Bladder perforation during transurethral resection of the bladder: a comprehensive algorithm for diagnosis, management and follow up

INTRODUCTION

Despite bladder perforation (BP) is a frequent complication during transurethral resection of bladder (TURB) for bladder cancer (BCa), literature lacks systematic reviews focusing on this issue. We aimed to investigate incidence, diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis after BP during TURB for BCa; therapy was distinguished between conservative (without the need for bladder repair) and surgical management (requiring bladder wall closure).

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A systematic search was conducted up to April 2021 using PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Web of Science to identify articles focusing on incidence, detection, management, or survival outcomes after iatrogenic BP. The selection of articles followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses process.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

We included 41 studies, involving 21,174 patients. Overall, 521 patients experienced BP during TURB for BCa, with a mean incidence of 2.4%, up to 58.3% when post-operative cystography is routinely performed after all TURB procedures. Risk factors were low body mass index (BMI) (p=0.01), resection depth (p=0.006 and p=0.03), and low surgical experience (p=0.006). Extraperitoneal BP (68.5%) were treated conservatively in 97.5% of patients; intraperitoneal BP were managed with surgical bladder closure in 56% of cases. Overall, three immediate BP-related deaths were recorded due to septic complications. Extravesical tumour seeding was observed after 6 intraperitoneal and 1 extraperitoneal BP (median time: 6.2 months). Intraperitoneal BP (p=0.0003) and bladder closure (p<0.001) were found as independent predictors of extravesical tumour recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

BP is more frequent than expected when proper diagnosis is routinely performed after all TURB procedures. Risk factors include low BMI, resection depth, and unexperienced surgeon. The risk of sepsis after BP suggests empirical antibiotic prophylaxis after BP.

Single staff cystectomy in a low-volume center: Oncological outcomes and complications

INTRODUCTION

Radical cystectomy (RC) with bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is a complex surgical procedure, associated with substantial perioperative complications. Previous studies suggested reserving it to high-volume centers in order to improve oncological and perioperative outcomes. However, only limited data exist regarding low-volume centers with highly experienced surgeons. We aimed to assess oncological and perioperative outcomes after RC performed by experienced surgeons in the low-volume center of Luzerner Kantonsspital, Lucerne, CH.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed data of 158 patients who underwent RC and PLND performed between 2009 and 2019 at a single low-volume center by three experienced surgeons, each having performed at least 50 RCs. Complications were graded according to the 2004 modified Clavien-Dindo grading system.

RESULTS

A total of 110 patients (70%) received an incontinent urinary diversion (ileal conduit or ureterocutaneostomy) and 48 patients (30%) received a continent urinary diversion (ileal orthotopic neobladder, ureterosigmoidostomy, or Mitrofanoff pouch). Median operating time was 419 minutes (interquartile range [IQR] 346-461). Overall, at RC specimen, 71.5% of patients had urothelial carcinoma ,12.6% squamous, 3.1% sarcomatoid, 1.2%glandular, and 0.6% small cell carcinoma. Median number of lymph nodes removed was 23 (IQR 16-29.5). Positive margins were found in eight patients (5.1%). Overall, five-year survival rate was 52.4%. The complication rate was 56.3%: 143 complications were found in 89 patients, 36 (22.8%) with Clavien ≥3. The 30-day mortality rate was 2.5%.

CONCLUSIONS

RC could be safely performed in a low-volume center by experienced surgeons with comparable outcomes to high-volume centers.

The multifaceted spectrum of liver cirrhosis in older hospitalised patients: analysis of the REPOSI registry

BACKGROUND

Knowledge on the main clinical and prognostic characteristics of older multimorbid subjects with liver cirrhosis (LC) admitted to acute medical wards is scarce.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the prevalence of LC among older patients admitted to acute medical wards and to assess the main clinical characteristics of LC along with its association with major clinical outcomes and to explore the possibility that well-distinguished phenotypic profiles of LC have classificatory and prognostic properties.

METHODS

A cohort of 6,193 older subjects hospitalised between 2010 and 2018 and included in the REPOSI registry was analysed.

RESULTS

LC was diagnosed in 315 patients (5%). LC was associated with rehospitalisation (age-sex adjusted hazard ratio, [aHR] 1.44; 95% CI, 1.10-1.88) and with mortality after discharge, independently of all confounders (multiple aHR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.37-3.22), but not with in-hospital mortality and incident disability. Three main clinical phenotypes of LC patients were recognised: relatively fit subjects (FIT, N = 150), subjects characterised by poor social support (PSS, N = 89) and, finally, subjects with disability and multimorbidity (D&M, N = 76). PSS subjects had an increased incident disability (35% vs 13%, P < 0.05) compared to FIT. D&M patients had a higher mortality (in-hospital: 12% vs 3%/1%, P < 0.01; post-discharge: 41% vs 12%/15%, P < 0.01) and less rehospitalisation (10% vs 32%/34%, P < 0.01) compared to PSS and FIT.

CONCLUSIONS

LC has a relatively low prevalence in older hospitalised subjects but, when present, accounts for worse post-discharge outcomes. Phenotypic analysis unravelled the heterogeneity of LC older population and the association of selected phenotypes with different clinical and prognostic features.

A thigh urinary fistula following radical prostatectomy and external beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer: a case report

Urinary fistula is a rare but severe complication which could occur after radiation therapy for prostate cancer (PCa). We describe the case of an inner thigh urinary fistula in a patient treated with radical prostatectomy and adjuvant radiation therapy for PCa. A 76-year-old man presented to the emergency room complaining of right thigh swelling, pain and fever. Computed tomography scan and urethra-cystography showed bladder-neck leakage and fluid collection, extended from the pelvis to the right inner thigh. Patient was treated with ultrasound-guided drainage and intravenous antibiotics. Timely diagnosis and treatment are necessary in order to reduce possible evolution to necrotizing fasciitis.

A comparison of perioperative outcomes of laparoscopic versus open nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a propensity score matching analysis

BACKGROUND

Radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) with the concomitant excision of the distal ureter and bladder cuff is the current standard of care for the treatment of muscle invasive and/or high-risk upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). In small uncontrolled studies, laparoscopic RNU has been suggested to be associated with better perioperative outcomes compared to open RNU. The aim of our study was to compare the perioperative oncological and functional outcomes of open RNU versus laparoscopic RNU after adjusting for preoperative baseline patient-related characteristics.

METHODS

We evaluated a multi-institutional retrospective database composed by 1512 patients diagnosed with UTUC and treated with open or laparoscopic RNU between 1990 and 2016. Perioperative outcomes included operative time, blood loss, and length of hospital stay, as well as postoperative complications, readmission, reoperation, and mortality rates at 30 and 90 days from surgery. A 1:1 propensity score matching estimated using logistic regression with the teffects psmatch function of STATA 13^® (caliper 0.2, no replacement; StataCorp LLC; College Station, TX, USA) was performed using preoperative parameters such as: age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Score.

RESULTS

Overall, 1007 (66.6%) patients were treated with open and 505 (33.4%) with laparoscopic RNU. Open RNU resulted into shorter median operative time (180 vs. 230 min, P<0.001) and longer median hospital stay (10 vs. 7 days, P<0.001) in comparison to laparoscopic RNU. No statistically significant difference was identified for the other variables of interest (all P>0.05). At multivariable linear regression after propensity score matching adjusted for lymph node dissection and year of surgery, laparoscopic RNU resulted in longer operative time (coefficient 43.6, 95% CI 27.9-59.3, P<0.001) and shorter hospital stay (coefficient -1.27, 95% CI -2.1 to -0.3, P=0.01) compared to open RNU, but the risk of other perioperative complications remained similar between the two treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

Laparoscopic RNU is associated with shorter hospital stay, but longer operative time in comparison to open RNU. Otherwise, there were no differences in other perioperative outcomes between these surgical modalities even after propensity score matching. The choice to offer laparoscopic or open RNU in the treatment of UTUC should not be based on concerns of different safety outcomes.

A comparison of perioperative outcomes of laparoscopic versus open nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a propensity score matching analysis

BACKGROUND

Radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) with the concomitant excision of the distal ureter and bladder cuff is the current standard of care for the treatment of muscle invasive and/or high-risk upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). In small uncontrolled studies, laparoscopic RNU has been suggested to be associated with better perioperative outcomes compared to open RNU. The aim of our study was to compare the perioperative oncological and functional outcomes of open RNU versus laparoscopic RNU after adjusting for preoperative baseline patient-related characteristics.

METHODS

We evaluated a multi institutional retrospective database composed by 1512 patients diagnosed with UTUC and treated with open or laparoscopic RNU between 1990 and 2016. Perioperative outcomes included operative time, blood loss, and length of hospital stay, as well as postoperative complications, readmission, reoperation, and mortality rates at 30 and 90 days from surgery. A 1:1 propensity score matching estimated using logistic regression with the teffects psmatch function of STATA 13® (caliper 0.2, no replacement) was performed using preoperative parameters such as: age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score.

RESULTS

Overall, 1007 (66.6%) patients were treated with open and 505 (33.4%) with laparoscopic RNU. Open RNU resulted into shorter median operative time (180 vs 230 min, p<0.001) and longer median hospital stay (10 vs 7 days, p<0.001) in comparison to laparoscopic RNU. No statistically significant difference was identified for the other variables of interest (all p>0.05). At multivariable linear regression after propensity score matching adjusted for lymph node dissection and year of surgery, laparoscopic RNU resulted in longer operative time (Coefficient 43.6, 95% CI 27.9-59.3, p<0.001) and shorter hospital stay (Coefficient -1.27, 95% CI -2.1 to -0.3, p=0.01) compared to open RNU, but the risk of other perioperative complications remained similar between the two treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

Laparoscopic RNU is associated with shorter hospital stay, but longer operative time in comparison to open RNU. Otherwise, there were no differences in other perioperative outcomes between these surgical modalities even after propensity score matching. The choice to offer laparoscopic or open RNU in the treatment of UTUC should not be based on concerns of different safety outcomes.

Cyclic nucleotide-dependent relaxation in human umbilical vessels

Umbilical vessels have a low sensitivity to dilate, and this property is speculated to have physiological implications. We aimed to investigate the different relaxing responses of human umbilical arteries (HUAs) and veins (HUVs) to agonists acting through the cAMP and cGMP pathways. Vascular rings were suspended in organ baths for isometric force measurement. Following precontraction with the thromboxane prostanoid (TP) receptor agonist U44069, concentration-response curves to the nitric oxide (NO) donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP), the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator BAY 41-2272, the adenylate cyclase (AC) activator forskolin, the β-adrenergic receptor agonists isoproterenol (ADRB1), salmeterol (ADRB2), and BRL37344 (ADRB3), and the phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors milrinone (PDE₃), rolipram (PDE₄), and sildenafil (PDE₅) were performed. None of the tested drugs induced a relaxation higher than 30% of the U44069-induced tone. Rings from HUAs and HUVs showed a similar relaxation to forskolin, SNP, PDE inhibitors, and ADRB agonists. BAY 41-2272 was significantly more efficient in relaxing veins than arteries. ADRB agonists evoked weak relaxations (< 20%), which were impaired in endothelium-removed vessels or in the presence of the NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME, sGC inhibitor ODQ. PKA and PKG inhibitors impaired ADBR1-mediated relaxation but did not affect ADRB2-mediated relaxation. ADRB3-mediated relaxation was impaired by PKG inhibition in HUAs and by PKA inhibition in HUVs. Although HUA and HUV rings were relaxed by BRL37344, immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR analysis showed that, compared to ADRB1 and ADRB2, ADRB3 receptors are weakly or not expressed in umbilical vessels. In conclusion, our study confirmed the low relaxing capacity of HUAs and HUVs from term infants. ADRB-induced relaxation is partially mediated by endothelium-derived NO pathway in human umbilical vessels.

Pulmonary hypertension and chronic lung disease: where are we headed?

Pulmonary hypertension related to chronic lung disease, mainly represented by COPD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, is associated with a worse outcome when compared with patients only affected by parenchymal lung disease. At present, no therapies are available to reverse or slow down the pathological process of this condition and most of the clinical trials conducted to date have had no clinically significant impact. Nevertheless, the importance of chronic lung diseases is always more widely recognised and, along with its increasing incidence, associated pulmonary hypertension is also expected to be growing in frequency and as a health burden worldwide. Therefore, it is desirable to develop useful and reliable tools to obtain an early diagnosis and to monitor and follow-up this condition, while new insights in the therapeutic approach are explored.