml, p=0.05 and 260±192 mg/Kg vs 166±169 mg/Kg, p=0.046, respectively) Conclusion Our preliminary data show that both faecal S100A12 and FC are useful non-invasive biomarkers which reflect inflammatory activity of IBD children. Our future aim is to evaluate the correlation of S100A12 and endoscopic finding in order to further clarify its role in the diagnosis and the management of pediatric IBD.

Background Multiple pathways link Vitamin D status with the risk of development and the clinical course of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). However, limited studies have been conducted on the relationship between vitamin D and disease activity in IBD, especially in pediatric population and the results have been inconsistent. Moreover Vitamin D metabolites may provide a more precise assessment of sufficiency and mineral metabolism than total 25-hydroxyvitamin-D (25(OH)D). The aim of our study was to evaluate the concentrations of total25(OH)D, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25(OH)2D) and calcitriol (1,25-(OH)2D) to correlate these values with the disease activity markers. Methods We prospectively enrolled all IBD pediatric patients. Total 25(OH)D, 24,25(OH)2D and1,25-(OH)2D levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In each patient with IBD, the activity scores of disease and the main inflammation markers were correlated to Vitamin D metabolites. We prospectively enrolled all IBD pediatric patients. Total 25(OH)D, 24,25(OH)2D and1,25-(OH)2D levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In each patient with IBD, the activity scores of disease and the main inflammation markers were correlated to Vitamin D metabolites. Results One hundred twenty three consecutive IBD children were enrolled, 43% with Crohn Disease (CD),55% Ulcerative colitis (UC), 2% indeterminate colitis. No difference in 25(OH)D,24,25(OH)2D and 1,25-(OH)2D levels were found between CD and UC patients. A significant indirect correlation was found between C reactive protein and 1,25-(OH)2D levels in patients with IBD (r=-0.275, p=0.046) and in CD group (r=-0.477, p=0.039). Moreover, in patients with IBD and CD we found a significant indirect correlation between erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR) and 25(OH)D (r=-0.212, p=0.024 and and r=-0.282, p=0.047 respectively). Instead, in the UC group we found only a direct correlation for both fibrinogen and ESR with 1,25-(OH)2Dlevels (r=0.407, p 0.028 and r=0.446, p=0.013). Conclusion Our results suggest that both the active form and the total Vitamin D levels are inversely associated with disease activity especially in CD children. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of Vitamin D deficiency as a consequence or a cause of inflammation.