Sweden, with a small, decentralized population, has a similarly decentralized network of hospitals that comprise the national health care system, which is nonetheless highly regulated by the national government. Medical education and graduate training in surgery are likewise regulated. Reforms implemented in 1992 made a 21-month general rotating internship mandatory for all medical graduates, after which they enter specialty training. The training, which lasts a minimum of 5 years, is done under the tutelage of a Board-certified practitioner in the field. During the trainee and program contract for the amount of time spent in clinical and didactic experiences, the trainee is personally responsible for ensuring that much of his or her individual program is accomplished. Rising health care costs have spurred increased rationalization of resources and are expected to constrict training opportunities for future surgeons.

Delivery of Health Care↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Conservative treatment of liver trauma.

A marked change toward a more conservative approach in the treatment of abdominal trauma has been noted, especially during the last decade. This change in regimen was first seen in the handling of splenic trauma, initiated by pediatric surgeons. Later, the concept of conservative management was also introduced among adults and it is now widely accepted. Here, an almost mandatory splenectomy has been replaced by attempts at various forms of splenic salvage. The development followed an initial report by King and Shumacker in 1952 on an increased susceptibility to overwhelming sepsis in splenectomized children, findings which later also were demonstrated among adults. It has also been shown that the bleeding from intraparenchymal lesions with an intact splenic capsule or minor capsular tears frequently ceases spontaneously, hereby making nonoperative management possible in selective cases.

Blood Transfusion↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Repeated hepatic ischemia as a treatment for carcinoid liver metastases.

Hepatic ischemia has been used in the treatment of bilobar malignant carcinoid tumors in the liver. Hepatic artery ligation, hepatic dearterialization, and embolization with nondegradable micromaterial have been followed by collateral formation and are associated with a high complication rate. To reduce this, an implantable vascular occluder permitting intermittent occlusion of the hepatic artery was used in 3 patients with bilateral malignant carcinoid in the liver, with high urinary excretion of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). Following a thorough dearterialization of the liver and division of all attachments, except for the hepatic artery, portal vein, and common duct, the vascular occluder was placed around the hepatic artery and connected to an implantable subcutaneous port. The hepatic artery was occluded by injecting a few milliliters of saline into the port and flow was released by withdrawal of the same amount of saline. Two patients had an anomalous blood supply to the right lobe and the arterial branch was transposed to the proper hepatic artery. One patient had the hepatic artery regularly occluded for 16 hours at 4-6 week intervals. Two patients managed to do the occlusions by themselves at home for 1 hour twice daily. Two patients had a normalization of the urinary excretion of 5-HIAA after 4 and 9 months. On follow-up with computed tomographic scanning, tumor regression was noted in one, however, there was no change in the other. The third patient has already had a 75% reduction of urinary excretion of 5-HIAA after 2 months of treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Carcinoid Tumor↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Intraabdominal infections and gut origin sepsis.

Intraabdominal postoperative or posttraumatic infections remain a major threat to life in spite of generation after generation of increasingly effective antimicrobial drugs indicating the importance of immunological host defense failure following major trauma or surgical complications. The spectrum of infectious postoperative or posttraumatic complications can, in part, be explained by pathogenic factors inherent to the methodology of modern surgical intensive care and techniques. This report presents a survey of the historical background as well as current concepts of the multiple systems organ failure syndrome as related to postoperative or posttraumatic intraabdominal infectious complications. The pathophysiology of nosocomial infectious complications in the intensive care unit setting is analyzed. The concept of "gut origin sepsis" is presented and possible preventive and therapeutic actions discussed. A judicious use of antimicrobial drugs on strict indications is emphasized as is the importance of increased knowledge of the interactions between the gut flora, antibiotics, and absence of enteral nutrition.

Cross Infection↗