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Background: Postoperative complications are still a major concern after liver resection (LR). Systemic inflammation and deregulated reactive oxygen species during major abdominal surgery may impair outcome after hepatectomy. Methods: Patients undergoing LR were included in this study (n = 40). Oxidative stress (OS) was measured peri- and post-operatively as static oxidation-reduction potential markers (sORP) and antioxidant capacity ORP (cORP) by using the RedoxSYS Diagnostic system. Furthermore, Th1- and Th2-specific cytokines were assessed. Results: Whereas there was no significant change in systemic sORP during LR and in the early postoperative course, there was a substantial decrease of cORP immediately post-surgery, and on postoperative days 1 and 3 (p<0.001). OS response was tightly regulated, as there was a significant correlation between sORP and cORP (p<0.0001; R2:0.457). An increase of OS (sORP) after LR of more than 3 mV was predictive for severe postoperative complications (53.8% vs. 12.5; p = 0.017). There was a significantly higher IL-2 (p = 0.006) and IL-5 (p = 0.001) increase during hepatectomy in patients who developed a severe morbidity. Conclusion: Antioxidant capacity remained stable during LR but dropped during the post-surgical period, suggesting a consumption of antioxidants to maintain OS within healthy range. Severe postoperative complications were associated with a pronounced inflammatory response during surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parenchymal transection represents a crucial step during liver surgery and many different techniques have been described so far. Stapler resection is supposed to be faster than CUSA resection. However, whether speed impacts on the inflammatory response in patients undergoing liver resection (LR) remains unclear. Materials and Methods: This is a randomized controlled trial including 40 patients undergoing anatomical LR. Primary endpoint was transection speed (cm2/min). Secondary endpoints included the perioperative change of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, overall surgery duration, length of hospital stay, morbidity and mortality. Results: Mean transection speed was significantly higher in patients undergoing stapler hepatectomy compared to CUSA resection (CUSA: 1 (0.4) cm2/min vs. Stapler: 10.8 (6.1) cm2/min; p<0.0001). Analyzing the impact of surgery duration on inflammatory response revealed a significant correlation between IL-6 levels measured at the end of surgery and the overall length of surgery (p<0.0001, r = 0.6188). Patients undergoing CUSA LR had significantly higher increase of interleukin-6 (IL-6) after parenchymal transection compared to patients with stapler hepatectomy in the portal and hepatic veins, respectively (p = 0.028; p = 0.044). C-reactive protein levels on the first post-operative day were significantly lower in the stapler cohort (p = 0.010). There was a trend towards a reduced overall surgery time in patients with stapler LR, especially in the subgroup of patients undergoing minor hepatectomies (p = 0.020). Conclusions: Liver resection using staplers is fast, safe and suggests a diminished inflammatory response probably due to a decreased parenchymal transection time. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: One of the most feared complications after cephalic duodeno-pancreatectomy remains pancreatic fistula. In recent years, various methods of pancreatico-digestive reconstruction were performed in order to reduce the rate of pancreatic fistula. One of these methods is pancreatico-gastric reconstruction by using two purse string threads. Case report: We present in this article a patient with jaundice with mixed etiology: tumoral and lithiasic. Subjectively, the patient accused sclerose-skin-jaundice, right upper quadrant and epigastric pain, nausea and vomiting. Computed tomography revealed dilatation of intraand extrahepatic bile ducts, a dilated Wirsung duct and a tumor at the biliopancreatic confluence, leading to a suspicion of vaterian ampulom. Upper endoscopy revealed a tumor protruding in the descending duodenal segment. Intraoperatively a tumor suggestive of vaterian ampulom and duct stones was shown. Surgical treatment consisted of coledocolitotomy, cephalic duodeno-pancreatectomy with pancreatic-gastric anastomosis, performed by using two purse string threads. The postoperative evolution was favorable. Conclusion: Pancreatico-gastric anastomosis using two purse string threads is a simple, safe and quick procedure, avoiding the application of sutures through the pancreatic parenchyma and thus reducing the rate of pancreatic fistula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]