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Background: Fundoplication at the time of paraesophageal hernia (PEH) repair is thought to help prevent the development or persistence of postoperative gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) and might also prevent hernia recurrence. However, the published data is not strong enough to definitively recommend this approach. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness and complications of a fundoplication at the time of paraesophageal hernia repair., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients who underwent a paraesophageal hernia repair at a single institution over a 14 year period from 2010 to 2023. Patients were divided into 2 cohorts, those who underwent fundoplication at the time of PEH repair and those who did not. Rates of PEH recurrence, rates of reoperation for a recurrent PEH, postoperative dysphagia rates, and postoperative GERD rates were then compared between the two cohorts., Results: There were 1,155 patients included in the study. There were 610 (53%) patients who underwent PEH repair with fundoplication and 545 (47%) who did not undergo a fundoplication. 113 (19%) of the patients who underwent fundoplication developed a hernia recurrence compared to 67 (12%) who had a PEH repair alone (p = 0.004). However, each cohort had similar rates of requiring reoperation (p = 0.4). Inclusion of a fundoplication did lead to higher rates of postoperative dysphagia > 30 days postoperatively, 12% vs 7% (p = 0.002), but did not lead to decreased rates of symptomatic GERD postoperatively, 7% with a fundoplication and 7% without (p = 0.93)., Conclusion: In this present study, fundoplication at the time of PEH repair did not prevent hernia recurrence, need for reoperation, or decrease postoperative GERD rates but does increase postoperative dysphagia. While there are definite indications for fundoplication at the time of PEH repair (i.e., type 1 hernia), these data do not support the routine use of fundoplication during PEH repair with a normal gastroesophageal flap valve intraoperatively., Competing Interests: Declarations. Disclosures: Dr. Jeffrey Marks reports consultant fees from Boston Scientific and Steris Endoscopy. He also has served on the ACS Board of Governors and SAGES Governing Board. Dr. Joshua Lyons reports consultant fees from Steris Endoscopy. Drs. Hamza Nasir Chatha, MD; Christina Boutros, DO; Saher-Zahra Khan, MD; Jamie Benson, MD; Guy Katz, MD; Iris Levine, BS; Christine Alvarado, MD; Patrick Wieland, MD have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Per oral pyloromyotomy (POP) has been shown to be effective in patients with gastroparesis. The three most common etiologies of gastroparesis are diabetic, postsurgical, and idiopathic. Our aim was to compare outcomes after POP based on the etiology of gastroparesis., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients that underwent POP between 2018 and 2023 at a single tertiary academic center. Patient factors such as demographics, previous interventions, and preoperative symptoms were compared between patients of diabetic, post-surgical, and idiopathic gastroparesis. Primary outcomes of interest included postoperative symptoms, recurrence, time to recurrence, and reinterventions., Results: A total of 46 patients were included in the study of which 12 had diabetic, 23 had post-surgical, and 11 had idiopathic. The overall median age was 56.5 with a female predominance (61%). Twenty patients (43%) had previous endoscopic intervention, 2 (4%) had prior surgical intervention, and 15 (33%) were on medications at the time of referral. Patients had a median of 2 symptoms preoperatively, the most common being nausea (83%) and emesis (76%). There was no difference in demographic and preoperative factors between patients with different etiologies. There was an overall decrease in the number of symptoms for all patients (p < 0.001). There was no difference in postoperative symptoms between cohorts. Fourteen (33%) patients had recurrence of symptoms over a median of 6.5 months with 5 (11%) patients having another endoscopic intervention and 3 (7%) patients having surgical intervention. There were no differences in outcomes between the groups., Conclusions: In our limited cohort, there were no differences in preoperative factors or postoperative outcomes for patients undergoing POP for different etiologies of gastroparesis. There was no differences in recurrence rate or in duration until recurrence. Patients with different etiologies of gastroparesis benefit similarly from POP., Competing Interests: Declarations. Disclosures: This work was not sponsored or funded. Jeffrey Marks receives consulting fees from Steris Endoscopy and Boston Scientific. He has a leadership role on the ACS Board of Governors and the SAGES Governing Board and receives no payments from them. Joshua Lyons receives consulting fees from Steris Endoscopy. Saher-Zahra Khan, Kelly Chambers, Jamie Benson, Christina Boutros, Patrick Wieland, Hamza Nasir Chatha, and Guy Katz have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Gastroparesis can be a debilitating disease process for which durable treatment options are lacking. While dietary changes and pharmacotherapy have some efficacy, symptoms frequently recur and some patients progress to needing supplemental enteral feeding access. Per oral pyloromyotomy (POP) has been shown to be a durable minimally invasive treatment option for refractory gastroparesis with a low side effect profile, and therefore has been performed at this institution for the past 6 years., Methods: This was a retrospective case series of all patients who underwent a POP at a single institution over a 6-year period (2018-2023). Patient demographics, preoperative symptomatology and subsequent workup, postoperative complications, and symptom recurrence were collected and analyzed., Results: There were 56 patients included in the study. There was a 1.8:1 female:male ratio. The average patient age was 56 years old (range 23-85). The average duration of symptoms was 1-3 years. Thirty-eight percent of patients had undergone previous endoscopic therapy for gastroparesis (pyloric botox injection or pyloric dilation) and 16% of patients underwent multiple endoscopic therapies. Twenty-nine percent of patients were on a medication for gastroparesis. Past surgery was the most common gastroparesis etiology for POP (50% of patients). Diabetes (23%) and idiopathic (19%) were the other most common gastroparesis etiologies for POP. Nausea was the most common symptom at first follow-up (30%) but these patients continued to improve with 14% of patients continuing to endorse nausea at 6 months. Twenty-seven percent of patients developed symptom recurrence. Forty percent of patients with symptom recurrence underwent a repeat endoscopic or surgical therapy., Conclusions: In this present study, POP leads to durable results in approximately 75% of patients with minimal complications. Furthermore, the majority of patients who do develop symptom recurrence do not require additional gastroparesis interventions., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: It has been reported that higher surgeon experience leads to better patient outcomes. In this study, we look at surgeon experience and its association with postoperative outcomes and variation among the practice of surgeons performing paraesophageal hernia repairs (PEH)., Method: This was a retrospective study of 1155 patients who underwent PEH repair at a single institution (2010-2023). Surgeon experience was defined as the number of surgeries performed per surgeon and was split using the median surgeries (n = 100), with surgeons performing at or above the median categorized as high-experience and below the median as low-experience surgeons. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to test correlation between surgeon experience and variables, including demographics and intra- and post-operative outcomes., Results: High-experience surgeons performed more elective cases (93.4% vs 85.5%), but low-experience surgeons operated more on emergent (2.7% vs 0.9%), semi-elective (2.3% vs 1.4%), and urgent cases (9.5% vs 4.3%). Low-experience surgeons operated more on patients who were older (67.5 vs 63.2 years, p < 0.001) and had an increased risk of CVD (72.9% vs 61.5%, p < 0.001). Intraoperative OR time was considerably less for high-experience surgeons (115.8 vs 172.9 min, p < 0.001). Low-experience surgeons had increased risk of intra-operative complications (4.5% vs 1.8%, p = 0.021) and post-op pneumonia within 30 days (1.8% vs 0.3%). However, long-term outcomes such as hernia recurrence (OR: 1.10, CI: 0.78-1.54) and redo-operations for hiatal hernia (OR: 1.10, CI: 0.65-1.75) were similar for both groups., Conclusion: High-experience surgeons perform more complex revisional surgeries in less time with fewer complications. Low-experience surgeons operated more on patients with higher comorbidities but had significantly higher OR times. Long-term results of recurrence and redo-operations were comparable. These variations suggest that high-experience surgeons are more efficient while operating on more complex cases. These findings have pivotal implications to facilitate mentorship and education among less-experienced surgeons., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Although per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has shown to be beneficial for the treatment of achalasia, it can be difficult to predict who will have a robust and long-lasting response. Historically, it has been shown that higher lower esophageal sphincter pressures have been associated with poorer responses to alternative endoscopic therapies such as Botox therapy and pneumatic dilation. This study was designed to evaluate if modern preoperative manometric data could similarly predict response to therapy after POEM., Methods: This was a retrospective study of 237 patients who underwent POEM at a single institution over a period of 13 years (2011-2023) and who had a high-resolution manometry performed preoperatively and an Eckardt symptom score performed both preoperative and postoperatively. The achalasia type and integrated relaxation pressures (IRP) were tested for potential correlation with the need for any further achalasia interventions postoperatively as well as the degree of Eckardt score reduction using a linear regression model., Results: The Achalasia type on preoperative manometry was not predictive for further interventions or degree of Eckardt score reduction (p = 0.76 and 0.43, respectively). A higher IRP was not predictive of the need for further interventions, however, it was predictive of a greater reduction in postoperative Eckardt scores (p = 0.03) as shown by the non-zero regression slope., Conclusion: In this study, achalasia type was not a predictive factor in the need for further interventions or the degree of symptom relief. Although IRP was not predictive of the need for further interventions, a higher IRP did predict better symptomatic relief postoperatively. This result is opposite that of other endoscopic treatment modalities (Botox and pneumatic dilation). Therefore, patients with higher IRP on preoperative high-resolution manometry would likely benefit from POEM which provides significant symptomatic relief postoperatively., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a safe therapy for the treatment of achalasia. Long-term effects of untreated achalasia include worsening dysmotility and disruptions in esophageal anatomy, i.e., tortuosity and dilation. We hypothesize that long-standing achalasia prior to intervention will have worse outcomes following POEM than in patients with symptoms for shorter duration., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed achalasia patients who underwent POEM at our institution from 2011 to 2023, categorizing them into symptom duration cohorts (< 1 year, 1-3 years, 4-10 years, > 10 years). Inclusion criteria comprised patients with documented achalasia diagnosis who received POEM treatment at our facility. Exclusion criteria encompassed individuals lacking data pertaining to achalasia diagnosis, the time frame before intervention, or those missing pre and postoperative Eckardt scores. POEM failure was defined as symptom recurrence, necessity for repeat intervention, or high postoperative Eckardt score. We compared demographic, preoperative, and postoperative outcomes across these cohorts, and employed multivariable logistic regression to explore the link between symptom duration and POEM response., Results: During the study period, in our increased cohort 234 patients met inclusion criteria. 75 patients had symptoms for < 1 year, 78 patients had symptoms from 1 to 3 years, 47 patients had symptoms from 4 to 10 years, and 34 patients had symptoms > 10 years. Patient demographics such as age, sex, BMI, Charleson-Deyo-Comorbidity-Index, and diabetes did not differ amongst cohorts. High-resolution manometry data, including achalasia type, Median IRP, LES residual pressure, and Basal LES pressure did not differ between groups. Preoperative Eckardt scores ranged from 4 to 5 across groups (p 0.24). Patients endorsed an average of three total preoperative symptoms across groups (p 0.13). Patients with symptoms greater than 4 years had significantly more endoscopic interventions prior to POEM (37% vs, 68% p .001). There was no significant difference in post-procedure mean Eckardt scores between cohorts. All cohorts experienced the same number of post-POEM symptoms. Post-POEM manometric measurements remained consistent across cohorts. Similarly, there were no significant differences in terms of symptom recurrence, requirement for repeat interventions, or repeat POEM among the cohorts. Multivariable logistic regression analysis determined achalasia symptoms greater than a decade did not result in increased odds of having a higher postoperative Eckardt score, worse dysphagia, regurgitation, or weight loss., Conclusions: In this increased cohort, this data once again suggests that longer symptom duration is not associated with increased rates of POEM failure., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: The safe and effective performance of a robotic roux-en-y gastric bypass (RRNY) requires the application of a complex body of knowledge and skills. This qualitative study aims to: (1) define the tasks, subtasks, decision points, and pitfalls in a RRNY; (2) create a framework upon which training and objective evaluation of a RRNY can be based., Methods: Hierarchical and cognitive task analyses for a RRNY were performed using semi-structured interviews of expert bariatric surgeons to describe the thoughts and behaviors that exemplify optimal performance. Verbal data was recorded, transcribed verbatim, supplemented with literary and video resources, coded, and thematically analyzed., Results: A conceptual framework was synthesized based on three book chapters, three articles, eight online videos, nine field observations, and interviews of four subject matter experts (SME). At the time of the interview, SME had practiced a median of 12.5 years and had completed a median of 424 RRNY cases. They estimated the number of RRNY to achieve competence and expertise were 25 cases and 237.5 cases, respectively. After four rounds of inductive analysis, 83 subtasks, 75 potential errors, 60 technical tips, and 15 decision points were identified and categorized into eight major procedural steps (pre-procedure preparation, abdominal entry & port placement, gastric pouch creation, omega loop creation, gastrojejunal anastomosis, jejunojejunal anastomosis, closure of mesenteric defects, leak test & port closure). Nine cognitive behaviors were elucidated (respect for patient-specific factors, tactical modification, adherence to core surgical principles, task completion, judicious technique & instrument selection, visuospatial awareness, team-based communication, anticipation & forward planning, finessed tissue handling)., Conclusion: This study defines the key elements that formed the basis of a conceptual framework used by expert bariatric surgeons to perform the RRNY safely and effectively. This framework has the potential to serve as foundational tool for training novices., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)