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Background: The novel composite metric textbook outcome (TO) has increasingly been used as a quality indicator but has not been reported among patients undergoing surgical resection for retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) using multi-institutional collaborative data. Methods: All patients who underwent resection for RPS between 2000 to 2016 from eight academic institutions were included. TO was defined as a patient with R0/R1 resection that discharged to home and was without transfusion, reoperation, grade ≥2 complications, hospital-stay >50th percentile, or 90-day readmission or mortality. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed. Results: Among 627 patients, 56.1% were female and the median age was 59 years. A minority of patients achieved a TO (34.9%). Factors associated with achieving a TO were tumor size <20 cm and low tumor grade, while ASA class ≥3, history of a prior cardiac event, resection of left colon/rectum, distal pancreatic resection, major venous resection and drain placement were associated with not achieving a TO (all P < .05). Achievement of a TO was associated with improved survival (median:12.7 vs 5.9 years, P < .01). Conclusions: Among patients undergoing resection for RPS, failure to achieve TO is common and associated with significantly worse survival. The use of TO may inform patient expectations and serve as a measure for patient-level hospital performance.

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Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common cause of antimicrobial-associated diarrhea. Probiotics have shown variable results in decreasing its incidence and severity. We examined the efficacy of Lactobacillus reuteri administered using a novel probiotic biofilm delivery system in the treatment and prevention of CDI in a murine model.For prophylactic therapy, mice received an oral antibiotic cocktail followed by clindamycin injection, followed by probiotic administration (planktonic vs. biofilm state), followed by C. difficile oral gavage. For treatment therapy, mice received antibiotics and C. difficile first, followed by probiotic administration. Clinical sickness scores (CSS) and intestinal histologic injury scores (HIS) were assigned.In the Prophylactic Therapy model, CSS: 67% of untreated mice exposed to C. difficile demonstrated CSS ≥ 6, which is consistent with C. difficile infection (p< .001 compared to unexposed mice). In mice treated with planktonic Lr, 55% had a CSS ≥ 6, but only 19% of mice treated with Lr in its biofilm state had CSS ≥ 6 (p< .001). Mice receiving Lr + DM-Maltose lost the least amount of weight compared to mice receiving saline (p = .004676) or to mice receiving Lr (p= .003185). HIS: 77% of untreated mice exposed to C. difficile had HIS scores ≥4, which is consistent with C. difficile infection. In mice treated with planktonic Lr, 62% had HIS ≥4, but only 19% of mice treated with Lr in its biofilm state had HIS ≥4. (p< .001). Additionally, mice treated with Lr in its biofilm state had better survival compared to untreated mice and to mice treated with planktonic Lr (p ≤ 0.05). Similar findings for weight loss, CSS, HIS and survival were obtained for Treatment Therapy.A single dose of Lactobacillus reuteri in its biofilm state reduces the severity and incidence of experimental C. difficile infection when administered as both prophylactic and treatment therapy.

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Growth factors have important roles in gastrointestinal (GI) tract development, maintenance, and response to injury. Various in vitro, in vivo, and human experiments have been used to demonstrate growth factor influence. Collectively, these studies have demonstrated enhancement of mucosal proliferation, intestinal motility, and immune modulation, decreased apoptosis, enhanced gut barrier function, and enteric nervous system (ENS) protection. Select growth factors, including epidermal growth factor (EGF) and heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF), demonstrate some beneficial effects in experimental and clinical intestinal injury, including necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The roles of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), erythropoietin (EPO), growth hormone (GH), and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in NEC have also been investigated. The roles of these growth factors will be summarized in this chapter.

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Purpose of Review Although bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment of severe obesity, a proportion of patients experience clinically significant weight regain (WR) with further out from surgery. The purpose of this review is to summarize the prevalence, predictors, and causes of weight regain. Recent Findings Estimating the prevalence of WR is limited by a lack of consensus on its definition. While anatomic failures such as dilated gastric fundus after sleeve gastrectomy and gastro-gastric fistula after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass can lead to WR, the most common causes appear to be dysregulated/maladaptive eating behaviors, lifestyle factors, and physiological compensatory mechanisms. To date, dietary, supportive, behavioral, and exercise interventions have not demonstrated a clinically meaningful impact on WR, and there is limited evidence for pharmacotherapy. Summary Future studies should be aimed at better defining WR to begin to understand the etiologies. Additionally, there is a need for non-surgical interventions with demonstrated efficacy in rigorous randomized controlled trials for the prevention and reversal of WR after bariatric surgery.