Category Archives: Acute Care Surgery

PUBLISHED: Airway Management: Techniques and Equipment

Airway Management: Techniques and Equipment
Dany Accilien, MD*Dexter C. Graves, MD*Nicholas Ludmer, MDStephen Estime, MDAbdullah Hasan Pratt, MD
UChicago Medicine

This video article discusses airway management techniques in trauma resuscitation. It outlines the preparation and equipment used in patients with impending airway failure that require airway protection and ventilatory support. We discuss the innovative airway towers used in the University of Chicago emergency room as well as the general approach to airway management. We also go over the different types of laryngoscopy, assist devices, and cricothyroidotomy surgical airway procedures.

PUBLISHED: Laparoscopic Lysis of Adhesions for Closed Loop Small Bowel Obstruction

Laparoscopic Lysis of Adhesions for Closed Loop Small Bowel Obstruction
Jade Refuerzo, BSNicole B. Cherng, MD
UMass Memorial Medical Center

Laparoscopic lysis of adhesions is a minimally-invasive approach to the resolution of a closed loop small bowel obstruction (SBO) due to adhesions. A patient with an SBO can present with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and obstipation. History of prior abdominal surgeries serves as a significant risk factor for development of intra-abdominal adhesions. Imaging using either plain abdominal radiography or computed tomography (CT) can be diagnostic for closed loop SBOs. Conservative management with gastrografin can be considered in some SBOs, but closed loop SBOs are considered surgical emergencies. Utilization of specific signs (two transition points, pneumoperitoneum, signs of bowel ischemia) on imaging and patient presentation can facilitate earlier intervention.

Laparoscopic lysis of adhesions can resolve symptoms through releasing the bowel from the adhesion to improve flow. Lysis of adhesions can be performed open, laparoscopically, or with robotic techniques. This case presents a laparoscopic lysis of adhesions in a patient with a closed loop small bowel obstruction.