UNASSIGNED: This study evaluated the technical and clinical outcomes of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) in patients with acute small-bowel bleeding (SBB) and aimed to identify potential risk factors for early recurrent bleeding after TAE.
UNASSIGNED: Thirty-one patients with SBB managed with TAE between January 2006 and December 2021 were included. Technical and clinical success was defined as angiographic occlusion of the bleeding artery and disappearance of clinical or laboratory signs of persistent bleeding without major complications. Complications were classified according to the Society of Interventional Radiology\'s guidelines. Kaplan-Meier estimates assessed overall survival, and logistic regression models determined risk factors for clinical success and early rebleeding.
UNASSIGNED: Technical and clinical success were achieved in 30/31 (97%) and 19 (61%), respectively. Early recurrent bleeding was present in 9 (29%) patients, and was treated by repeat embolization in 4 patients, conversion to surgery in 4, and comfort therapy in 1 patient. TAE-related small bowel ischemia requiring surgery was found in 2 (6.5%) patients. Thirty-day and in-hospital mortality were 19% (6/31) and 23% (7/31), respectively; overall 5-year estimated survival was 60%. Thrombocytopenia and elevated prothrombin time (PT)/activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) levels prior to TAE were identified as risk factors for clinical failure (P=0.0026 and P=0.027, respectively), and for residual or early recurrent bleeding (P<0.001 and P=0.01, respectively).
UNASSIGNED: TAE is safe and effective for managing severe SBB; however, early recurrent bleeding was found in nearly one third of patients. Thrombocytopenia and elevated PT/aPTT levels were risk factors for early recurrent bleeding.

Crohn\'s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that frequently affects the small bowel. Individuals diagnosed with CD are at increased risk of developing bowel cancer compared to the general population. Small bowel cancer is a rare but significant CD complication. Adenocarcinoma represents the most prevalent of these neoplasms, followed by neuroendocrine tumors and sarcomas. The primary risk factors identified are being of the male sex, disease duration, previous surgical intervention, perianal disease, and chronic inflammation. The precise etiology remains unclear. Another crucial issue concerns the role of immunomodulators and advanced therapies. By inhibiting inflammation, these therapies can reduce the risk of cancer, which is often initiated by the inflammation-dysplasia-adenocarcinoma sequence. In accordance with the most recent guidelines, it is not necessary to conduct surveillance in patients with small bowel cancer among CD patients, as it is considered a rare disease. Nevertheless, it is of significant importance for gastroenterologists to be aware of this potential CD complication, as well as the patients who are most at risk of developing it. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of CD-SBC, focusing on epidemiology, etiopathogenesis, risk factors, diagnosis, and the role of advanced therapies in CD-SBC.

While bowel obstruction is the most common surgical disorder of the small intestine, small bowel obstruction due to Meckel\'s diverticulum is a relatively rare occurrence. We encountered a compelling case of small bowel obstruction that turned out to be more complex than anticipated, involving a Meckel\'s diverticulum with some unforeseen findings. We followed standard guidelines for history-taking, examination, investigations, and management of the intestinal obstruction. After exhausting conservative treatment options, we opted for surgical intervention, and the unexpected cause of the obstruction took us by surprise. This case report highlights an exceedingly rare entity: Meckel\'s diverticulum precipitating uncommon complications.

UNASSIGNED: Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the small bowel are rare but clinically significant due to their challenging diagnostic pathways and potential for insidious progression. Early identification is critical for effective management and improved prognosis in these cases.
METHODS: Here, we present a case of a 75-year-old patient with no significant medical history who presented acutely with diffuse abdominal pain, vomiting, and signs of bowel obstruction. Diagnostic workup, including CT imaging, revealed a distal ileal neuroendocrine mass with mesenteric lymphadenopathy, necessitating urgent surgical intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: This case underscores the diagnostic complexities and therapeutic challenges associated with small bowel NETs. Surgical resection with meticulous lymph node dissection remains the cornerstone of treatment, aimed at achieving complete tumor excision and optimal disease control. The role of imaging modalities and biochemical markers in guiding clinical decisions and postoperative management strategies is discussed considering the patient\'s clinical course.
CONCLUSIONS: Timely recognition and intervention are crucial in the management of small bowel NETs, given their potential for late presentation and nonspecific symptoms. Despite diagnostic and procedural challenges highlighted in this case, early surgical intervention and comprehensive follow-up are essential for achieving favorable outcomes and minimizing recurrence risks in patients with small bowel NETs.

UNASSIGNED: A significant number of frames captured by the wireless capsule endoscopy are involved with varying amounts of bubbles. Whereas different studies have considered bubbles as nonuseful agents due to the fact that they reduce the visualization quality of the small intestine mucosa, this research aims to develop a practical way of assessing the rheological capability of the circular bubbles as a suggestion for future clinical diagnostic purposes.
UNASSIGNED: From the Kvasir-capsule endoscopy dataset, frames with varying levels of bubble engagements were chosen in two categories based on bubble size. Border reflections are present on the edges of round-shaped bubbles in their boundaries, and in the frequency domain, high-frequency bands correspond to these edges in the spatial domain. The first step is about high-pass filtering of border reflections using wavelet transform (WT) and Differential of Gaussian, and the second step is related to applying the Fast Circlet Transform (FCT) and the Hough transform as circle detection tools on extracted borders and evaluating the distribution and abundance of all bubbles with the variety of radii.
UNASSIGNED: Border\'s extraction using WT as a preprocessing approach makes it easier for circle detection tool for better concentration on high-frequency circular patterns. Consequently, applying FCT with predefined parameters can specify the variety and range of radius and the abundance for all bubbles in an image. The overall discrimination factor (ODF) of 15.01, and 7.1 showing distinct bubble distributions in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The discrimination in ODF from datasets 1-2 suggests a relationship between the rheological properties of bubbles and their coverage area plus their abundance, highlighting the WT and FCT performance in determining bubbles\' distributions for diagnostic objectives.
UNASSIGNED: The implementation of an object-oriented attitude in gastrointestinal analysis makes it intelligible for gastroenterologists to approximate the constituent features of intra-intestinal fluids. this can\'t be evaluated until the bubbles are considered as non-useful agents. The obtained results from the datasets proved that the difference between the calculated ODF can be used as an indicator for the quality estimation of intraintestinal fluids\' rheological features like viscosity, which helps gastroenterologists evaluate the quality of patient digestion.

BACKGROUND: Clinical care pathways help guide and provide structure to clinicians and providers to improve healthcare delivery and quality. The Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Committee (QIPS) of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) has previously published care pathways for the performance of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and pre-operative care of patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB).
OBJECTIVE: This current RYGB care pathway was created to address intraoperative care, defined as care occurring on the day of surgery from the preoperative holding area, through the operating room, and into the postanesthesia care unit (PACU).
METHODS: PubMed queries were performed from January 2001 to December 2019 and reviewed according to Level of Evidence regarding specific key questions developed by the committee.
RESULTS: Evidence-based recommendations are made for care of patients undergoing RYGB including the pre-operative holding area, intra-operative management and performance of RYGB, and concurrent procedures.
CONCLUSIONS: This document may provide guidance based on recent evidence to bariatric surgeons and providers for the intra-operative care for minimally invasive RYGB.

BACKGROUND: Hemangiomas of the small intestine are rare and usually present in young people. They are very difficult to diagnose preoperatively. We report a rare case of mixed intestinal hemangioma (IH) causing intussusception in a pediatric patient.
METHODS: A 3-month-old girl, with no prior medical or surgical history, was admitted with rectal bleeding and paroxysmal crying due to intermittent abdominal pain. An urgent abdominal ultrasound revealed ileo-ileal intussusception. Operative findings confirmed the intussusception, and a segmental resection of the intussuscepted jejunum was performed. Histopathological examination found a mixed hemangioma. The postoperative course was uneventful.
CONCLUSIONS: Clinical presentation may include intestinal bleeding leading to anemia, obstruction, intussusception and perforation. Intussusception caused by small bowel hemangioma is extremely rare. Notably, we didn\'t find any cases of small bowel hemangioma revealed by intussusception in children. The main treatment for hemangiomas is surgical resection of the affected segment. No evidence in the literature on postoperative recurrence of hemangiomas.
CONCLUSIONS: Intussusception secondary to intestinal hemangiomas is extremely rare. Preoperative diagnosis is challenging as they are often undetectable with traditional techniques. Enhanced awareness and understanding of this condition can facilitate earlier diagnosis and improve management outcomes.

A 46-year-old man presented with a small bowel prolapsing through the anus after straining on the toilet, which was starting to become ischaemic. He admitted to inserting a plastic object in his rectum about half an hour before straining. The bowel was kept moist by placing an intravenous drip line with saline dripping onto a wet swab. In theatre, the bowel was found to be prolapsing through a hole in the upper rectum and out through the anus. It was reduced back into the abdominal cavity through the same perforation, which was 4 cm long, without needing to extend it. This was sutured with polydioxanone (PDS) 2-0 as there was no contamination with faeces or pus. Due to improvement in the appearance of a small bowel and an extremely bruised mesentery, a re-look was planned in 24 hours. At the re-look the small bowel appeared healthy, therefore no resection was performed. However, a loop colostomy was fashioned to protect the upper rectal perforation repair. This shows that resection is not always required in such cases.

OBJECTIVE: Isolated small bowel Crohn\'s disease (SBCD) is reported to have a worse prognosis compared to other CD phenotypes. The aim of this study was to understand the correlation between Isolated SBCD and ileocolonic disease with blood and faecal biomarkers and also to identify differences in outcome and management between the two phenotypes.
METHODS: Patients with ileocolonic or isolated small bowel Crohn\'s Disease (SBCD) were identified from an existing capsule endoscopy (CE) database. Harvey Bradshaw Index (HBI), biomarkers: c-reactive protein (CRP) and faecal calprotectin (FC), Lewis score and findings on CE and subsequent follow up data were collected. SPSS was used to analyse the data.
RESULTS: In total 248 patients were included in the study. Patients were split into two groups- Isolated SBCD with 178 patient (median age 44 years (IQR 31-56); 41.5 % male) and Ileocolonic Crohn\'s with 70 patients (median age 31 years (IQR 22.7-49); 31.5 % male). A new diagnosis of SBCD was made in 38.7 % (n = 96), whilst 60.0 % (n = 144) had established CD. Patients with ileocolonic disease had a higher HBI in comparison to isolated SBCD [HBI = 7 (IQR 5-10) vs HBI = 6(IQR 4-9); P = 0.04 ]. There was no significant difference in the FC levels between isolated SBCD and ileocolonic disease [136ug/g (IQR 53.8-363.3) vs 171ug/g (IQR 68.5-485.5); p = 0.98]. In isolated SBCD group, 30.3 % (n = 54) CE showed proximal disease, 96 % (n = 171) showed distal disease and 26.4 % (n = 47) showed extensive disease. SBCE was superior to MRI at diagnosing proximal SBCD (P < 0.01). On multivariate logistic regression, we did not identify any predictors of disease severity defined as Lewis score > 790. Following SBCE, 68.5 % (n = 170) of the total patients had a management change. This included commencement or dose escalation of corticosteroids in 123 (49.5 %) patients, azathioprine in 80 (33.3 %) patients, methotrexate in 22 (9.1 %) patients and biological therapy in 110 (44.3 %) patients. HBI predicted a change in management (p < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: CE is an important modality for the diagnosis of active SBCD. It also helps guide treatment in patients identified with active disease.

UNASSIGNED: We previously showed enteric nerve activation after application of colonic mucosal biopsy supernatants from patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The question remains whether this is a region-specific or a generalized sensitization. We tested the nerve-activating properties of supernatants from large and small intestinal regions of IBS patients with diarrhea (IBS-D) in comparison to those from mastocytosis patients with diarrhea (MC-D) or non-IBS/non-MC patients with GI-complaints. MC-D patients were included to test samples from patients with an established, severe mast cell disorder, because mast cells are suggested to play a role in IBS.
UNASSIGNED: Voltage-sensitive dye imaging was used to record the effects of mucosal biopsy supernatants from IBS-D, MC-D, and non-IBS/non-MC on guinea pig submucous neurons. Mast cell density and histamine concentrations were measured in all samples.
UNASSIGNED: The median neuroindex (spike frequency × % responding neurons in Hz × %) was significantly (all p < 0.001) increased for IBS-D (duodenum and colon, proximal and distal each, 49.3; 50.5; 63.7; 71.9, respectively) compared to non-IBS/non-MC (duodenum and colon, proximal and distal each, 8.7; 4.9; 6.9; 5.4, respectively) or MC-D supernatants (duodenum and colon, proximal and distal each, 9.4; 11.9; 0.0; 7.9, respectively). Nerve activation by MC-D and non-IBS/non-MC supernatants was comparable (p>0.05). Mast cell density or histamine concentrations were not different between IBS-D, MC-D, and non-IBS/non-MC samples.
UNASSIGNED: Nerve activation by biopsy supernatants is an IBS hallmark that occurs throughout the gut, unrelated to mast cell density or histamine concentration. At least as important is our finding that GI complaints per se were not associated with biopsy supernatant-induced nerve activation, which further stresses the relevance of altered nerve behavior in IBS.