This study investigated the correlations between several trauma scoring systems, including the injury severity score (ISS), clinical abdominal scoring system (CASS), new injury severity score (NISS), and clinical outcomes, including laparotomy, in-hospital mortality (IHM), and long hospital stay (LS) in patients with abdominal trauma. Data of 749 patients with abdominal trauma between January 2009 and December 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. Data from medical records included age, sex, initial vital signs, type and mechanism of trauma, hospital stay, laparotomy, and IHM. Injured organs and grades were collected using computed tomography. Correlations between the scoring system and clinical outcomes were analyzed using the area under Curves (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The mean age of the patients was 40.14±19.47 years. Blunt trauma was the most common type of trauma in 704 patients (94.0%), and traffic accident was the most common mechanism in 475 (63.4%). Injured organs included liver (45.1%) and spleen (25.1%). A total of 179 patients (23.9%) underwent laparotomy and IHM was reported in 35 (4.6%). The AUC of ROC for ISS, NISS, and CASS was significantly associated with laparotomy (0.682; p=0.001, 0.713; p=0.001; 0.845; p=0.001). The AUCs showed significant for IHM (0.606; p=0.034, 0.626; p=0.012, 0.701; p=0.001). The AUCs for LS were 0.554 (p=0.041), 0.549 (p=0.062), and 0.581 (p=0.002). The CASS is excellent for predicting laparotomy, IHM, and LS in patients with abdominal trauma. The NISS is more appropriate than the ISS for predicting laparotomy and IHM.

Purpose: Most of the causes of small bowel obstruction (SBO) in patients without a history of abdominal surgery are unclear at initial assessment. This study was conducted to identify the etiology and clinical characteristics of SBO in virgin abdomens and discuss the proper management.Methods: A retrospective review involving operative cases of SBO from a single institute, which had no history of abdominal surgery, was conducted between January 2010 and December 2020. Clinical information, including radiological, operative, and pathologic findings, was investigated to determine the etiology of SBO.Results: A total of 55 patients were included in this study, with a median age of 57 years and male sex (63.6%) constituting the majority. The most frequently reported symptoms were abdominal pain and nausea or vomiting. Neoplasm as an underlying cause accounted for 34.5% of the cases, of which 25.5% were malignant cases. In patients aged ≥60 years (n=23), small bowel neoplasms were the underlying cause in 12 (52.2%), of whom 9 (39.1%) were malignant cases. Adhesions and Crohn disease were more frequent in patients aged <60 years. Coherence between preoperative computed tomography scans and intraoperative findings was found in 63.6% of the cases.Conclusion: There were various causes of surgical cases of SBO in virgin abdomens. In older patients, hidden malignancy should be considered as a possible cause of SBO in a virgin abdomen. Patients with symptoms of recurrent bowel obstruction who have no history of prior abdominal surgery require thorough medical history and close follow-up.

Background: Kidney transplantation (KT) has become common in the treatment of end-stage renal disease. However, to date, there have been no bibliometric analyses of KT research to identify the most influential articles. The purpose of this research is to identify and characterize the 100 most cited articles that focus on KT and to clarify the trends in the accomplishments in this field. Methods: We searched the Thomson Reuters Web of Science citation indexing database and used keyword mapping of VOSviewer. The top 100 most cited manuscripts were analyzed based on their titles, authors, institutions, countries of origin, years of publication, and topics. Results: The New England Journal of Medicine has published the most manuscripts on kidney transplantation (n = 26) and is the most cited journal (n = 15,642). The United States has the highest number of publications (n = 61). Kashika is the corresponding author with the most published papers (n = 5; 2892 citations). The most common topics of publication are immunosuppressant (n = 34), clinical outcome (n = 26), and pathology (n = 22). Keywords related to immunosuppressant are the most common in keyword mapping with VOSviewer. Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis of KT research provides the research characteristics and publication trends of this topic. In KT research, immunosuppressants and post-transplant clinical outcomes have been important topics.

Thrombosis of the portal vein, known as pylephlebitis, is a rare and fatal complication caused by intraperitoneal infections. The disease progression of superior mesenteric venous thrombosis (SMVT) is not severe. This study aimed to determine the clinical features, etiology, and prognosis of SMVT. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 41 patients with SMVT from March 2000 to February 2017. We obtained a list of 305 patients through the International Classification of Disease-9 code system and selected 41 patients with SMVT with computed tomography. Data from the medical records included patient demographics, comorbidities, review of system, laboratory results, clinical courses, and treatment modalities. The causes of SMVT were found to be intraperitoneal inflammation in 27 patients (65.9%), malignancy in 7 patients (17.1%), and unknown in 7 patients (17.1%). Among the patients with intraperitoneal inflammation, 14 presented with appendicitis (51.9%), 7 with diverticulitis (25.9%), and 2 with ileus (7.4%). When comparing patients with and without small bowel resection, the differences in symptom duration, bowel enhancement and blood culture were significant (P=0.010, P=0.039, and P=0.028, respectively). SMVT, caused by intraperitoneal inflammation, unlike portal vein thrombosis including pylephlebitis, shows mild prognosis. In addition, rapid symptom progression and positive blood culture can be the prognostic factors related to extensive bowel resection. Use of appropriate antibiotics and understanding of disease progression can help improve the outcomes of patients with SMVT.

Hwang JW, et al. Ann Surg Treat Res. 2019 Feb;96(2):47-52. https://doi.org/10.4174/astr.2019.96.2.47