Immunocompromised patients are a heterogeneous and diffuse category frequently presenting to the emergency department with acute surgical diseases. Diagnosis and treatment in immunocompromised patients are often complex and must be multidisciplinary. Misdiagnosis of an acute surgical disease may be followed by increased morbidity and mortality. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of surgical disease occur; these patients may seek medical assistance late because their symptoms are often ambiguous. Also, they develop unique surgical problems that do not affect the general population. Management of this population must be multidisciplinary.This paper presents the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES), Surgical Infection Society Europe (SIS-E), World Surgical Infection Society (WSIS), American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), and Global Alliance for Infection in Surgery (GAIS) joined guidelines about the management of acute abdomen in immunocompromised patients.

Background The non-invasive analysis of body fluid composition with bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA) provides additional information allowing for more persona-lised therapy to improve outcomes. The aim of this study is to assess the prognostic value of fluid overload (FO) in the first week of intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Methods A retrospective, observational analysis of 101 ICU patients. Whole-body BIA measurements were performed, and FO was defined as a 5% increase in volume excess from baseline body weight. Results Baseline demographic data, including severity scores, were similar in both the fluid overload-positive (FO+, n = 49) patients and in patients without fluid overload (FO–, n = 52). Patients with FO+ had significantly higher cumulative fluid balance during their ICU stay compared to those without FO (8.8 ± 7.0 vs. 5.5 ± 5.4 litres; P = 0.009), VE (9.9 ± 6.5 vs. 1.5 ± 1.5 litres; P < 0.001), total body water (63.0 ± 9.5 vs. 52.8 ± 8.1%; P < 0.001), and extracellular water (27.0 ± 7.3 vs. 19.6 ± 3.7 litres; P < 0.001). The presence of 5%, 7.5%, and 10% fluid overload was directly associated with increased ICU mortality rates. The percentage fluid overload ( P = 0.039) was an independent predictor for hospital mortality. Conclusions A higher mortality rate in ICU-patients with FO was observed. FO is an independent prognostic factor because neither APACHE-II, SOFA, nor SAPS-II significantly differed on admission between survivors and non-survivors. Further research is needed to confirm these data prospectively and to evaluate whether BIA-guided deresuscitation in the subacute phase will improve mortality rates.

Intra-abdominal infections (IAI) are among the most common global healthcare challenges and they are usually precipitated by disruption to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Their successful management typically requires intensive resource utilization, and despite the best therapies, morbidity and mortality remain high. One of the main issues required to appropriately treat IAI that differs from the other etiologies of sepsis is the frequent requirement to provide physical source control. Fortunately, dramatic advances have been made in this aspect of treatment. Historically, source control was left to surgeons only. With new technologies non-surgical less invasive interventional procedures have been introduced. Alternatively, in addition to formal surgery open abdomen techniques have long been proposed as aiding source control in severe intra-abdominal sepsis. It is ironic that while a lack or even delay regarding source control clearly associates with death, it is a concept that remains poorly described. For example, no conclusive definition of source control technique or even adequacy has been universally accepted. Practically, source control involves a complex definition encompassing several factors including the causative event, source of infection bacteria, local bacterial flora, patient condition, and his/her eventual comorbidities. With greater understanding of the systemic pathobiology of sepsis and the profound implications of the human microbiome, adequate source control is no longer only a surgical issue but one that requires a multidisciplinary, multimodality approach. Thus, while any breach in the GI tract must be controlled, source control should also attempt to control the generation and propagation of the systemic biomediators and dysbiotic influences on the microbiome that perpetuate multi-system organ failure and death. Given these increased complexities, the present paper represents the current opinions and recommendations for future research of the World Society of Emergency Surgery, of the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery of Surgical Infection Society Europe and Surgical Infection Society America regarding the concepts and operational adequacy of source control in intra-abdominal infections.

We report a successfully treated case of severe thallium intoxication. In spite of very high serum thallium (5,240 micrograms/L), symptomatology was minor and recovery complete. Prussian Blue was administered, diuresis was enhanced by intravenous fluids and a prolonged hemodialysis was started early. High blood flows (300 mL/min) and intravenous potassium chloride supplements, to mobilize thallium from the tissues, resulted in good clearances (96 to 150 mL/min). In order to prevent the well known complications, we recommend aggressive treatment of severe thallium intoxication.

On January 2020, the WHO Director General declared that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The world has faced a worldwide spread crisis and is still dealing with it. The present paper represents a white paper concerning the tough lessons we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, an international and heterogenous multidisciplinary panel of very differentiated people would like to share global experiences and lessons with all interested and especially those responsible for future healthcare decision making. With the present paper, international and heterogenous multidisciplinary panel of very differentiated people would like to share global experiences and lessons with all interested and especially those responsible for future healthcare decision making.