CONVENTION ISSUE
Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
GENERAL SURGERY NEWS The Independent Monthly Newspaper for the General Surgeon
GeneralSurgeryNews.com
August 2021 • Volume 48 • Number 8
Surgery for Diverticulitis: Who, When and How Still Up for Debate
Should Disappearing Colorectal Liver Metastases Be Resected?
By CHRISTINA FRANGOU
By KATE O’ROURKE
C
H
olorectal surgeons at the 2021 annual meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons recommended a new approach to an old dilemma: what to do for patients with diverticulitis. Today, the management options for patients with this disease are more varied than in the past and still evolving, according to the panelists. They urged physicians to consider patients’ goals and disease severity, as well as surgeon and system factors, when weighing treatment options. Management of diverticulitis has
ow should disappearing colorectal liver metastases be managed? This topic was debated at the Society of Surgical Oncology 2021 International Conference on Surgical Cancer Care by Thomas Aloia, MD, the vice president and director of the oncology service at Ascension Health, in Houston, and Laleh Melstrom, MD, MS, an assistant professor of surgery and immuno-oncology at City of Hope National Medical Center in Glendora, Calif.
Disappearing Liver Mets Should Be Resected Dr. Aloia said term definitions are critical to the discussion. Disappearing liver metastases respond to preoperative therapy but are still visible on high-quality liver imaging. This differs from disappeared liver metastases, which are not visible on high-quality liver imaging but detectable in the OR, and
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Ridesharing Linked To Lower Rates of Vehicle Crash Trauma
OPINION
OPINION
Dear Intern:
Inflammation Everywhere
If You Could Go Back to Day 1, What Would You Tell Yourself?
By JENNA BASSETT, PhD
By ALLEABELLE GONGOLA, MD
By HENRY BUCHWALD, MD, PhD
Acute Inflammation
W
ates of motor vehicle crash trauma and impaired driving convictions fell in relation to the introduction of ridesharing services in Texas, according to a new study. The use of ridesharing services supported reductions in motor vehicle crash trauma trau and convictions for impaired driving in Houston, as reported by the study pub published in JAMA Surgeryy (202 (2021;e212227). “Tr “Traumatic injuries are one o of the leading causes of death
single quote can have an impact for years. I have a habit of writing down proverbs h ffrom coaches, books and podcasts so that I can draw on them as sources of inspiration. They are on notecards on my wall, the top lines on my daily to-do lists and backgrounds on my laptop. Almost a decade ago, during my senior year of high school, I was sitting in my own
hen I started as a practitioner, r, I understood inflammation too mean an acute response to trauma (e.g.,, tissue-penetrating injury) or a pathogen n (e.g., streptococcal bacteria). This response nse consisted of a plasma cellular compo-nent, a vascular effect and immune system participation. The immediate granulocyte cellular involvement is primarily by neutrophils, and under certain circumstances basophils or eosinophils, followed by mononuclear macrophages. Vasodilation occurs first at the arteriole level, followed by capillary dilation, resulting
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