Digestive System
Online Learning Platform

Difficult question.  This response is based on Waterfall trial that compared moderate resucitation (1.5ml per Kg) vs aggressive (3ml per Kg) and showed no difference in worsening pancreatitis  but a tendency of fluid overload in the aggresive group (20.5% vs. 6.3%).

Ringer lactate or Hartmanns have been proved to have benefit ovver saline due to an anti-inflammatory effect which was attributed to the properties of lactate and to have a higher pH that can help counteract acidosis.

This indeed is a subject of debate. American guidelines still mentions that most patients with acute pancreatitis & hypovolaemia could have a deficit of 3-4 L to replace in 24h (Like it is our patient with vomiting and  mild hypotension and tachycardia) . If patient has no evidence of hypovolemia, an initial resuscitation rate of no more than 1.5 mL/kg of body weight per hour should be administered. However, in patients with hypovolemia, clinicians should administer a bolus of 10 mL/kg which in this case is 750ml per hour (1500ml in 2 hours)

So, the answer is  Goal-directed rehydration with Ringer’s lactate solution (or Hartmann’s).  In this case of Hypovolemia, our first step should be resucitate until volume is stable (normal BP, HR and clinical status) looking closely to avoid overfluid, and once patient is stable, keep her on 1.5ml per Kg per 24 h with clinical re-checking every few hours to ensure she is not hyper or overhydrated.

The caliber of the duodenoscope is 11.3mm  (shaft) with a 13.5mm distal end outer diameter.

This can help us  estimating the size of the biliary duct and the stones. We should use a balloon no bigger than  the size of the biliary duct at level of the trapped  stone, and ideally no  bigger than the duct diameter proximal to the ampullary segment.

In this case  biliary duct is approx the same size as the shaft , perhaps slightly less(10-11mm) therefore it is reasonable to start with the size balloon of 10mm (for 30-60 secs, although this is not well stablished) and keep inflating in ranges of 1mm per minute, until the waist of the balloon (see arrow)  disappears completely on fluoroscopic examination (see added picture  of a real balloon at the right to see how it should look at the end of the procedure) . Once balloon waist is gone, sphincter is considered to be adequately dilated .

Should be endoscopic ablation (Radiofrequency or similar).  We cannot resect endoscopically a lesion that we cannot see.  Check the guidelines

Mucosal xantoma - benign lesion composed of foamy macrophages within the lamina propria. fibrovascular. They presents as discrete single to multiple yellowish-white patches, most commonly in the antrum or pyloric region of the stomach . Endoscopically it sometimes can resemble candidiasis, polyp, lymphangiectasia, Russell body gastritis, and Pseudoxanthoma elastic or gastric malignancy.

Lymphangiectasia would have showed prominent dilated lymphatics in the lamina propria region of the villous structure, often with extension into submucosa . These are more commonly seen in duodenum or terminal ileum

Check the guidelines

Difficult case with patient older than 65 and comorbidities with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

Vedolizumab should be indicated in his case as it performs better than anti TNFs in ulcerative colitis, confirming the results of the Varsity study.   ( Over a 5 year period, drug persistence is higher in patients treated with vedolizumab as compared to anti-TNF therapies and loss of response is less frequent again in the vedolizumab group). Age or previous TIA /AV block are not contraindications for anti-TNF (only Moderate-severe heart failure, which is not the case) So even though Adalimumab would be a valid option, it should be ideally used if Vedolizumab fails.

JAK inhibitor (Tofacitinib) should not be prescribed in people with a history of cardiovascular disease (eg. heart attack or stroke) at increased risk of cardiovascular problems (eg. current or past long-time smokers) at increased risk of cancer or aged 65 years and over unless no suitable alternative

Ozanibod could be an oral alternative , however second-degree Mobitz type II atrioventricular (AV) bloc and TIA within the previous 6 months contraindicates its use.

Off the quizz options, another good one would be Ustekinumab (interleukin 12&23 antagonist drug ) as not contraindicated here and equally valid to Vedolizumab.

This is likely a lower GI bleed, however, the fact that is so abrupt and has caused   haemorrhagic shock makes us wonder if he is not having a severe upper GI bleed – frail patient taking clopidogrel - Severe upper GI bleed sometimes can be so brisk and profuse that blood travels the intestine fast wihtout being digested, so patient passes per rectum red bright blood instead of black melaena. (Blood is laxative too) As many as 10–15% of patients suspected initially to have lower GI bleed are ultimately found to have an UGI source.

Once OGD is done and clear, the next step should be depending on the clinical and hemodinamic status. Either prepare the patient for colonoscopy/ video capsule (If clinically stable)  or repeat CT angio (If clinically worse)-->If bleeding point is located and there is no access to IR (interventional radiology) the surgeons may want to proceed with exploration and colectomy but this is the last resource as obviously this is an elderly patient with cardiovascular factors (Clopidogrel) whose surgery would be high risk of mortality and morbidity.

Pancreatic cancer tends to have an ominous character, partly cause disease is a) advanced age, so even in resectable cases many patients are unfit for surgery and b) most cancers are borderline resecable, irresectable or metastatic. (80% of the pancreatic cancers are diagnosed in advanced stages)

Even in patient with surgical resection, the 5-year survival is quoted as 27%

A recent review showed that 5-year survival is 30% in Ia (T1 N0 M0- single 2cm or less panc mass)  dropping to 11.8% in Ib ( T2 N0 M0, this is single mass 2-4cm). When putting all the stages together, the 5 year survival is only 5%.

The best possible outcome would theorically be in an early cancer, 2cm or less (T1), found either incidentally (or if it gives symptoms very early), resectable (non conctacting vessels and not involving other anatomical structures, as well as surgically accesible)  and in a fit patient amenable for surgery.

In general, EMR recurrence  (presence of residual polypoid tissue at the level of the scar in control colonoscopy) is described as high as 20-30%.    Currently it is recommended to treat the margins of the scar immediately after polyp resection to reduce this rate.  Treating with APC or soft snare coagulation (this latter is preferred in the ESGE guidelines) help significantly reduce the recurrence

See Bourkes group RCT

See metanalisis