Canadian Journal of Surgery articles from December 2008

Canadian Journal of Surgery archives from December 2008

CJS evolves/Le JCC evolution.(Editorial)
December 1, 2008... To advance its mission to deliver effective continuing medical education to Canadian surgical specialists, the Canadian Journal of Surgery has launched several new initiatives during the past 6 months. These initiatives include improved...

Preoperative autologous blood donation reduces the need for allogeneic blood products: a prospective randomized study.(Original Article)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Objective: We sought to assess the efficacy of preoperative autologous blood donation in reducing patient exposure to allogeneic blood products following elective cardiac surgery. Methods: We included 48 patients in a prospective study and...

Patient characteristics affecting the prognosis of total hip and knee joint arthroplasty: a systematic review.(Original Article)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Background: Total joint arthroplasty is a highly efficacious and cost-effective procedure for moderate to severe arthritis in the hip and knee. Although patient characteristics are considered to be important determinants of who receives total...

Mesenteric angiography for the localization and treatment of acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding.(Original Article)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Background: There is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness and complications of mesenteric angiography in the diagnosis and management of acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding (ALGIB). Our objective was to determine the complications and...

Drilling sounds are used by surgeons and intermediate residents, but not novice orthopedic trainees, to guide drilling motions.(Original Article)
December 1, 2008... Background: The purpose of our study was to investigate the impact of distracting noise on the performance on a simulated orthopedic bone drilling skill when that noise blocks routine auditory feedback associated with the sounds of the drill....

Barriers to breast reconstruction after mastectomy in Nova Scotia.(Original Article)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Background: Breast reconstruction after mastectomy is associated with social, psychological and physical benefits. Barriers to breast reconstruction in the United States include age, stage of disease, socioeconomic status and geographic...

Geographic variation and physician specialization in the use of percutaneous biopsy for breast cancer diagnosis.(Original Article)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Background: Preoperative diagnosis of breast cancer is a standard of care. We conducted a populationbased study to determine the factors associated with the use of percutaneous needle biopsy to diagnose breast cancer in Ontario. Methods: We...

Imaging and transcatheter arterial embolization for traumatic splenic injuries: review of the literature.(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... The spleen is the most commonly injured visceral organ in blunt abdominal trauma in both adults and children. Nonoperative management is the current standard of practice for patients who are hemodynamically stable. However, simple observation...

Surgical images: soft tissue an unusual presentation of perforated sigmoid colon.(Continuing Medical Education/Formation medicale continue)(Case study)
December 1, 2008... A 59-year-old woman with a history of metastatic breast cancer was admitted to a local hospital for palliation of her bony pain with narcotics and dexamethasone. Three weeks later, she experienced a sudden reduction in her level of...

Users' guide to the surgical literature: how to assess power and sample size.(Evidence-Based Surgery/Chirurgie factuelle)(Report)
December 1, 2008... A common difficulty encountered by surgeons is the broad range of treatment choices available for a surgical condition. Observational studies and small randomized trials account for a large proportion of the surgical literature. There are many...

Canadian Association of General Surgeons and American College of Surgeons evidence-based reviews in surgery. 27. Quality-of-life outcomes with sentinel node biopsy versus standard axillary treatment in patients with operable breast cancer.(Evidence-Based Surgery/Chirurgie factuelle)
December 1, 2008... CAGS and ACS Evidence-Based Reviews in Surgery The term "evidence-based medicine" was first coined by Sackett and colleagues as "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of...

Bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation (Nora lesion): a report of 3 cases and a review of the literature.(Brief Communication/Communication abregee)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation (BPOP), as defined by Nora and colleagues (1) in 1983 (also called Nora lesion), is a rare lesion. About 160 cases of BPOP have been presented in the literature to date. The lesion is an...

Retrorectal cystic hamartoma associated with malignant disease.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
December 1, 2008... Retrorectal cystic hamartomas (RCHs) or tailgut cysts are rare congenital lesions. Typically, they present as presacral masses. Associated malignant change is rare; only 16 such cases have been reported in the literature. We describe the...

Echinococcal disease with bronchobiliary fistula.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
December 1, 2008... Human cystic echinococcosis is a zoonosis transmitted by ingesting Ecchinococcus granulosus ova eliminated from infected dogs. Bronchobilary fistula is a rare but well-recognized complication of hydatid disease. We describe such a case of...

Role of capsule endoscopy in blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
December 1, 2008... The blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome (BRBNS) is a rare disease characterized by skin lesions and intestinal venous malformations that lead to gastrointestinal bleeding and chronic anemia. About 200 cases have been published. Surgery is indicated...

Atypical presentation of spinal tuberculosis.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
December 1, 2008... Pulmonary tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and characterized by the presence of granuloma. (1) Features of spinal tuberculosis (Pott disease), an extrapulmonary form, include destruction of the...

Ruptured solitary internal iliac artery aneurysm: a rare cause of large-bowel obstruction.(Case study)
December 1, 2008... Isolated internal iliac artery aneurysms are much more rare than abdominal aortic aneurysms. They represent only 1% of all cases of aortoiliac aneurysmal disease (1) and 20% of all solitary iliac artery aneurysms. We report an unusual...

Rare cause of an inguinal mass in pregnancy.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
December 1, 2008... Inguinal hernia is a common condition, and the hernial contents may vary. We describe a rare case of an incarcerated uterine fibroid diagnosed in a pregnant woman. The treatment was operative, and we were able to successfully reduce the fibroid...

A rational, structured approach to primary aortoenteric fistula.(Case study)
December 1, 2008... Primary aortoenteric fistula (PAEF) is a relatively rare but serious complication of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Since Sir Astley Cooper first described PAEF in 1822, only about 300 cases have been reported in the literature. Roux and...

Paraduodenal hernia: a rare cause of abdominal pain.(Case study)
December 1, 2008... Internal abdominal hernias are rare conditions, accounting for 0.9% of all intestinal obstructions. (1) Paraduodenal hernias constitute half of all internal abdominal hernias. They occur when the small bowel herniates into the paraduodenal...

Acute acalculous cholecystitis: an unusual presenting feature of Churg--Strauss vasculitis.(Case study)
December 1, 2008... First described in 1951, the incidence of Churg--Strauss vasculitis (CSV) is 2.5 per 100 000 people per year. It is characterized by pulmonary and systemic necrotizing vasculitis, vascular or extravascular granuloma, eosinophilia and tissue...

Unusual combination of adenocarcinoma in the sigmoid colon and giant cystic retroperitoneal lymphangioma.(Case study)
December 1, 2008... We present here a rare case of a retroperitoneal cystic lymphangioma (RCL) combined with adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon, lithiasis of the urinary bladder and a large renal cyst. Although RCL is a benign lesion, it may cause clinically...

Use of N-acetylcysteine for postnecrosectomy peripancreatic collections in a patient with severe, acute pancreatitis.(Case study)
December 1, 2008... N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is useful in the management of various medical conditions such as chronic bronchitis and acetaminophen poisoning, and in tracheostomy care. (1-3) We report its use as a mucolytic agent in the treatment of peripancreatic...