Skip to main content
World Journal of Emergency Surgery : WJES logoLink to World Journal of Emergency Surgery : WJES
. 2024 Apr 16;19:14. doi: 10.1186/s13017-024-00543-w

Goodbye Hartmann trial: a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study on the current use of a surgical procedure developed a century ago

Gennaro Perrone 1, Mario Giuffrida 2,3,, Fikri Abu-Zidan 4, Vitor F Kruger 5, Marco Livrini 1, Gabriele Luciano Petracca 1, Giorgio Rossi 1, Antonio Tarasconi 6, Brian W C A Tian 7, Elena Bonati 2, Ricardo Mentz 8, Federico N Mazzini 8, Juan P Campana 8, Elisabeth Gasser 9, Reinhold Kafka-Ritsch 9, Daniel M Felsenreich 10, Christopher Dawoud 10, Stefan Riss 10, Carlos Augusto Gomes 11, Felipe Couto Gomes 11, Ricardo Alessandro Teixeira Gonzaga 12, Cassio Alfred Brattig Canton 12, Bruno Monteiro Pereira 13, Gustavo P Fraga 5, Leticia Gonçalves Zem 5, Vinicius Cordeiro-Fonseca 14, Renato de Mesquita Tauil 14, Boyko Atanasov 15, Nikolay Belev 15, Nikola Kovachev 15, L Juan José Meléndez 16, Ana Dimova 17, Stefan Dimov 17, Zdravko Zelić 17, Goran Augustin 18, Branko Bogdanić 18, Trpimir Morić 18, Elie Chouillard 19, Melinda Bajul 20, Belinda De Simone 21, Yves Panis 22, Francesco Esposito 23, Margherita Notarnicola 24,25, Lelde Lauka 24, Anna Fabbri 24, Hassen Hentati 25, Iskander Fnaiech 25, Venara Aurélien 26, Marie Bougard 26, Maxime Roulet 26, Zaza Demetrashvili 27, Irakli Pipia 27, Giorgi Merabishvili 27, Konstantinos Bouliaris 28, Georgios Koukoulis 28, Christos Doudakmanis 28, Sofia Xenaki 29, Emmanuel Chrysos 29, Stamatios Kokkinakis 29, Panteleimon Vassiliu 30, Nikolaos Michalopoulos 30, Ioannis Margaris 30, Aristotelis Kechagias 31, Konstantinos Avgerinos 31, Jevgeni Katunin 31, Eftychios Lostoridis 32, Eleni-Aikaterini Nagorni 32, Antonio Pujante 32, Francesk Mulita 33, Ioannis Maroulis 33, Michail Vailas 33, Athanasios Marinis 34, Ioannis Siannis 34, Eirini Bourbouteli 34, Dimitrios K Manatakis 35, Nikolaos Tasis 35, Vasileios Acheimastos 35, Sotiropoulou Maria 36, Kapiris Stylianos 36, Harilaos Kuzeridis 36, Dimitrios Korkolis 37, Evangelos Fradelos 37, George Kavalieratos 37, Thalia Petropoulou 38, Andreas Polydorou 38, Ioannis Papacostantinou 38, Tania Triantafyllou 39, Despina Kimpizi 39, Dimitrios Theodorou 39, Konstantinos Toutouzas 40, Alexandros Chamzin 40, Maximos Frountzas 40, Dimitrios Schizas 41, Ioannis Karavokyros 41, Athanasios Syllaios 41, Alexandros Charalabopoulos 42, Maria Boura 42, Efstratia Baili 42, Orestis Ioannidis 43, Lydia Loutzidou 43, Elissavet Anestiadou 43, Ioannis Tsouknidas 44, Georgios Petrakis 44, Eleni Polenta 44, Lovenish Bains 45, Rahul Gupta 46, Sudhir K Singh 46, Archana Khanduri 46, Miklosh Bala 47, Asaf Kedar 47, Marcello Pisano 48, Mauro Podda 48, Adolfo Pisanu 48, Gennaro Martines 49, Giuseppe Trigiante 49, Giuliano Lantone 49, Antonino Agrusa 50, Giuseppe Di Buono 50, Salvatore Buscemi 50, Massimiliano Veroux 51, Rossella Gioco 51, Gastone Veroux 51, Luigi Oragano 52, Sandro Zonta 52, Federico Lovisetto 52, Carlo V Feo 53, Antonio Pesce 53, Nicolò Fabbri 53, Giulio Lantone 54, Fabio Marino 54, Fabrizio Perrone 54, Leonardo Vincenti 55, Vincenzo Papagni 55, Arcangelo Picciariello 55, Stefano Rossi 56, Biagio Picardi 56, Simone Rossi Del Monte 56, Diego Visconti 57, Giulia Osella 57, Luca Petruzzelli 57, Giusto Pignata 58, Jacopo Andreuccetti 58, Rossella D’Alessio 58, Massimo Buonfantino 59, Eleonora Guaitoli 59, Stefano Spinelli 59, Gianluca Matteo Sampietro 60, Carlo Corbellini 60, Leonardo Lorusso 60, Alice Frontali 61,62, Isabella Pezzoli 61, Alessandro Bonomi 61, Andrea Chierici 62, Christian Cotsoglou 62, Giuseppe Manca 63, Antonella Delvecchio 63, Nicola Musa 63, Massimiliano Casati 64, Laface Letizia 64, Emmanuele Abate 64, Giorgio Ercolani 65, Fabrizio D’Acapito 65, Leonardo Solaini 65, Gianluca Guercioni 66, Simone Cicconi 66, Diego Sasia 67, Felice Borghi 67, Giorgio Giraudo 67, Giuseppe Sena 68, Pasquale Castaldo 68, Eugenia Cardamone 68, Giuseppe Portale 69, Matteo Zuin 69, Ylenia Spolverato 69, Marialusia Esposito 70, Roberta Maria Isernia 70, Maria Di Salvo 70, Romina Manunza 71, Giuseppe Esposito 71, Marcello Agus 71, Emanuele Luigi Giuseppe Asti 72, Daniele Tiziano Bernardi 72, Tommaso Panici Tonucci 72, Davide Luppi 73, Massimiliano Casadei 73, Stefano Bonilauri 73, Angela Pezzolla 74, Annunziata Panebianco 74, Rita Laforgia 74, Maurizio De Luca 75, Monica Zese 75, Dario Parini 75, Elio Jovine 76, Giuseppina De Sario 76, Raffaele Lombardi 76, Giovanni Aprea 77, Giuseppe Palomba 77, Marianna Capuano 77, Giulio Argenio 78, Gianluca Orio 78, Mariano Fortunato Armellino 78, Marina Troian 79, Martina Guerra 79, Carlo Nagliati 79, Alan Biloslavo 80, Paola Germani 80, Giada Aizza 80, Igor Monsellato 81, Ali Chaouki Chahrour 81, Gabriele Anania 82, Cristina Bombardini 82, Francesco Bagolini 82, Gabriele Sganga 83, Pietro Fransvea 83, Valentina Bianchi 83, Paolo Boati 84, Francesco Ferrara 84, Francesco Palmieri 84, Pasquale Cianci 85, Domenico Gattulli 85, Enrico Restini 85, Nicola Cillara 86, Alessandro Cannavera 86, Gabriela Elisa Nita 87, Jlenia Sarnari 87, Francesco Roscio 88, Federico Clerici 88, Ildo Scandroglio 88, Stefano Berti 89, Alessandro Cadeo 89, Alice Filippelli 89, Luigi Conti 90, Carmine Grassi 90, Gaetano Maria Cattaneo 90, Marina Pighin 91, Davide Papis 91, Giovanni Gambino 92, Vanessa Bertino 92, Domenico Schifano 92, Daniela Prando 93, Luisella Fogato 93, Fabio Cavallo 93, Luca Ansaloni 94, Roberto Picheo 94, Nicholas Pontarolo 94, Norma Depalma 95, Marcello Spampinato 95, Stefano D’Ugo 95, Luca Lepre 96, Michela Giulii Capponi 96, Rossella Domenica Campa 96, Giuliano Sarro 97,98, Vincenza Paola Dinuzzi 97, Stefano Olmi 99, Matteo Uccelli 99, Davide Ferrari 99, Marco Inama 100, Gianluigi Moretto 100, Michele Fontana 100, Francesco Favi 101, Erika Picariello 101, Alessia Rampini 101, Andrea Barberis 102, Antonio Azzinnaro 102, Alba Oliva 102, Luigi Totaro 103, Ilaria Benzoni 103, Valerio Ranieri 103, Gabriella Teresa Capolupo 104, Filippo Carannante 104, Marco Caricato 104, Maurizio Ronconi 105, Silvia Casiraghi 105, Giovanni Casole 105, Desire Pantalone 106, Giovanni Alemanno 106, Maximilian Scheiterle 106, Marco Ceresoli 107, Marco Cereda 107, Chiara Fumagalli 107, Federico Zanzi 108, Stefano Bolzon 108, Enrico Guerra 108, Francesca Lecchi 109, Paola Cellerino 109, Antonella Ardito 109, Rosa Scaramuzzo 110, Andrea Balla 110, Pasquale Lepiane 110, Nicola Tartaglia 111, Antonio Ambrosi 111, Giovanna Pavone 111, Gian Marco Palini 112, Simone Veneroni 112, Gianluca Garulli 112, Claudio Ricci 113,114, Beatrice Torre 113,114, Iris Shari Russo 113,114, Matteo Rottoli 113,114, Marta Tanzanu 113,114, Angela Belvedere 113,114, Marco Milone 115, Michele Manigrasso 115, Giovanni Domenico De Palma 115, Micaela Piccoli 116, Gianmaria Casoni Pattacini 116, Stefano Magnone 117, Paolo Bertoli 117, Michele Pisano 117, Paolo Massucco 118, Marco Palisi 118, Andrea-Pierre Luzzi 118, Francesco Fleres 119, Guglielmo Clarizia 119, Alessandro Spolini 119, Yoshiro Kobe 120, Takayuki Toma 120, Fumihiko Shimamura 120, Robert Parker 121, Sinkeet Ranketi 121, Mercy Mitei 121, Saulius Svagzdys 122, Henrikas Pauzas 122, Justas Zilinskas 122, Tomas Poskus 123, Marius Kryzauskas 123, Matas Jakubauskas 123, Andee Dzulkarnaen Zakaria 124, Zaidi Zakaria 124, Michael Pak-Kai Wong 124, Asri Che Jusoh 125, Muhammad Nazreen Zakaria 125, Daniel Rios Cruz 126, Aurea Barbara Rodriguez Elizalde 126, Alejandro Bañon Reynaud 126, Edgard Efren Lozada Hernandez 127, Jose maria Victor Palomo Monroy 127, Diego Hinojosa-Ugarte 127, Martha Quiodettis 128, María Esther Du Bois 128, José Latorraca 128, Piotr Major 129, Michał Pędziwiatr 129, Magdalena Pisarska-Adamczyk 129, Maciej Walędziak 130, Andrzej Kwiatkowski 130, Łukasz Czyżykowski 130, Silvia Dantas da Costa 131, Bela Pereira 131, Ana Rita Oliveira Ferreira 131, Filipe Almeida 132, Ricardo Rocha 132, Carla Carneiro 132, Diego Pita Perez 133, João Carvas 133, Catarina Rocha 133, Cátia Ferreira 134, Rita Marques 134, Urânia Fernandes 134, Pedro Leao 135, André Goulart 135, Rita Gonçalves Pereira 136, Sara Daniela Direito Patrocínio 136, Nuno Gonçalo Gonçalves de Mendonça 136, Maria Isabel Cerqueira Manso 137, Henrique Manuel Cardoso Morais 137, Paulo Sebastião Cardoso 137, Valentin Calu 138, Adrian Miron 138, Elena Adelina Toma 138, Mahir Gachabayov 139, Abakar Abdullaev 139, Andrey Litvin 140, Taras Nechay 141, Alexander Tyagunov 141, Anvar Yuldashev 141, Alison Bradley 142, Michael Wilson 142, Arpád Panyko 143, Zuzana Látečková 143, Vladimír Lacko 143, Dusan Lesko 144, Marek Soltes 144, Jozef Radonak 144, Victor Turrado-Rodriguez 145, Roser Termes-Serra 145, Xavier Morales-Sevillano 145, Pierfrancesco Lapolla 146, Andrea Mingoli 146, Gioia Brachini 146, Maurizio Degiuli 147, Silvia Sofia 147, Rossella Reddavid 147, Andrea de Manzoni Garberini 148, Angelica Buffone 148, Eduardo Perea del Pozo 149, Daniel Aparicio-Sánchez 149, Sandra Dos Barbeito 149, Mercedes Estaire-Gómez 150, Rebeca Vitón-Herrero 150, Mª de los Ángeles Gil Olarte-Marquez 150, José Gil-Martínez 151, Felipe Alconchel 151, Tatiana Nicolás-López 151, Aida Cristina Rahy-Martin 152, María Pelloni 152, Raquel Bañolas-Suarez 152, Fernando Mendoza-Moreno 153, Francisca García-Moreno Nisa 153, Manuel Díez-Alonso 153, María Elisa Valle Rodas 154, María Carmona Agundez 154, María Inmaculada Pérez Andrés 154, Claudia Cristina Lopes Moreira 155, Aintzane Lizarazu Perez 155, Iñigo Augusto Ponce 155, Ana María González-Castillo 156, Estela Membrilla-Fernández 156, Silvia Salvans 156, Mario Serradilla-Martín 157, Pablo Sancho Pardo 157, Daniel Rivera-Alonso 158, Jana Dziakova 158, Jose Mugüerza Huguet 158, Naila Pagès Valle 159, Enrique Colás Ruiz 159, Cristina Rey Valcárcel 160, Cristina Ruiz Moreno 160, Yeniffer Tatiana Moreno Salazar 160, Juan Jesús Rubio García 161, Silvia Sevila Micó 161, Joaquín Ruiz López 161, Silvia Pérez Farré 162, Maite Santamaria Gomez 162, Nuria Mestres Petit 162, Alberto Titos-García 163, Jose Manuel Aranda-Narváez 163, Laura Romacho-López 163, Luis Sánchez-Guillén 164, Veronica Aranaz-Ostariz 164, Marina Bosch-Ramírez 164, Aleix Martínez-Pérez 165, Elías Martínez-López 165, Juan Carlos Sebastián-Tomás 165, Granada Jimenez-Riera 166, Javier Jimenez-Vega 166, Jose Aurelio Navas Cuellar 166, Andrea Campos-Serra 167, Anna Muñoz-Campaña 167, Raquel Gràcia-Roman 167, Javier Martínez Alegre 168, Francisca Lima Pinto 168, Sara Nuñez O’Sullivan 168, Francisco Blanco Antona 169, Beatriz Muñoz Jiménez 169, Jaime López-Sánchez 169, Zahira Gómez Carmona 170, Rocio Torres Fernández 170, Isabel Blesa Sierra 170, Laura Román García de León 171, Verónica Polaino Moreno 171, Eva Iglesias 171, Paola Lora Cumplido 172, Altea Arango Bravo 172, Ignacio Rey Simó 173, Carlota López Domínguez 173, Aloia Guerreiro Caamaño 173, Rafael Calleja Lozano 174, Manuel Durán Martínez 174, Álvaro Naranjo Torres 174, Javier Tomas Morales Bernaldo de Quiros 175, Gianluca Pellino 176, Miriam Moratal Cloquell 176, Elsa García Moller 176, Sami Jalal-Eldin 177, Ahmed K Abdoun 177, Hytham K S Hamid 177, Varut Lohsiriwat 178, Aitsariya Mongkhonsupphawan 178, Oussama Baraket 179, Karim Ayed 179, Imed Abbassi 179, Ali Ben Ali 180, Houssem Ammar 180, Ali Kchaou 181, Ahmed Tlili 181, Imen Zribi 181, Elif Colak 182, Suleyman Polat 182, Zehra Alan Koylu 182, Ali Guner 183, Mehmet Arif Usta 183, Murat Emre Reis 183, Baris Mantoglu 184, Emre Gonullu 184, Emrah Akin 185, Fatih Altintoprak 185, Zulfu Bayhan 185, Necattin Firat 185, Arda Isik 186, Ufuk Memis 186, Mehmet Bayrak 187, Yasemin Altıntaş 187, Yasin Kara 188, Mehmet Abdussamet Bozkurt 188, Ali Kocataş 188, Koray Das 189, Ahmet Seker 189, Nazmi Ozer 189, Semra Demirli Atici 190, Korhan Tuncer 190, Tayfun Kaya 190, Zeynep Ozkan 191, Onur Ilhan 191, Ibrahim Agackiran 191, Mustafa Yener Uzunoglu 192, Eren Demirbas 192, Yuksel Altinel 193, Serhat Meric 193, Nadir Adnan Hacım 193, Derya Salim Uymaz 194, Nail Omarov 194, Emre Balık 194, Giovanni D Tebala 195, Hany Khalil 195, Mridul Rana 195, Mansoor Khan 196, Charlotte Florence 196, Christie Swaminathan 196, Cosimo Alex Leo 197, Lampros Liasis 197, Josef Watfah 197, Ivan Trostchansky 198, Edward Delgado 198, Marcelo Pontillo 198, Rifat Latifi 199, Raul Coimbra 200, Sara Edwards 200, Ana Lopez 200, George Velmahos 201, Ander Dorken 201, Anthony Gebran 201, Amanda Palmer 202, Jeffrey Oury 202, James M Bardes 202, Sirivan Suon Seng 203, Lauren S Coffua 203, Asanthi Ratnasekera 203, Tanya Egodage 204, Karla Echeverria-Rosario 204, Isabella Armento 204, Lena M Napolitano 205, Naveen F Sangji 205, Mark Hemmila 205, Jacob A Quick 206, Tyler R Austin 206, Theodore S Hyman 206, William Curtiss 207, Amanda McClure 207, Nicholas Cairl 207, Walter L Biffl 208, Hung P Truong 208, Kathryn Schaffer 208, Summer Reames 208, Filippo Banchini 3, Patrizio Capelli 3, Federico Coccolini 209, Massimo Sartelli 210, Francesca Bravi 211, Carlo Vallicelli 101, Vanni Agnoletti 101, Gian Luca Baiocchi 212, Fausto Catena 101
PMCID: PMC11020610  PMID: 38627831

Abstract

Background

Literature suggests colonic resection and primary anastomosis (RPA) instead of Hartmann’s procedure (HP) for the treatment of left-sided colonic emergencies. We aim to evaluate the surgical options globally used to treat patients with acute left-sided colonic emergencies and the factors that leading to the choice of treatment, comparing HP and RPA.

Methods

This is a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. A total 1215 patients with left-sided colonic emergencies who required surgery were included from 204 centers during the period of March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020. with a 1-year follow-up.

Results

564 patients (43.1%) were females. The mean age was 65.9 ± 15.6 years. HP was performed in 697 (57.3%) patients and RPA in 384 (31.6%) cases. Complicated acute diverticulitis was the most common cause of left-sided colonic emergencies (40.2%), followed by colorectal malignancy (36.6%). Severe complications (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3b) were higher in the HP group (P < 0.001). 30-day mortality was higher in HP patients (13.7%), especially in case of bowel perforation and diffused peritonitis. 1-year follow-up showed no differences on ostomy reversal rate between HP and RPA. (P = 0.127). A backward likelihood logistic regression model showed that RPA was preferred in younger patients, having low ASA score (≤ 3), in case of large bowel obstruction, absence of colonic ischemia, longer time from admission to surgery, operating early at the day working hours, by a surgeon who performed more than 50 colorectal resections.

Conclusions

After 100 years since the first Hartmann’s procedure, HP remains the most common treatment for left-sided colorectal emergencies. Treatment’s choice depends on patient characteristics, the time of surgery and the experience of the surgeon. RPA should be considered as the gold standard for surgery, with HP being an exception.

Keywords: Hartmann’s procedure, Ostomy, Emergency surgery, Resection, Primary anastomosis, Left side, Colon, Diverticulitis, Colorectal cancer

Introduction

The Hartmann’s procedure (HP) is a rapid, simple surgical procedure, with relatively low perioperative morbidity and mortality. It was first described in 1921 as a solution for obstructed left-sided colonic carcinomas. Hartmann’s procedure consists of 3 steps: (1) resection of a diseased segment of the colon near the rectosigmoid junction, (2) closure of the distal rectal stump and (3) formation of an end colostomy [13].

During early 1900s three staged approach (first stage, diverting colostomy; second stage, resection of the diseased colon; third and last stage, colostomy closure) was the most common treatment for left-sided colonic diseases. Since the second half of the last century thanks to the discovery of antibiotics, the surgical practice changed, enabling surgeons to control postoperative infections and HP started to be used [4].

HP showed better outcomes than three-stage surgery due to less postoperative peritonitis, fewer reoperations, and lower mortality. In the 1980s and 1990s, different studies favored HP, becoming the first-line treatment for left-sided colonic emergencies [5, 6] However, in the last 2 decades, the role of HP has been questioned compared with colonic resection and primary anastomosis. [7, 8] There was no difference in major postoperative complications and mortality between these two procedures [810]. Furthermore, the presence of fecal peritonitis was no longer considered an absolute contraindication for immediate bowel continuity reconstruction. [610]

Furthermore, only few patients get their stoma reversed after HP. Hartmann’s reversal is also associated with high morbidity rates up to 58% and mortality up to 3.6%, with non-reversal rate ranging from 23 to 74% [11].

Despite the growing evidence supporting primary anastomosis for left-sided colonic emergencies, many surgeons are still reluctant to follow this evidence. The main concern is the anastomotic leakage which can be disastrous, especially in sick patient, leading to medicolegal implications. Other factors may affect the choice of HP over other treatment, most of these procedures are typically performed beyond normal working hours, and often by young surgeons. [1214]

The Goodbye Hartmann Trial aimed to evaluate the surgical options globally used to treat patients with acute left-sided colonic emergencies and the factors impacting treatment choice, comparing HP and RPA.

Methods

Study design

This study was a multicenter, prospective, observational study done in 204 hospitals from 31 different countries in 5 continents.

The study was developed and presented, according to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Epidemiological Practices [15].

The study was approved by an independent ethical committee (Comitato etico AVEN – area vasta Emilia nord) and by the local ethical committees of all participating centers. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. The participating surgeons performed their duties according to their usual practices.

The Goodbye Hartmann Trial was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT04829032).

Data were collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools hosted at Parma University Hospital. [16, 17] The recruitment period lasted 3 months (March 1 2021, to May 31 2021).

No patient’s identifiable data (name, date of birth, address, telephone number, etc.) were recorded.

Patient selection criteria

Inclusion criteria: patients aged between 18 and 100 years; diagnosis of left-sided (splenic flexure, descending colon and sigmoid colon) colonic emergency (perforated diverticulitis with purulent or fecal peritonitis; large bowel perforation-obstruction; colon cancer perforation-obstruction; ischemic colitis; abdominal trauma); surgical treatment with RPA, HP, ileostomy or colostomy.

Exclusion criteria: patients ineligibile for surgery, hemodynamically unstable patients, defined as patients with an abnormal or unstable blood pressure that resulted in tissue hypoperfusion; patients with left-sided colonic emergency managed with non-surgical treatment; patients with previous colorectal surgery; patients with concomitant non colonic emergencies.

Variables and definitions

Demographic data and baseline characteristics: age, gender, BMI, comorbidities, ASA score, previous abdominal surgery, Glasgow Coma Scale, quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (qSOFA) [18], symptoms. Vital parameters: temperature, systolic blood pressure, respiratory rate. Laboratory data: white cell blood count (WBC), blood hemoglobin concentration, C-reactive protein (CRP). Disease characteristics: etiology (acute complicated diverticulitis, colorectal cancer, colon ischemia, abdominal trauma, foreign bodies, volvulus, intussusception); preoperative diagnosis and assessment was performed according to the clinical practice of each center, CT scan of the abdomen was always performed in case of diverticulitis and the severity was assessed according to 2015 CT driven classification of left colon acute diverticulitis [19]; clinical presentation (perforation, obstruction, ischemia).

Surgical details: Hartmann’s procedure (HP), colonic resection with primary anastomosis with or without diverting stoma (RPA), stoma without colonic resection.

Hospital characteristics: hospital type, annual volume of emergency surgical procedures; annual volume of surgical left-sided colonic disease; availability of Intensive Care Unit (ICU)). Surgeon’s experience. Time of surgery: weekdays, weekend, bank holidays, night shift. Postoperative outcomes: length of stay (LOS), Clavien-Dindo Classification, reoperation, anastomotic leakage. Follow-up data was collected in all patients at 1 year after the index admission, including data on subsequent stoma reversal and related complications.

Outcomes

The primary objective was to analyze the factors leading to the surgical choice.

Secondary aims included defining the rate of Hartmann’s procedure reversal and the rate of permanent stoma after 1 year of follow-up.

Statistical analysis

Patients were divided into three main groups: patients who underwent Hartmann’s procedure; patients who underwent colonic resection with primary anastomosis with or without ileostomy; and patients who underwent only ostomy (ileostomy or colostomy) without colonic resection, according to the most common treatment performed in left-sided colonic emergencies. Subgroup analysis was performed for patients with colorectal cancer and those with complicated acute diverticulitis. Quantitative data was expressed as mean (SD) or median and interquartile range (IQR, minimum and maximum values). The qualitative data were presented as absolute frequencies, relative frequencies, cumulated frequencies, and percentages. Student’s t test, Mann Whitney U test or ANOVA were used for comparisons of continuous or ordinal variables among groups as appropriate. Chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate, was used for analysis of categorical data.

A logistic regression model defining the factors affecting the decision to do primary anastomosis was performed. The patients were divided into two groups: those who had resection and primary anastomosis of the colon (n = 384) and those who had Hartman’s procedure or ostomy alone (n = 831). Variables who had a loose p value of less than 0.1 were entered into a backward Stepwise (Likelihood Ratio) logistic regression model defining factors affecting the decision to perform resection and primary anastomosis of the colon. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. A p value of less than 0.05 was accepted as significant.

Results

Baseline patient characteristics

A total 1307 patients were included in the study.

Complete data were available in 1215 (92.9%) patients. HP was performed in 697 (57.3%) patients, RPA in 384 (31.6%) cases and ostomy (ileostomy or colostomy) without bowel resection in 134 (11.0%) patients.

The baseline characteristics of the study cohort stratified according to the surgical procedure are reported on Table 1.

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics

Variable Total HP group RPA group Ostomy group P value
Age—mean ± SD 65.8 ± 15.6 68.7 ± 15.0 61.7 ± 14.9 62.5 ± 17.5 < .001
Female sex—N. (%) 557 (45.9%) 331 (47.5%) 168 (43.8%) 58 (43.6%) 0.431
Body Mass Index (BMI)—Mean ± SD 26.5 ± 4.9 26.5 ± 5.2 26.8 ± 4.4 25.7 ± 4.9 0.123
ASA—N. (%) < .001
1 144 (11.9%) 71 (10.2%) 55 (14.3%) 18 (13.6%)
2 451 (37.3%) 214 (30.8%) 189 (49.4%) 48 (36.3%)
3 451 (37.3%) 274 (39.5%) 128 (33.5%) 49 (37.1%)
4 138 (11.4%) 113 (16.3%) 10 (2.6%) 15 (11.3%)
5 23 (1.9%) 21 (3.0%) 0 (0.0%) 2 (1.5%)
Previous abdominal surgery—N. (%) 373 (30.9%) 220 (31.6%) 118 (30.7%) 35 (26.3%) 0.480
Fever—N. (%) 285 (23.4%) 193 (28.9%) 71 (19.3%) 21 (16.1%) < .001
qSOFA score ≥ 2—N. (%) 142 (11.6%) 105 (15.0%) 26 (6.7%) 11 (8.2%) < .001
WBC (10^9/L)—Mean ± SD 12.8 ± 7.8 13.3 ± 9.2 12.0 ± 4.8 12.6 ± 6.6 0.048
HB—mean ± SD 12.3 ± 3.6 12.2 ± 4.2 12.7 ± 2.7 11.7 ± 2.1 0.021
CRP—mean ± SD 85.1 ± 88.9 93.4 ± 93.1 73.6 ± 81.8 70.7 ± 78.0 0.001

HP, Hartmann’s procedure; RPA, primary anastomosis

Disease characteristics

Acute complicated diverticulitis (ACD) and colorectal cancer (CRC) were the most common causes of left-sided colonic emergencies. CRC and ACD patients’ characteristics are reported in Appendix 1 and 2.

HP was performed mostly in presence of large bowel perforations (455/694, 65.5%). RPA was performed prevalently in large bowel obstruction (189/384 (49.2%) (P < 0.001), Table 2.

Table 2.

Disease types and clinical presentation

Variable Total HP group RPA group Ostomy group P value
Etiology
Complicated Acute Diverticulitis 490 (40.3%) 304 (43.6%) 168 (43.7%) 18 (13.4%) < .001
CRC 445 (36.6%) 229 (32.8%) 154 (40.1%) 62 (46.2%) 0.003
Sigmoid volvulus 55 (4.5%) 31 (4.4%) 16 (4.1%) 8 (5.9%) 0.681
Foreign body 21 (1.7%) 14 (2.0%) 7 (1.8%) 0 (0.0%) 0.833
Trauma 21 (1.7%) 7 (1.0%) 8 (2.0%) 6 (4.4%) 0.015
Intussusception 5 (0.4%) 2 (0.2%) 1 (0.2%) 2 (1.4%) 0.117
Other cancer 15 (1.2%) 5 (0.7%) 2 (0.5%) 8 (5.9%) < .001
Other 163 (13.3%) 105 (15.0%) 28 (7.2%) 30 (22.3%) < .001
Clinical presentation
Large bowel perforation 694 (57.1%) 455 (65.5%) 201 (28.9%) 38 (5.4%) < .001
Large bowel obstruction 527 (43.7%) 255 (37.0%) 189 (49.2%) 83 (62.4%) < .001
Colonic Ischemia 119 (9.9%) 91 (13.2%) 13 (3.4%) 15 (11.1%) < .001

In patients with large bowel perforation HP was preferred especially in patients with ASA score ≥ 3 (OR = 1.49; P = 0.002), within 12 h from hospital admission (OR = 0.64; P = 0.047) and during nighttime (OR = 1.73; P = 0.013).

In patients with large bowel obstruction, HP was preferred in patients with ASA score ≥ 3 (OR = 1.32; P = 0.028), within 12 h from hospital admission (OR = 0.65; P = 0.029), during nighttime (OR = 2.16; P = 0.000) and in centers with low volume of emergency surgical procedures (OR = 0.62; P = 0.023).

Time of surgery

HP was generally performed within 12 h from hospital admission in 396 (56.7%) patients Conversely, the 40.1% of RPA cases were performed after 24 h from hospital admission (P < 0.001).

Hospital’s characteristics didn’t affect the time from hospital admission to surgery (P = 0.285).

During weekends, HP was the most performed procedure (178/270, 65.9%). RPA was performed only in 64/270 patients (23.7%) during weekends (P = 0.025).

HP distribution during daytime and nighttime was similar with the 51.5% of HP performed during the day and the 48.5% during the night (from 8 pm to 7am). Conversely, most of RPA (73.4%) were performed during the day and only the 26.6% of RPA during the night (P < 0.001).

HP was the most common treatment during weekends and nighttime also in patients with low ASA score. During the weekends and the nighttime, the 59.3% and 62.2% of ASA < 3 patients respectively underwent HP against the 44.7% of weekdays and 39.6% of daytime (P = 0.013) (Table 3).

Table 3.

Time of surgery

Variable Total HP group RPA group Ostomy group P value
Time from hospital admission to surgery < .001
Less than 1 h 37 (3.0%) 25 (3.5%) 8 (2.0%) 4 (2.9%)
Between 1 and 6 h 402 (33.1%) 255 (36.6%) 99 (25.8%) 48 (35.8%)
From 6 to 12 h 213 (17.5%) 141 (20.2%) 54 (14.0%) 18 (13.4%)
From 12 to 24 h 169 (13.9%) 90 (12.9%) 68 (17.7%) 11 (8.2%)
After 24 h 392 (32.3%) 185 (26.5%) 154 (40.2%) 53 (39.5%)
Day of surgery 0.025
Weekday 926 (76.2%) 507 (72.7%) 314 (81.7%) 105 (78.3%)
Weekend 270 (22.2%) 178 (25.5%) 64 (16.6%) 28 (20.8%)
Public holiday 18 (1.4%) 12 (1.7%) 5 (1.3%) 1 (0.7%)
Time of surgery < .001
Day: 7 am–8 pm 735 (60.4%) 359 (51.5%) 282 (73.4%) 94 (70.1%)
Early night: 8 pm–11 pm 241 (19.8%) 157 (22.5%) 62 (16.1%) 22 (16.4%)
Late night: 11 pm–7am 238 (19.6%) 181 (25.9%) 39 (10.1%) 18 (13.4%)

Surgical approach

Laparotomy was the most common surgical approach (n = 985, 81.1%). Among the different surgical procedures, 623 (89.5%) HP and 110 (82.0%) ostomies were performed via laparotomy. Laparoscopic colonic resection with primary anastomosis was the most common laparoscopic procedure (127/233, 54.5%) (P < 0.001). Peculiarly, 80.7% of laparoscopic procedures were performed during daytime (P < 0.001). During nighttime, laparoscopy was performed only in 43/478 (8.9%) patients, 28 (12.5%) during early night and only in 15 (6.7%) in late night. Robotic surgery was attempted 6 times (0.49%), only one patient underwent robotic HP while the other five underwent robotic RPA.

Surgeon and center characteristics

Inexperienced surgeons performed more HP and ostomies than RPA compared with experienced surgeons (P < 0.001). Inexperienced surgeons performed less laparoscopic procedures (12.6%) than experienced surgeons (20.6%) (P = 0.041). Inexperienced surgeons also performed 50.1% of operations during nighttime (11 pm to 7 pm). Notably the 29.9% of all surgical procedures took place in the late night (from 11 pm to 7 am). While experienced surgeons performed 35.4% of operations during nighttime and only 16.1% during late night (P = 0.002).

The distribution and types of surgical procedures were similar across the hospitals, regardless of origin country. Most of the RPA cases were performed in hospitals with high volume of emergency surgical procedures. (P = 0.005). The surgeon and center characteristics are summarized on Table 4.

Table 4.

Surgeon and center characteristics

Variable Total HP group RPA group Ostomy group P value
Surgeon’s experience < .001
> 50 colorectal resections 901 (74.1%) 497 (55.1%) 322 (35.7%) 82 (9.1%)
< 50 colorectal resections 314 (25.8%) 200 (63.6%) 62 (19.7%) 52 (16.5%)
> 10 colorectal resections per year in the last 5 years 871 (71.6%) 491 (56.3%) 303 (34.7%) 77 (8.8%) < .001
< 10 colorectal resections per year in the last 5 years 330 (27.1%) 199 (60.3%) 77 (23.3%) 54 (16.3%)
Center characteristics 0.004
Academic 568 (47.2%) 313 (45.4%) 180 (47.2%) 75 (56.3%)
Trauma Center 112 (11.8%) 73 (10.6%) 33 (8.6%) 6 (4.5%)
Non-Trauma Center 535 (41.0%) 311 (44.0%) 171 (44.2%) 53 (39.2%)
Presence of Intensive Care Unit (ICU)? 1198 (98.5%) 683 (99.1%) 374 (97.6%) 131 (98.4%) 0.170
Annual volume of emergency surgical procedures 0.005
< 500 265 (22.0%) 155 (58.4%) 82 (30.9%) 28 (10.5%)
Between 500 and 1000 466 (38.7%) 290 (62.2%) 133 (28.5%) 43 (9.2%)
> 1000 473 (39.2%) 244 (51.5%) 167 (35.3%) 62 (13.1%)
Annual volume of elective colorectal resections 0.245
< 50 72 (5.9%) 41 (56.9%) 21 (29.1%) 10 (13.8%)
Between 50 and 100 386 (32.0%) 237 (61.3%) 109 (28.2%) 40 (10.3%)
> 100 747 (61.9%) 412 (55.1%) 252 (33.7%) 83 (11.1%)

Postoperative outcomes

Length of stay (LOS) was higher in HP group (13.4 ± 12.1 days) compared with the RPA group (11.7 ± 10.2 days) (P = 0.048).

LOS was higher in patients treated with laparotomy (13.4 ± 11.8 days) compared to patients treated with laparoscopic approach (9.8 ± 7.0 days). (P < 0.001).

Postoperative complications were higher in patients who underwent HP (P < 0.001).

Severe complications (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3b) were higher in HP group (P < 0.001).

Severe complications in ASA score < 3 were lower in RPA group than HP group, also in case of perforation and diffuse peritonitis (P = 0.017).

Severe complications in patients with ASA score > 3 were similar in both HP and RPA groups. (P > 0.05).

Severe complications were higher in high-risk patients (diffuse peritonitis, qSOFA score ≥ 2) with ASA score ≥ 3 (P = 0.002).

Mortality was significantly higher in patients with bowel perforation and diffused peritonitis (P < 0.001).

Anastomotic leakage was reported in 46 patients (11.9%). Conservative treatment of anastomotic leakage was effective in 10 patients (21.6%), in the other 36 cases, surgery was required to manage anastomotic leak (78.4%).

Postoperative outcomes are summarized in Table 5.

Table 5.

Postoperative outcomes

Variable Total HP group RPA group Ostomy group P value
LOS—mean ± SD 12.7 ± 11.1 13.4 ± 12.1 11.7 ± 10.2 12.0 ± 8.4 0.048
Complications 554 (46.7%) 352 (51.9%) 146 (38.8%) 56 (42.1%) < .001
Clavien-Dindo classification 0.002
1 237 (32.2%) 129 (19.3%) 86 (23.8%) 22 (17.0%)
2 246 (20.5%) 151 (22.6%) 72 (20.0%) 23 (17.8%)
3a 46 (3.9%) 29 (4.3%) 13 (3.6%) 4 (3.1%)
3b 89 (7.6%) 46 (6.8%) 32 (8.8%) 11 (8.5%)
4a 31 (2.6%) 21 (3.1%) 7 (1.9%) 3 (2.3%)
4b 19 (1.6%) 10 (1.4%) 7 (1.9%) 2 (1.5%)
30-day mortality 115 (9.9%) 92 (13.7%) 9 (2.5%) 14 (10.8%) < .001

Follow-up

Only 21.6% of HP patients underwent surgery for ostomy reversal during the 1-year follow-up, against the 64.7% of RPA patients. Complication rate after ostomy reversal was higher in the HP groups (P = 0.41). Anastomotic leakage was 7.5% in HP group compared with the 9.0% in RPA group (P > 0.05). Permanent stoma was reported in 430 (78.3%) cases in HP group, similar to the ostomy group with 77 cases (76.2%). In the RPA group only 22 (6.6%) patients had a stoma after 1-year from surgery (P < 0.001) (Table 6).

Table 6.

1-year follow-up of patients with ostomy

Variable Total HP group RPA group Ostomy group P value
Permanent stoma 760 (82.9%) 430 (78.3%) 22 (6.6%) 77 (76.2%) < .001
Surgery for ostomy reversal 198 (21.6%) 119 (21.6%) 55 (64.7%) 24 (23.7%) < .001
Complication during reversal surgery 30 (15.1%) 19 (15.9%) 6 (10.9%) 5 (20.8%) 0.041

Primary aim: which factors influence the choice of HP and RPA?

The logistic regression model was made dividing patients into 2 groups: primary anastomosis of the colon (n = 384) and Hartman’s procedure or ostomy alone (n = 831).

The logistic regression model was highly significant (P < 0.001) having a Nagelkerke R Square of 0.2.

The analysis predicted several factors that contributed to performing RPA instead of HP. (Table 7).

Table 7.

The backward stepwise (likelihood ratio) logistic regression model defining factors affecting the decision to perform resection and primary anastomosis of the colon, 384 resection and primary anastomosis patients compared with 831 Hartman’s procedure or ostomy patients

Variable Estimate S.E Wald P value OR OR 95% C.I lower limit OR 95% C.I. upper limit
Age − 0.02 0.006 10.484 0.001 0.98 0.968 0.992
ASA Classification − 0.45 0.108 17.026 < .001 0.641 0.519 0.792
Large bowel obstruction 0.41 0.169 5.792 0.016 1.501 1.078 2.091
Colonic ischemia − 1.02 0.361 7.911 0.005 0.362 0.178 0.735
Time from admission to surgery 0.23 0.066 12.210 < 0.001 1.260 1.107 1.434
Earlier Time of day − 0.26 0.115 5.083 0.024 0.771 .615 0.967
Surgeon Experience (> 50 colorectal resections) 0.67 0.202 10.865 < .001 1.948 1.310 2.897
Constant 0.66 0.510 1.651 0.199 1.926

OR, odds ratio; SE, standard error; CI, confidence interval

The choice of surgical procedure is related to patient’s factors, etiology, hospital setting and surgeon’s characteristics.

RPA was preferred in younger patients, having low ASA score (≤ 3), in case of large bowel obstruction, absence of colonic ischemia, longer time between admission and surgery, operating early at the day working hours, and by a surgeon who performed more than 50 colorectal resections.

In contrast, HP was the preferred procedure in patients with ASA score status ≥ 3, qSOFA score ≥ 2, in case of large bowel perforation, in low volume hospitals, within 12 h from hospital admission, performed by inexperienced surgeons and during the night.

Discussion

The results of this study showed that HP remains the most common surgical procedure for colorectal emergencies. Several factors may be related to HP choice. Regression model analysis showed that HP was preferred in low volume hospitals, by inexperienced surgeons, during the night, in older patients, large bowel perforation, colonic ischemia, and patients having ASA score ≥ 3 and qSOFA score ≥ 2.

Typically, the greatest concern against RPA in the treatment of colorectal emergency was anastomotic leakage which ranged from 3.5 to 30% in emergency surgery. [9, 10, 20] In this study anastomotic leakage after RPA was 11.9% out of whom 78.4% required surgery.

In the last decades several studies evidenced no difference in major postoperative complications and mortality between HP and RPA, [7, 9, 12, 14, 21] as also reported in the present study. Furthermore, recent literature showed better postoperative outcome and reduced mortality after RPA even in large bowel perforations with generalized purulent or fecal peritonitis. [9, 10, 22]

The results of the study confirm literature findings, severe complications were 40% higher in HP group than RPA group (25% compared with 10%), the 30-day mortality was 5 times more in HP (13.7% compared with 2.5% of RPA).

Another factor in favor of RPA, as reported in several studies, was the better stoma-free survival compared with the HP patients [9, 10, 20, 23]. In the present study ostomy reversal after 1-year follow-up was only 25% in HP patients compared to the 64.7% in RPA group.

Furthermore, complications after ostomy reversal were 30% higher in the HP group compared to the RPA group (15.9% vs 10.9%) in the present study. Literature findings showed higher morbidity and anastomotic leak rate of Hartmann’s reversal surgery which ranges from 20 to 50% compared with 2 to 7% in RPA [22, 2427].

Despite these factors in favor of RPA, usually HP patients have more comorbidities and worse clinical presentation compared to RPA patients [2831]. In this study Hartmann’s procedure was performed mainly in cases of large bowel perforation, ASA score ≥ 3, and qSOFA score ≥ 2.

Hospitals with high volume of emergency surgery (more than 1000 procedures per year) performed less HP procedures (51.5%) compared to small (58.4%) and medium (62.2%) volume hospitals. The lack of some services (24-h specialist coverage and an on-site CT scanner) could contribute to these differences. [3234]

Surgical experience, early decision, and faster time to emergency surgery affected the intraoperative surgical errors and clinical outcome. During the night, indication for surgery was usually made by those who do not make the surgery [3537]. In the present study, most surgical operations (73.6%) were performed by experienced surgeons who have done more than 50 colorectal resections. The 63.4% of surgical procedures performed by inexperienced surgeons, were mainly HP, with only 19.8% being RPA. Conversely, experienced surgeons performed HP in 55.1% of the cases and RPA in 35.8%. Inexperienced surgeons performed less laparoscopic procedures (12.6%) compared with experienced surgeons (20.6%) without a difference in morbidity and mortality. These findings were driven by several factors.

65.7% of patients with ASA score status ≥ 3 and 47.8% of ASA score < 3 patients were treated with HP. ASA score status > 3 has been reported as independent risk factor for postoperative complications, especially in high-risk patients with bowel perforation and diffuse peritonitis [3840].

Similar severe complications after HP and RPA in ASA score status > 3 were reported in this study. RPA patients with ASA score ≤ 3 showed better postoperative outcomes than HP patients.

RPA was suggested in patients with ASA score = 3 and HP in high-risk patients (diffuse peritonitis, qSOFA score ≥ 2) with ASA score = 3.

HP was performed in ASA score ≤ 3 especially during weekends and nighttime. Several HP performed during weekends (59.3%) and nighttime (62.2%) could be avoided in favor of RPA due to the better postoperative outcomes.

16.8% of patients treated during late night had qSOFA score ≥ 2, whilst only 9.1% of patients treated during daytime had qSOFA score > 2. High qSOFA score was associated with organ dysfunction and a mortality of more than10% which favored the HP procedure. [41, 42]

Laparoscopy was performed in 25.2% of the procedures during daytime, and only in 6.7% during the night. LOS was lower in patients treated with laparoscopy which favor minimally invasive surgery even in emergency surgery [43, 44]. Robotic surgery, although performed in few patients, reflects the increased interest in this approach in emergency surgery [45, 46] which should be properly assessed in future studies despite its limitations.

Performing randomized clinical trials comparing HP and RPA can be challenging. The results of this study supported the use of RPA although HP as a treatment of left-sided colonic emergencies is still a viable option. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that results carried the risk of selection bias depending on the clinical status of the patient, the experience of the surgeon, the setting of the hospitals, including available technologies (robot, SEMS [47], 24-h specialist coverage and an on-site CT scanner) and time in which surgery was done.

Conclusions

HP remains the most common treatment for left-sided colorectal emergencies. Selection of the type of surgery depends on the time of surgery, the experience of the surgeon, and patient characteristics. The study supports the use of RPA which should be considered as the gold standard for surgery, with HP being an exception. Several factors contributed to the choice of HP over RPA but they are not often related to higher postoperative outcomes.

The RPA was preferred in younger patients age, having low ASA score (≤ 3), in case of large bowel obstruction, absence of colonic ischemia, longer time between admission and surgery, operating early at the day working hours, by a surgeon who performed more than 50 colorectal resections.

Acknowledgments

Chief Investigators

Fausto Catena, Emergency and Trauma Surgery, Bufalini Hospital, Cesena, Italy.

Mario Giuffrida, Department of General Surgery, Ospedale Guglielmo da Saliceto, Piacenza, Italy.

Gennaro Perrone, Department of Emergency Surgery, Maggiore Hospital, Parma, Italy.

Working group

Mario Giuffrida, Gennaro Perrone, Fikri Abu-Zidan, Elena Bonati, Brian WCA Tian, Fausto Catena.

Statistical analysis

Mario Giuffrida, Fikri Abu-Zidan.

Goodbye Hartmann Trial Local Principal Investigators

Ricardo Mentz, Elisabeth Gasser, Daniel M. Felsenreich, Carlos Augusto Gomes, Ricardo Alessandro Teixeira Gonzaga, Bruno Monteiro Pereira, Gustavo P. Fraga, Vinicius Cordeiro-Fonseca, Boyko Atanasov, L. Juan José Meléndez, Ana Dimova, Goran Augustin, Elie Chouillard, Yves Panis, Margherita Notarnicola, Venara Aurélien, Zaza Demetrashvili, Konstantinos Bouliaris, Sofia Xenaki, Panteleimon Vassiliu, Aristotelis Kechagias, Eftychios Lostoridis, Francesk Mulita, Athanasios Marinis, Dimitrios K. Manatakis, Sotiropoulou Maria, Dimitrios Korkolis, Thalia Petropoulou, Tania Triantafyllou, Konstantinos Toutouzas, Dimitrios Schizas, Alexandros Charalabopoulos, Orestis Ioannidis, Ioannis Tsouknidas, Lovenish Bains, Rahul Gupta, Miklosh Bala, Marcello Pisano, Gennaro Martines, Antonino Agrusa, Massimiliano Veroux, Luigi Oragano, Carlo V. Feo, Giulio Lantone, Leonardo Vincenti, Stefano Rossi, Diego Visconti, Giusto Pignata, Massimo Buonfantino, Gianluca Matteo Sampietro, Alice Frontali, Giuseppe Manca, Massimiliano Casati, Giorgio Ercolani, Gianluca Guercioni, Diego Sasia, Giuseppe Sena, Giuseppe Portale, Marialusia Esposito, Romina Manunza, Emanuele Luigi Giuseppe Asti, Davide Luppi, Angela Pezzolla, Maurizio De Luca, Elio Jovine, Giovanni Aprea, Giulio Argenio, Marina Troian, Alan Biloslavo, Igor Monsellato, Gabriele Anania, Gabriele Sganga, Paolo Boati, Pasquale Cianci, Nicola Cillara, Gabriela Elisa Nita, Francesco Roscio, Stefano Berti, Luigi Conti, Marina Pighin, Giovanni Gambino, Daniela Prando, Luca Ansaloni, Norma Depalma, Luca Lepre, Giuliano Sarro, Stefano Olmi, Marco Inama, Francesco Favi, Andrea Barberis, Luigi Totaro, Gabriella Teresa Capolupo, Maurizio Ronconi, Desire Pantalone, Marco Ceresoli, Federico Zanzi, Francesca Lecchi, Rosa Scaramuzzo, Nicola Tartaglia, Gian Marco Palini, Claudio Ricci, Matteo Rottoli, Marco Milone, Micaela Piccoli, Stefano Magnone, Paolo Massucco, Francesco Fleres, Yoshiro Kobe, Robert Parker, Saulius Svagzdys, Tomas Poskus, Andee Dzulkarnaen Zakaria, Asri Che Jusoh, Daniel Rios Cruz, Edgard Efren Lozada Hernandez, Martha Quiodettis, Piotr Major, Maciej Walędziak, Silvia Dantas da Costa, Filipe Almeida, Diego Pita Perez, Cátia Ferreira, Pedro Leao, Rita Gonçalves Pereira, Maria Isabel Cerqueira Manso, Valentin Calu, Mahir Gachabayov, Andrey Litvin, Taras Nechay, Alison Bradley, Arpád Panyko, Dusan Lesko, Victor Turrado-Rodriguez, Pierfrancesco Lapolla, Maurizio Degiuli, Andrea de Manzoni Garberini, Eduardo Perea del Pozo, Mercedes Estaire-Gómez, José Gil-Martínez, Aida Cristina Rahy-Martin, Fernando Mendoza-Moreno, María Elisa Valle Rodas, Claudia Cristina Lopes Moreira, Ana María González-Castillo, Mario Serradilla-Martín, Daniel Rivera-Alonso, Naila Pagès Valle, Cristina Rey Valcárcel, Juan Jesús Rubio García, Silvia Pérez Farré, Alberto Titos-García, Luis Sánchez-Guillén, Aleix Martínez-Pérez, Granada Jimenez-Riera, Andrea Campos-Serra, Javier Martínez Alegre, Francisco Blanco Antona, Zahira Gómez Carmona, Laura Román García de León, Paola Lora Cumplido, Ignacio Rey Simó, Rafael Calleja Lozano, Javier Tomas Morales Bernaldo de Quiros, Gianluca Pellino, Sami Jalal-Eldin, Varut Lohsiriwat, Oussama Baraket, Ali Ben Ali, Ali Kchaou, Elif Colak, Ali Guner, Baris Mantoglu, Fatih Altintoprak, Arda Isik, Mehmet Bayrak, Yasin Kara, Koray Das, Semra Demirli Atici, Zeynep Ozkan, Mustafa Yener Uzunoglu, Yuksel Altinel, Derya Salim Uymaz, Giovanni D. Tebala, Mansoor Khan, Cosimo Alex Leo, Ivan Trostchansky, Rifat Latifi, Raul Coimbra, George Velmahos, Amanda Palmer, Sirivan Suon Seng, Tanya Egodage, Lena M. Napolitano, Jacob A. Quick, Theodore S. Hyman William Curtiss, Walter L. Biffl.

Appendix 1

Colo-rectal cancer emergencies characteristics (N = 445).

Variable HP group (n = 229) RPA group (n = 154) Ostomy group (n = 62) P value
Age—mean ± SD 68.0 ± 14.2 65.6 ± 13.9 64.5 ± 15.5 0.119
Female sex—N. (%) 95 (41.6%) 62 (40.5%) 24 (39.3%) 0.940
ASA—N. (%) 0.004
1 25 (10.9%) 18 (11.8%) 8 (13.1%)
2 94 (41.2%) 80 (52.6%) 24 (39.3%)
3 76 (33.3%) 52 (34.2%) 25 (40.9%)
4 27 (11.8%) 2 (1.3%) 4 (6.5%)
5 6 (2.6%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)
qSOFA score ≥ 2- N. (%) 26 (11.3%) 10 (6.4%) 1 (1.6%) 0.029
Clinical presentation
Large bowel perforation 88 (38.4%) 26 (16.8%) 8 (12.9%) < 0.001
Large bowel obstruction 141 (61.5%) 128 (83.1%) 54 (87.0%) < 0.001
Colonic Ischemia 12 (5.3%) 9 (5.9%) 1 (1.6%) 0.404
Abdominal approach
Laparoscopy 14 (6.1%) 33 (21.4%) 8 (12.9%) < 0.001
Laparotomy 215 (93.8%) 119 (77.2%) 54 (87.0%)

Time from hospital admission to surgery

0.006

Within 12 h 140 (61.1%) 65 (42.2%) 28 (45.1%)
After 12 h 89 (38.8%) 89 (57.7%) 34 (61.2%)
Time of surgery
Weekend 52 (22.7%) 31 (20.1%) 13 (20.9%) 0.804
Early night: 8 pm–11 pm 47 (20.5%) 25 (16.2%) 7 (11.2%) < 0.001
Late night: 11 pm–7 am 49 (21.3%) 13 (8.4%) 8 (12.9%)
Surgeon’s experience
> 50 colorectal resections 176 (76.8%) 139 (90.2%) 39 (62.9%) < 0.001
Center annual volume of emergency surgical procedures
> 1000 83 (36.4%) 85 (55.1%) 26 (42.6%) 0.005
Center annual volume of elective colorectal resections
> 100 149 (65.0%) 110 (71.4%) 44 (70.9%) 0.278
Postoperative outcomes
LOS—mean ± SD 11.2 ± 6.9 10.3 ± 6.6 11.8 ± 8.6 0.289
Complications 109 (48.4%) 51 (33.5%) 22 (36.0%) 0.010
Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3b 47 (20.5%) 22 (14.2%) 10 (16.1%) 0.018
30-day mortality 25 (11.0%) 3 (2.0%) 4 (6.6%) 0.002
1-year follow-up
Permanent stoma 131 (40.4%) 12 (36.3%) 37 (67.2%) < 0.001
Surgery for ostomy reversal 33 (33.6%) 20 (60.6%) 13 (20.0%) < 0.001
Complication during reversal surgery 5 (15.1%) 3 (15.0%) 2 (15.3%) 0.791

Appendix 2

Complicated acute diverticulitis characteristics (N = 490).

Variable HP group (n = 304) RPA group (n = 168) P value
Age—mean ± SD 69.1 ± 14.7 60.0 ± 13.2 < 0.001
Female sex—N. (%) 156 (51.3%) 77 (45.8%) 0.255
ASA—N. (%) < 0.001
1 29 (9.5%) 25(14.1%)
2 77 (25.4%) 78 (46.4%)
3 140 (46.2%) 61 (36.3%)
4 50 (16.5%) 4 (2.3%)
5 7 (2.3%) 0 (0.0%)
qSOFA score ≥ 2- N. (%) 39 (12.8%) 8 (4.7%) 0.005
Clinical presentation
Large bowel perforation 280 (92.7%) 146 (88.4%) 0.123
Large bowel obstruction 29 (9.6%) 24 (14.3%) 0.125
Colonic Ischemia 14 (4.6%) 1 (0.5%) 0.017
Abdominal approach
Laparoscopy 42 (13.8%) 78 (46.4%) < 0.001
Laparotomy 260 (85.8%) 87 (51.7%)
Time from hospital admission to surgery 0.013
Within 12 h 187 (61.5%) 67 (39.8%)
After 12 h 117 (38.4%) 101 (60.1%)
Time of surgery
Weekend 83 (27.3%) 20 (11.9%) < 0.001
Early night: 8 pm–11 pm 70 (23.0%) 28 (16.7%) < 0.001
Late night: 11 pm–7am 81 (26.6%) 17 (10.1%)
Surgeon’s experience
> 50 colorectal resections 211 (69.4%) 134 (79.7%) 0.015
Center annual volume of emergency surgical procedures
> 1000 86 (28.7%) 51 (30.5%) 0.864
Center annual volume of elective colorectal resections
> 100 154 (51.5%) 101 (60.4%) 0.275
Postoperative outcomes
LOS—mean ± SD 14.0 ± 11.6 12.3 ± 9.2 0.108
Complications 155 (52.3%) 66 (40.0%) 0.011
Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3b 66 (21.7%) 25 (14.8%) 0.007
30-day mortality 34 (11.9%) 3 (1.9%) < 0.001
1-year follow-up
Permanent stoma 131 (51.9%) 6 (14.2%) < 0.001
Surgery for ostomy reversal 69 (29.3%) 30 (71.4%) < 0.001
Complication during reversal surgery 12 (17.3%) 2 (6.6%) 0.027

Author contributions

Conceptualization: FC, GP, MG; methodology: FC, GP, MG; validation: MG; formal analysis: MG, FAZ; data curation: MG; writing—original draft: MG; writing—review & editing; FC, FAZ, BWCAT; supervision: FC, GP. Project administration: FC, GP. All authors participated equally in the data collection and the approval of the final version of the manuscript.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Availability of data and materials

The original dataset generated during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study has been approved by independent ethics committee (Comitato etico AVEN – area vasta Emilia nord) and by the ethical committee of each participating center. All study participants or their legal guardian provided informed written consent about personal and medical data collection prior to study enrolment.

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interest.

Footnotes

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

  • 1.Hartmann H. 30th congress Francais de Chirurgie-Process, Verheaux, Memoires, et Discussions, 1921;30:411.
  • 2.Lockhart-Mummery P. Disease of the colon and their surgical treatment. Bristol: John Wright and Sons LTD; 1910. pp. 181–182. [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Smithwick RH. Experiences with the surgical management of diverticulitis of the sigmoid. Ann Surg. 1942;115:969–983. doi: 10.1097/00000658-194206000-00010. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Jacobson MA, Young LS. New developments in the treatment of gram-negative bacteremia. West J Med. 1986;144(2):185–194. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Krukowski ZH, Matheson NA. Emergency surgery for diverticular disease complicated by generalized and faecal peritonitis: a review. Br J Surg. 1984;71(12):921–927. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800711202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Zeitoun G, Laurent A, Rouffet F, Hay J, Fingerhut A, Paquet J, Peillon C, Research TF. Multicentre, randomized clinical trial of primary versus secondary sigmoid resection in generalized peritonitis complicating sigmoid diverticulitis. Br J Surg. 2008;87(10):1366–1374. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2168.2000.01552.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Pisano M, Zorcolo L, Merli C, et al. 2017 WSES guidelines on colon and rectal cancer emergencies: obstruction and perforation. World J Emerg Surg. 2018;13:36. doi: 10.1186/s13017-018-0192-3. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Sartelli M, Catena F, Ansaloni L, Coccolini F, Griffiths EA, Abu-Zidan FM, et al. WSES guidelines for the management of acute left sided colonic diverticulitis in the emergency setting. World J Emerg Surg. 2016;11:37. doi: 10.1186/s13017-016-0095-0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Lambrichts D, Vennix S, Musters GD, Mulder IM, Swank HA, Hoofwijk A, Belgers E, Stockmann H, Eijsbouts Q, Gerhards MF, van Wagensveld BA, van Geloven A, Crolla R, Nienhuijs SW, Govaert M, di Saverio S, D'Hoore A, Consten E, van Grevenstein W, Pierik R, Kruyt PM, van der Hoeven JAB, Steup WH, Catena F, Konsten JLM, Vermeulen J, van Dieren S, Bemelman WA, Lange JF, LADIES trial collaborators Hartmann's procedure versus sigmoidectomy with primary anastomosis for perforated diverticulitis with purulent or faecal peritonitis (LADIES): a multicentre, parallel-group, randomised, open-label, superiority trial. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019;4(8):599–610. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(19)30174-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Bridoux V, Regimbeau JM, Ouaissi M, Mathonnet M, Mauvais F, Houivet E, Schwarz L, Mege D, Sielezneff I, Sabbagh C, Tuech JJ. Hartmann's procedure or primary anastomosis for generalized peritonitis due to perforated diverticulitis: a prospective multicenter randomized trial (DIVERTI) J Am Coll Surg. 2017;225(6):798–805. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2017.09.004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Banerjee S, Leather AJ, Rennie JA, Samano N, Gonzalez JG, Papagrigoriadis S. Feasibility and morbidity of reversal of Hartmann's. Colorectal Dis. 2005;7(5):454–459. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-1318.2005.00862.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Acuna SA, Dossa F, Baxter NN. The end of the Hartmann's era for perforated diverticulitis. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019;4(8):573–575. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(19)30182-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Perrone G, Giuffrida M, Tarasconi A, Petracca GL, Annicchiarico A, Bonati E, Rossi G, Catena F. Conservative management of complicated colonic diverticulitis: long-term results. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2022 doi: 10.1007/s00068-022-01922-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Perrone G, Sartelli M, Mario G, Chichom-Mefire A, Labricciosa FM, Abu-Zidan FM, Ansaloni L, Biffl WL, Ceresoli M, Coccolini F, Coimbra R, Demetrashvili Z, Di Saverio S, Fraga GP, Khokha V, Kirkpatrick AW, Kluger Y, Leppaniemi A, Maier RV, Moore EE, Negoi I, Ordonez CA, Sakakushev B, Lohse HAS, Velmahos GC, Wani I, Weber DG, Bonati E, Catena F. Management of intra-abdominal-infections: 2017 World Society of Emergency Surgery guidelines summary focused on remote areas and low-income nations. Int J Infect Dis. 2020;99:140–148. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.07.046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.World Medical Association World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA. 2013;310(20):2191–2194. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.281053. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Harris PA, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde JG. Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—a metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. J Biomed Inform. 2009;42(2):377–381. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2008.08.010. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Harris PA, Taylor R, Minor BL, Elliott V, Fernandez M, O’Neal L, McLeod L, Delacqua G, Delacqua F, Kirby J, Duda SN. REDCap consortium, the REDCap consortium: building an international community of software partners. J Biomed Inform. 2019 doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103208. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, et al. The third international consensus definitions for sepsis and septic shock (Sepsis-3) JAMA. 2016;315(8):801–810. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.0287. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Sartelli M, Moore FA, Ansaloni L, Di Saverio S, Coccolini F, Griffiths EA, et al. A proposal for a CT driven classification of left colon acute diverticulitis. World J Emerg Surg. 2015;10:3. doi: 10.1186/1749-7922-10-3. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Binda GA, Serventi A, Puntoni M, Amato A. Primary anastomosis versus Hartmann's procedure for perforated diverticulitis with peritonitis: an impracticable trial. Ann Surg. 2015;261(4):e116–e117. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000000536. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Bezerra RP, Costa ACD, Santa-Cruz F, Ferraz ÁAB. Hartmann procedure or resection with primary anastomosis for treatment of perforated diverticulitis? Systematic review and meta-analysis. Braz Arch Digest Surg. 2021;33(3):e1546. doi: 10.1590/0102-672020200003e1546. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Lin FL, Boutros M, Da Silva GM, Weiss EG, Lu XR, Wexner SD. Hartmann reversal: obesity adversely impacts outcome. Dis Colon Rectum. 2013;56(1):83–90. doi: 10.1097/DCR.0b013e318270a1a3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Oberkofler CE, Rickenbacher A, Raptis DA, Lehmann K, Villiger P, Buchli C, et al. A multicenter randomized clinical trial of primary anastomosis or Hartmann’s procedure for perforated left colonic diverticulitis with purulent or fecal peritonitis. Ann Surg. 2012;256:819–826. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e31827324ba. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Biondo S, Pares D, Frago R, Marti-Rague J, Kreisler E, De Oca J, Jaurrieta E. Large bowel obstruction: predictive factors for postoperative mortality. Dis Colon Rectum. 2004;47(11):1889–1897. doi: 10.1007/s10350-004-0688-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Breitenstein S, Rickenbacher A, Berdajs D, Puhan M, Clavien PA, Demartines N. Systematic evaluation of surgical strategies for acute malignant left-sided colonic obstruction. Br J Surg. 2007;94:1451–1460. doi: 10.1002/bjs.6007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Hallam S, Mothe BS, Tirumulaju R. Hartmann's procedure, reversal and rate of stoma-free survival. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2018;100(4):301–307. doi: 10.1308/rcsann.2018.0006. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Salusjärvi JM, Koskenvuo LE, Mali JP, Mentula PJ, Leppäniemi AK, Sallinen VJ. Stoma reversal after Hartmann's procedure for acute diverticulitis. Surgery. 2023;173(4):920–926. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2022.10.028. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Lee JM, Bai P, Chang J, El Hechi M, Kongkaewpaisan N, Bonde A, et al. Hartmann’s procedure vs primary anastomosis with diverting loop ileostomy for acute diverticulitis: nationwide analysis of 2,729 emergency surgery patients. J Am Coll Surg. 2019;229:48–55. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2019.03.007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Cirocchi R, Trastulli S, Desiderio J, Listorti C, Boselli C, Parisi A, et al. Treatment of Hinchey stage III-IV diverticulitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Color Dis. 2013;28:447–457. doi: 10.1007/s00384-012-1622-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.Edomskis PP, Hoek VT, Stark PW, et al. Hartmann's procedure versus sigmoidectomy with primary anastomosis for perforated diverticulitis with purulent or fecal peritonitis: three-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial. Int J Surg. 2022;98:106221. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2021.106221. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Lambrichts DP, Edomskis PP, van der Bogt RD, Kleinrensink GJ, Bemelman WA, Lange JF. Sigmoid resection with primary anastomosis versus the Hartmann's procedure for perforated diverticulitis with purulent or fecal peritonitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2020;35(8):1371–1386. doi: 10.1007/s00384-020-03617-8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Udyavar NR, Salim A, Havens JM, et al. The impact of individual physicians on outcomes after trauma: is it the system or the surgeon? J Surg Res. 2018;229:51–57. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2018.02.051. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 33.Becher RD, Sukumar N, DeWane MP, et al. Hospital variation in geriatric surgical safety for emergency operation. J Am Coll Surg. 2020;230(6):966–973.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2019.10.018. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34.Ibrahim I, Chua MT, Tan DW, Yap SH, Shen L, Ooi SBS. Impact of 24-hour specialist coverage and an on-site CT scanner on the timely diagnosis of acute aortic dissection. Singap Med J. 2020;61(2):86–91. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2019039. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 35.Georgiou A, Lockey DJ. The performance and assessment of hospital trauma teams. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2010;18:66. doi: 10.1186/1757-7241-18-66. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 36.Hendra L, Hendra T, Parker SJ. Decision-making in the emergency laparotomy: a mixed methodology study. World J Surg. 2019;43(3):798–805. doi: 10.1007/s00268-018-4849-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 37.Rogers SO, Jr, Gawande AA, Kwaan M, et al. Analysis of surgical errors in closed malpractice claims at 4 liability insurers. Surgery. 2006;140(1):25–33. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2006.01.008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 38.Yalkın Ö, Altıntoprak F, Uzunoğlu MY, et al. Factors predicting the reversal of Hartmann's procedure. Biomed Res Int. 2022;2022:7831498. doi: 10.1155/2022/7831498. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 39.Ince M, Stocchi L, Khomvilai S, Kwon DS, Hammel JP, Kiran RP. Morbidity and mortality of the Hartmann procedure for diverticular disease over 18 years in a single institution. Colorectal Dis. 2012;14(8):e492–e498. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-1318.2012.03004.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 40.Reali C, Landerholm K, George B, Jones O. Hartmann's reversal: controversies of a challenging operation. Minim Invasive Surg. 2022;2022:7578923. doi: 10.1155/2022/7578923. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 41.Pavlidis ET, Pavlidis TE. Current aspects on the management of perforated acute diverticulitis: a narrative review. Cureus. 2022;14(8):e28446. doi: 10.7759/cureus.28446. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 42.Nascimbeni R, Amato A, Cirocchi R, et al. Management of perforated diverticulitis with generalized peritonitis. A multidisciplinary review and position paper. Tech Coloproctol. 2021;25(2):153–165. doi: 10.1007/s10151-020-02346-y. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 43.Wilson I, Rahman S, Pucher P, Mercer S. Laparoscopy in high-risk emergency general surgery reduces intensive care stay, length of stay and mortality. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2023;408(1):62. doi: 10.1007/s00423-022-02744-w. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 44.Donohue SJ, Reinke CE, Evans SL, et al. Laparoscopy is associated with decreased all-cause mortality in patients undergoing emergency general surgery procedures in a regional health system. Surg Endosc. 2022;36(6):3822–3832. doi: 10.1007/s00464-021-08699-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 45.de’Angelis N, Khan J, Marchegiani F, et al. Robotic surgery in emergency setting: 2021 WSES position paper. World J Emerg Surg. 2022;17(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s13017-022-00410-6. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 46.Felli E, Brunetti F, Disabato M, Salloum C, Azoulay D, de’Angelis N. Robotic right colectomy for hemorrhagic right colon cancer: a case report and review of the literature of minimally invasive urgent colectomy. World J Emerg Surg. 2014;9:32. doi: 10.1186/1749-7922-9-32. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 47.Veld JV, Amelung FJ, Borstlap WAA, van Halsema EE, Consten ECJ, Siersema PD, Ter Borg F, van der Zaag ES, de Wilt JHW, Fockens P, Bemelman WA, van Hooft JE, Tanis PJ. Comparison of decompressing stoma vs stent as a bridge to surgery for left-sided obstructive colon cancer. JAMA Surg. 2020;155(3):206–215. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2019.5466. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Data Availability Statement

The original dataset generated during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.


Articles from World Journal of Emergency Surgery : WJES are provided here courtesy of BMC

RESOURCES