Gallbladder agenesis (GA) is a rare congenital anomaly of the biliary system often associated with other congenital abnormalities. Patients become symptomatic in 23% of cases (Richards et al., 1993). GA is often misinterpreted as other diseases, therefore, leading to unnecessary surgery. Many of these patients develop a typical symptomatology of cholelithiasis that leads them to operating theatre. If an operative procedure is done, it is better to remain at the level of laparoscopy because further surgical investigation may lead to detrimental biliary tract injuries (Waisberg et al., 2002). We present a case of GA, diagnosed by magnetic resonance with cholangiopancreatography.

BACKGROUND: Emergency anterior abdominal wall hernia surgery plays a pivotal role in emergency general surgery practice. In this study, the predictive value of laboratory and imaging findings as well as demographic information and comorbidities of the patients for the recognition of strangulation and intestinal resection was investigated.METHODS: Patients over the age of 18 who were operated consecutively with an indication for emergency anterior abdominal wall hernia surgery between January 2017 and December 2019 in a single tertiary hospital were included in this retrospective cohort study. The patient population was divided into two groups according to the pre-operative findings during the emergency anterior abdominal wall hernia surgery. Group 1 consisted of cases with incarceration but without strangulation, whereas Group 2 consisted of cases with strangulation in addition to incarceration. Moreover, in evaluation for the requirement for intestinal resection, patient Group 2 was divided further into two groups, namely, as Group (1 or 2) a and Group (1 or 2) b, defining the need for intestinal resection.RESULTS: A total of 106 patients who had emergency anterior abdominal wall repair surgery due to incarcerated hernias were included in the study. The evaluation of the indices related to systemic inflammation revealed that lactate dehydrogenase to white blood cell ratio was significantly lower but neutrophil to platelet and neutrophil to albumin ratios were significantly higher in patients with strangulation, showing the significance of those systemic inflammation indices in detecting strangulation (p=0.027, p=0.035 and p=0.030, respectively). Moreover, the analysis of the patients in whom intestinal resection was required (Group 2a vs. 2b) exposed that neutrophil to albumin ratio was significantly higher in the patients with intestinal resection (p=0.036).CONCLUSION: Indices of systemic inflammation such as lactate dehydrogenase to white blood cell ratio, neutrophil to platelet ratio, and particularly neutrophil to albumin ratio may be potentially beneficial to prevent complications and improve clinical outcomes in emergency hernia surgery.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the health care system in an unpredictable way. In this study, we aimed to analyze the effects of the pandemic process on the disease severity on admission, management strategies, and outcomes of patients. The medical records of the patients who applied to the emergency department and consulted to the general surgery clinic from March 2020 until January 2021 were retrospectively reviewed as the pandemic period. For the control group, patients' medical records in the same time interval of 2019 were evaluated as the pre-pandemic period. A total of 88 patients in the pre-pandemic period and 89 patients in the pandemic period were treated for acute cholecystitis. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of the treatment strategies and length of hospital stay between the two periods (p=0.087 and p=0.587, respectively). In the pandemic period, it is thought that postponing and bridging treatments may replace surgery for reducing the risk of contamination of both patients and health care workers.

Endometriosis is a disease seen in women at reproductive age, characterized by extrauterine localization of endometrial tissue. Colonic endometriosis rarely causes acute mechanical intestinal obstruction (AMIO). It may also be presented with pelvic pain, dyspareunia, tenesmus, painful defecation related to the menstrual cycle. In the literature, 3-37% of the gastrointestinal location was reported and AMIO was observed in 7-23% of these cases. There are only few cases of mechanical obstruction related to sigmoid endometriosis mimicking colon malignancy. In this study, we aim to report a case of a 40-year-old patient with AMIO developed secondary to colonic endometriosis in light of the literature.The patient was discharged with full surgical recovery after the Hartmann procedure was performed, and the pathological diagnosis was reached as endometriosis.At the post-operative sixth-month colostomy, closure and bilateral oophorectomy were performed with the patient's will.The patient was discharged with surgical recovery and is still being regularly followed up. Endometriosis is a gynecological disease that may occur in all organ systems even though the most common location is the overs. Gastrointestinal located endometriosis should, therefore, be kept in mind in the etiology of AMIO in women at reproductive age and the related symptoms should be questioned in differential diagnosis.

Background: As with any other invasive procedure, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) may lead to considerable anxiety in patients. This study aimed to investigate and compare the effects of sedated and non-sedated procedures on anxiety in patients undergoing EGD and to better recognize patient groups at risk for anxiety. Methods: In this prospective and 2-armed designed study, demographic data, including age, gender, comorbidities, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), and educational background, were collected. In this study, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was administered to each patient before they were brought to the endoscopy unit. Subsequently, each patient who underwent EGD was telephoned on the seventh day after the procedure and the BAI was administered a second time. Results: Women population had higher pre-EGD and post-EGD BAI scores compared to men. No significant correlation was observed between educational background and BAI scores. Possible correlations between age, BMI, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and BAI scores were examined. There was a weak correlation between BMI and pre-EGD and post-EGD BAI scores. A strong and positive correlation was observed between the pre-EGD BAI score and post-EGD BAI and difference in BAI scores between groups (ΔBAI). Conclusion: Endoscopic procedures may cause anxiety in patients as with all other invasive procedures. Patients’ compliance with the procedure and having a lower level of anxiety are very significant for diagnostic and, if necessary, therapeutic success. In this study, the patient gender was evaluated as a predictor of anxiety level, whereas educational background was not a predictor.