1.Comparison of the efficacy and safety of inguinal and subinguinal approaches for microsurgical varicocelectomy in the treatment of adolescent varicocele
Yuanbiao HUANG ; Huayin KANG ; Zhigang LI ; Chaoyong GUO ; Bing BAI
Journal of Modern Urology 2024;29(2):141-145
【Objective】 To compare the degree, efficacy and safety of testicular catch-up growth after inguinal and subinguinal surgery for adolescent varicocele. 【Methods】 Clinical data of 121 adolescent varicocele patients with secondary testicular atrophy treated during Sep.2014 and Jun.2021 at Huili People’s Hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 40 cases treated with the inguinal incision approach, and 81 with the subinguinal approach. The characteristics of intraoperative, efficacy, surgical complications and prognosis were compared between the two groups. 【Results】 The inguinal group had significantly shorter microscope usage time (P=0.006), fewer number of preserved internal spermatic arteries (P<0.001), and significantly larger diameter of preserved internal spermatic arteries than the subinguinal group (P=0.005). The subinguinal group required ligation of more internal spermatic veins, and there were significantly more internal spermatic veins with a diameter of 4 mm or more (P<0.001). No recurrence occurred, and the incidences of scrotal edema and hydrocele were very low (P>0.05). Two years after surgery, the bilateral testicular volume of both groups was significantly larger than that before surgery (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in the testicles (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 In the treatment of adolescent varicocele patients with secondary testicular atrophy, the subinguinal approach significantly reduces the difficulty of microsurgical varicocele ligation, and has good efficacy and safety, which is worthy of clinical promotion and application.
2.Analysis on the Difference of Median Survival Time of Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Patients with Different Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndromes and Intervention Times of Chinese Herbal Medicine:A Retrospective Study
Jing WANG ; Chaoyong WU ; Bin LIU ; Ruoqi ZHANG ; Rui MIAO ; Xiuwei GUO ; Peitong ZHANG
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;65(22):2332-2337
ObjectiveTo observe the distribution of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types in advanced pancreatic cancer patients, and explore the association between median survival time and different TCM syndromes and different intervention times of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM). MethodsThe clinical data of 136 advanced pancreatic cancer patients who have received CHM for more than 3 months were collected retrospectively, including gender, age, family history, smoking history, drinking history, location of disease, lymph node metastasis, multiple distant metastasis, western medicine treatment methods, TCM diagnosis and treatment information, and survival time. The Kaplan-Meier (KM) estimator was used, and the median survival time of patients was calculated. The TCM syndrome type of each patient was judged, and the main single syndrome types and compound syndrome types were summarized. The median survival time was compared among different compound syndrome types. The patients were further divided into the group of those having received CHM ≥6 months and those having received CHM <6 months. Whether receiving CHM ≥6 months was taken as the grouping variable, while the matching variables were age, gender, family history, smoking history, drinking history, location of disease, lymph node metastasis, multiple distant metastasis, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy when propensity score matching was performed, and the difference in median survival time between the two groups of patients before and after matching was compared. ResultsFor 136 cases of advanced pancreatic cancer, the top five single syndromes were spleen qi deficiency, liver blood stasis, liver qi stagnation, spleen dampness, and liver heat. The main compound types were liver constraint, spleen deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, liver-gallbladder damp-heat and blood stasis syndrome, liver constraint, qi stagnation and spleen deficiency syndrome, spleen-stomach yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, and spleen deficiency and dampness-heat internal accumulation syndrome. The overall median survival time before and after matching was 12.47 (7.70,17.10) months and 13.77 (8.83,17.20) months, respectively, and was significantly higher in the group treated with CHM ≥ 6 months than that treated with CHM <6 months (P<0.05). Among the 136 patients before matching, the median survival time of patients with spleen deficiency and dampness-heat internal accumulation syndrome was longest [16.23 (14.17,19.40) months], while that of patients with spleen-stomach yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome was the shortest [7.33 (5.80,12.83) months]. For patients with liver constraint, spleen deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, liver-gallbladder damp-heat and blood stasis syndrome, and spleen-stomach yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, those having received CHM ≥ 6 months have much longer median survival time than those having received CHM <6 months (P<0.05). Among the 108 patients after matching, the median survival time of those with spleen deficiency and dampness-heat internal accumulation syndrome was the longest [15.23 (7.67,18.27) months], while that of spleen-stomach yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome was the shortest [8.80 (6.90,16.17) months]. For patients with liver-gallbladder dampness-heat and blood stasis syndrome and spleen-stomach yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, the median survival time was higher in the group treated with CHM ≥ 6 months treated with CHM <6 months (P<0.05). ConclusionAfter treatment with CHM, advanced pancreatic cancer patients with spleen deficiency and damp-heat internal accumulation had a better prognosis, while those with spleen-stomach yang deficiency and blood stasis had a worse prognosis. Treatment with CHM ≥ 6 months could extend the median survival of advanced pancreatic cancer patients with liver-gallbladder damp-heat and blood stasis syndrome and spleen-stomach yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome.