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Biomedical subjects

R Tobias

Publications and source records attributed to R Tobias.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Prospective controlled trial of transhepatic biliary endoprosthesis versus bypass surgery for incurable carcinoma of head of pancreas.

53 patients with obstructive jaundice due to incurable carcinoma of the head of the pancreas were randomly allocated to percutaneous transhepatic placement of a permanent biliary endoprosthesis (PTE) or bypass surgery. After exclusions 25 patients in each group were treated. Technical success was achieved in 21 patients (84%) in the PTE group and 19 (76%) in the surgery group. The incidence of postprocedural complications (PTE 7, surgery 8) and 30-day mortality (PTE 2, surgery 5) were similar. Recurrent jaundice occurred more often in the PTE (8/21) than the surgery group (3/19). Duodenal obstruction developed in 3 patients in the PTE group. Although the initial median postprocedural hospital stay was significantly shorter in the PTE than the surgery group, the difference was no longer significant when readmissions for blocked endoprosthesis and gastric outlet obstruction were taken into account. There was no difference in the median survival time in the two groups (PTE 19 weeks, surgery 15 weeks).

Aged↗

A comparison of sucralfate dosage schedule in duodenal ulcer healing. Two grams twice a day versus one gram four times a day.

The conventional dosage schedule for sucralfate is 1 g 4 i.d., but a dose of 2 g 2 i.d. may be equally effective in duodenal ulcer healing. We compared the efficacy of these two regimens in duodenal ulcer healing. Seventy-seven patients with endoscopically proven duodenal ulceration were entered into a double-blind, controlled study and randomized to treatment with sucralfate 2 g 2 i.d. (on waking and at bedtime) or 1 g 4 i.d. (1/2 h before meals and at bedtime). The patients were endoscoped before entry into the study, after 4 weeks, and after 8 weeks if unhealed at 4 weeks. Of the patients considered suitable for analysis at 4 weeks, 79% (26/33) of those taking 2 g 2 i.d. had healed ulcers in comparison to 72% (23/32) of those taking 1 g 4 i.d. After 8 weeks, cumulative healing rates were 85% (28/33) and 80% (24/30), respectively. The results suggest that the more convenient dosage schedule of 2 g 2 i.d. is as effective as the 1 g 4 i.d. regimen in the short-term treatment of duodenal ulcer.

Adult↗

Primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease in Cape Town, 1975 - 1981.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease and serum alkaline phosphatase persistently raised to more than twice the normal level were investigated to assess the frequency of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in the Gastro-intestinal Clinic from 1975 to 1981. Twelve patients had a persistently raised alkaline phosphatase level of hepatic origin, 9 out of 250 with ulcerative colitis and 3 out of 164 with Crohn's disease. PSC was demonstrated in 8(3%) of the patients with ulcerative colitis, and carcinoma of the pancreas in the remaining 1. Three of the patients with PSC also had gallstones. The colitis antedated the biliary symptoms and signs in all but 1 patient. There was no correlation between the duration, extent and activity of the colitis and the development and outcome of the liver involvement. Investigations in the 3 patients with Crohn's disease revealed the presence of PSC in 2 (1,2%) and chronic active hepatitis in the 3rd. Of the 2 with PSC, one had cholelithiasis and has had recurrent episodes of cholangitis. The other has had only mild symptoms.

Adult↗

Tuberculosis of the distal colon. A case report.

A case of tuberculosis of the distal colon is described. The presenting features and the sites of the lesions are unusual even in a country where gastrointestinal tuberculosis is common. Attention is drawn to the diagnostic difficulty encountered, as the lesion is often clinically and radiologically indistinguishable from amoebiasis, carcinoma or Crohn's disease.

Adult↗

Preoperative external biliary drainage in obstructive jaundice. A prospective controlled clinical trial.

57 patients with obstructive jaundice were randomly allocated to surgery with preoperative external biliary drainage (29 patients) and without preoperative external biliary drainage (28 patients). 22 patients ultimately underwent laparotomy after a mean of 11.7 days of drainage and 25 had surgery without preoperative drainage. The postoperative complication rate was low and similar in both groups but complications associated with the drainage procedure were substantial. Perioperative mortality was 4/28 (14%) in the drainage group and 4/27 (15%) in the non-drainage group. There seems to be no advantage associated with routine preoperative external biliary drainage before surgery for obstructive jaundice.

Acute Kidney Injury↗