Human oral cavity harbors the second most abundant microbiota after the gastrointestinal tract. The expanded Human Oral Microbiome Database (eHOMD) that was last updated on November 22, 2017, contains the information of approximately 772 prokaryotic species, where 70% is cultivable, and 30% belong to the uncultivable class of microorganisms along with whole genome sequences of 482 taxa. Out of 70% culturable species, 57% have already been assigned to their names. The 16S rDNA profiling of the healthy oral cavity categorized the inhabitant bacteria into six broad phyla, viz. Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Spirochaetes constituting 96% of total oral bacteria. These hidden oral micro-inhabitants exhibit a direct influence on human health, from host's metabolism to immune responses. Altered oral microflora has been observed in several diseases such as diabetes, bacteremia, endocarditis, cancer, autoimmune disease and preterm births. Therefore, it becomes crucial to understand the oral microbial diversity and how it fluctuates under diseased/perturbed conditions. Advances in metagenomics and next-generation sequencing techniques generate rapid sequences and provide extensive information of inhabitant microorganisms of a niche. Thus, the retrieved information can be utilized for developing microbiome-based biomarkers for their use in early diagnosis of oral and associated diseases. Besides, several apex companies have shown keen interest in oral microbiome for its diagnostic and therapeutic potential indicating a vast market opportunity. This review gives an insight of various associated aspects of the human oral microbiome.

PurposeThis randomized clinical trial was conducted to compare a fistulectomy and a fistulotomy with marsupialization in the management of a simple anal fistula.MethodsForty patients with simple anal fistula were randomized into two groups. Fistulous tracts were managed by using a fistulectomy (group A) while a fistulotomy with marsupialization was performed in group B. The primary outcome measure was wound healing time while secondary outcome measures were operating time, postoperative wound size, postoperative pain, wound infection, anal incontinence, recurrence and patient satisfaction.ResultsPostoperative wounds in group B healed earlier in comparison to group A wounds (4.85 ± 1.39 weeks vs. 6.75 ± 1.83 weeks, P = 0.035). No significant differences existed between the operating times (28.00 ± 6.35 minutes vs. 28.20 ± 6.57 minutes, P = 0.925) and visual analogue scale scores for postoperative pain on the first postoperative day (4.05 ± 1.47 vs. 4.50 ± 1.32, P = 0.221) for the two groups. Postoperative wounds were larger in group A than in group B (2.07 ± 0.1.90 cm2 vs. 1.23 ± 0.87 cm2), however this difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.192). Wound discharge was observed for a significantly longer duration in group A than in group B (4.10 ± 1.91 weeks vs. 2.75 ± 1.71 weeks, P = 0.035). There were no differences in social and sexual activities after surgery between the patients of the two groups. No patient developed anal incontinence or recurrence during the follow-up period of twelve weeks.ConclusionIn comparison to a fistulectomy, a fistulotomy with marsupialization results in faster healing and a shorter duration of wound discharge without increasing the operating time.

A single dose of prophylactic antibiotic failed to decrease the likelihood of SSI after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

This review was aimed to systematically evaluate the available literature on the impact of COVID‐19 on cancer care and to critically analyze the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies suggested by various healthcare providers, societies, and institutions. Majority guidelines for various types of cancers favored a delay in treatment or a nonsurgical approach wherever feasible. These guidelines are based on a low level of evidence and have significant discordance for the role and timing of surgery, especially in early tumors.

Introduction: Management of non-traumatic perforation of the small intestine has always been a consideration for surgeons because of associated enormous morbidity and mortality. There is a paucity of data on the management of non-traumatic perforation of the small intestine. Methodology: A retrospective study was conducted which involved analysis of 192 patients treated for non-traumatic perforation of small intestine in a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India. The clinical profile and management of the patients were studied. Results: The most common cause of non-traumatic perforation of small intestine was typhoid (46.4%), followed by non-specific inflammation (39.2%), tuberculosis (12.8%) and malignant neoplasm (1.6%). Primary repair was the most frequent procedure (44.0%), followed by ileostomy (25.5%) and resection-anastomosis (19.3%). Superficial wound infection was the most frequent postoperative complication (46.8%), followed by wound dehiscence (31.3%). The wound infection rate was reduced significantly following delayed primary closure of skin incision. Enterocutaneous fistula/leak developed in 11.5% patients. Salvage ileostomy for post-operative intestinal leak resulted in a better survival rate as compared to conservative treatment (85.7% vs. 50.0%). The overall mortality rate was 16.6%.   Conclusion: Operative procedures undertaken for the management of non-traumatic perforation of small intestine can be classified into two groups: procedures that leave an intestinal suture line inside the peritoneal cavity and procedures that do not. The no suture line-in procedure seems to be better option in adverse patient conditions.

CO(2) pneumoperitoneum enhances the activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis associated with laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patients with risk factors like old age, obesity or with expected long duration of laparoscopic surgery are likely to have significant activation of coagulation, making them a vulnerable risk group for development of postoperative deep vein thrombosis, warranting some form of thromboprophylaxis.

Male patients of acute cholecystitis or patient with serum C-reactive protein levels of >3.6 mg/dl at admission have high risk of conversion in early laparoscopic cholecystectomy and warrant a conservative early management followed by delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Background: With the establishment of the oncological safety and due to the potential of low anterior resection (LAR) with sphincter salvage in improving the quality of life of patients with low and mid rectal cancers, it has become a popular treatment modality. A potential complication of the procedure is anastomotic dehiscence which results in a significant increase in postoperative morbidity and mortality. Methods: A literature search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the role of protective diversion stoma with no stoma in LAR of the rectum was performed in PubMed. The effect size for dichotomous and continuous data was displayed as relative risk (RR) and weighted mean difference (WMD), respectively, with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals. A fixed effect or random effects model was used to pool the data according to the result of a statistical heterogeneity test. Results: Five RCTs were identified and included in the analysis. These yielded 390 patients who had undergone a protective diversion ileostomy at the time of the surgery (LAR) and 378 who had not, resulting in a total of 768 patients, all of whom were included in the meta-analysis. The fashioning of an ileostomy significantly decreased the anastomotic leak (AL) rates (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.21–0.51, p < 0.000) and the reoperation rates (RR 0.26, 95% CI 0.15–0.45, p < 0.000). Conclusion: This meta-analysis found that a protective diversion ileostomy in LAR for rectal cancer decreases the AL rates by one third and the reoperation rates by one fourth. Thus, we conclude that fashioning such a stoma is beneficial.