Acute Abdomen

Rectus sheath catheters (RSC) are used for postoperative analgesia following midline laparotomies. Local anesthetics are applied to the posterior rectus sheath via the RSC. The target structures are the anterior cutaneous branches of the spinal nerves Th7-Th12. RSC can be used in particular if thoracic epidurals are contraindicated (compromised coagulation), technically unfeasible or refused by the patient. The study investigates placebo-controlled weather RSC have a significant additional analgesic effect in a multimodal analgesic concept. Primary outcome parameters are the maximum pain score, the Quality-of-Recovery-15-Score (QoR-15GE) and the opioid consumption (morphine equivalents) in the first 72h postoperatively.

The primary aim of this project is to increase the knowledge about how perforations in the esophagus, stomach and small intestine are treated on a national level. Furthermore, secondary aims include assessment of how different treatment options and type of treating facilities relate to patient survival. This will be done by studying information about all adult patients with an upper GI perforation treated in Sweden during 2005-2023.

Computer tomography (CT) is the primary imaging option for acute abdominal pain in adults. Intravenous (IV) contrast media is used to improve the CT quality. In patients with impaired renal function, post-contrast acute kidney injury (PC-AKI) has remained a significant concern. Modern retrospective studies have shown no association between worsened baseline renal function and IV-contrast CT. However, no randomised controlled trial has been done to conclude this. The INCARO (INtravenous Contrast computed tomography versus native computed tomography in patients with acute Abdomen and impaired Renal functiOn) trial is a multicentre, open-label, parallel group, superiority, individually randomised controlled trial comparing IV-contrast enhanced CT to native CT in patients with impaired renal function. Patients requiring emergency abdominal or body CT with eGFR 15-45 ml/min/1.73 m2 are included in the study. The primary outcome is a composite outcome of all-cause mortality or renal replacement therapy within 90 days from CT.