Wound site infections increase costs, hospital stay, morbidity, and mortality. Techniques used for wounds management after laparotomy are primary, delayed primary, and vacuum-assisted closures. The objective of this study is to compare infection rates between those techniques in contaminated and dirty/ infected wounds. Eighty-one laparotomized patients with Class III or IV surgical wounds were enrolled in a three-arm randomized prospective study. Patients were allocated to each group with the software Research Randomizer® (Urbaniak, G. C, & Plous, S., Version 4.0). Presence of infection was determined by a certified board physician according to Centers for Disease Control's Criteria for Defining a Surgical Site Infection. Twenty-seven patients received primary closure, 29 delayed primary closure, and 25 vacuum-assisted closure, with no exclusions for analysis. Surgical site infection was present in 10 (37%) patients treated with primary closure, 5 (17%) with primary delayed closure, and 0 (0%) patients receiving vacuum-assisted closure. Statistical significance was found between infection rates of the vacuum-assisted group and the other two groups. No significant difference was found between the primary and primary delayed closure groups. The infection rate in contaminated/dirty-infected laparotomy wounds decreases from 37 and 17 per cent with a primary and delayed primary closures, respectively, to 0 per cent with vacuum-assisted systems.

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HighlightsWe report a 15 cm asymptomatic thoracic aortic aneurysm of a 72-year-old male patient, treated successfully with TEVAR.Endovascular aortic repair is a safe and promising option in the treatment of giant thoracic aneurysms.Giant thoracic aortic aneurysm is considered when widening of the aortic wall exceeds 10 cm in diameter.

Endoleak is the most frequent complication following endovascular aneurysm repair, which is not present in the surgical counterpart. The most frequent type of endoleak corresponds to type II, and its natural history remains poorly understood. Therefore, their treatment continues to be a topic of debate. The vast majority of the studies found in the literature are of a retrospective nature, and there are no prospective studies comparing intervention versus a conservative approach. Future studies should aim to compare not only different approaches to resolve type II endoleak but also when should be the right time to treat them, with the primary purpose of avoiding sac rupture. The objective of this review is to provide the reader with a literature overview about type II endoleaks to help in the decision-making process on this topic.

Background Academic interaction with mentors has almost become minimal due to the current pandemic of COVID-19. The objective of this study is to introduce how a group of vascular surgery residencies joined forces to improve surgical education in times of COVID-19. Methods On May 2020, a group of Hispanic American vascular residency programs created webinar sessions of arterial and venous clinical cases among vascular residents across Latin America and Europe. Participants were surveyed via email. Questions were about the perceived quality and utility of the webinars; answers were stratified into negative (disagree), neutral, and positive (agree). Results There have been 60 sessions and 118 clinical cases presented. The survey was answered by 106 participants, 82 males (78.8%) and 24 women (23.0%). Fifty-four (51.9%) were board-certified vascular surgeons, 49 (47.1%) vascular surgery residents, and 2 (1.9%) general surgery residents. Mean age of the participants was 41.5 years (range: 25–74 years). Mean years of vascular surgery practice or experience were 11.2 years (range: 0–45 years). The residency programs involved in this project were from 13 different countries. Most answers received were positive for both perceived quality and utility of the webinars. Conclusion Globalization and technology provide an opportunity for international education, with the goal of building well-rounded and academic vascular surgeons. This group is just the beginning of a large collaborative group among Hispanic American countries, hoping that more residency programs will join, with the aim of breaking borders in the education of vascular surgery.