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Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Over a 6-year period at the University Hospital in London, Ont., 101 patients underwent heart transplantation and 5 heart-lung transplantation. The authors review the general surgical problems identified from the charts of 13 of these patients. In the early postoperative period (within 30 days), laparotomy was required for pancreatitis (one), perforated peptic ulcer (two), cholecystectomy (one), pancreatic cyst (one) and appendicitis (one). In addition, a spontaneous colocutaneous fistula and spontaneous pneumoperitoneum occurred; both were managed conservatively. Later, three patients required cholecystectomy; one underwent a below-knee and a Symes amputation for dry gangrene and one surgical correction of a lymphocele. The incidence of surgical problems (13%) indicates an increased susceptibility in this group of patients. Four of the 13 patients died. Pancreatitis is a well-recognized complication of cardiac surgery; it is frequently associated with a normal or only slightly elevated serum amylase level, making a definitive diagnosis without laparotomy almost impossible. Persistence of abdominal signs should signal the need for exploratory surgery. During the early postoperative period and in the absence of multiorgan failure, immediate operation for an acute abdomen is usually successful. Despite the additional risk, cardiac transplantation does not preclude later surgery, but immunosuppression must be continued and carefully monitored.
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PMID:Management of general surgical problems after cardiac transplantation. 329 32

One hundred forty-three patients underwent cardiac transplantation from 1980 to 1985; 122 received a heart, 19 received a heart-lung, and two received a heart-liver transplant. All patients received immunosuppression with prednisone and cyclosporine. General surgical complications have developed since transplantation in 40 patients (28%). Of these, 17 patients have required surgery: exploratory laparotomy (10 patients), inguinal or ventral herniorrhaphy (two patients), repair of false aneurysm of the femoral artery (two patients), repair of lymphocele of the groin (two patients), and incision and drainage of a perirectal abscess (one patient). Of the 10 patients who required laparotomy, three underwent sigmoid resection for a perforated sigmoid diverticulum (all survived), two underwent small bowel resection for perforation (both died), two had free intraperitoneal air with no site of perforation found (one died), one underwent a cholecystostomy and one a cholecystectomy for acute calculous cholecystitis (one died), and one underwent an elective pyloroplasty for gastric outlet obstruction secondary to vagus nerve injury during heart-lung transplantation and survived. All patients who underwent elective surgery survived. Six patients died without operation and at autopsy were found to have unrecognized general surgical complications including pancreatitis (three patients), cecal ulceration with sepsis (two patients), and jejunal perforation secondary to peritoneal dialysis (one patient). Eleven other patients had severe abdominal pain and five had gastrointestinal hemorrhage not requiring operation. Proper management of these patients includes early and aggressive diagnosis of conditions requiring operative intervention, strict attention to surgical technique, and careful titration of dose of immunosuppressive drugs. The 28% incidence of general surgical complications associated with heart and heart-lung transplantation emphasizes the role of the general surgeon in the management of these complex patients.
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PMID:General surgical complications in heart and heart-lung transplantation. 393 Dec 74