The surgical anatomical bypass (ANA) procedures for juxtarenal aortic occlusion (JAO) have been recently developed. However, there are some critical conditions, in which we should be cautious concerning the indications of ANA. Between 1984 and 1993 in Kurume University Hospital, 17 patients with JAO were operated upon. The most common cheifcomplaint was claudication (70.6%). Acute deterioration due to ischemia was recognized in two patients (11.8%). ANA was performed in 15 patients (88.2%) and extra-anatomical bypass (EXT) in 2 with severe calcification of the aorta (11.8%). Hospital deaths occured in three patients with ANA (17.6%), whose background included two acute deterioration and one cerebral infarction with hemiplegia. As an early postoperative complication, acute renal failure occurred in one patient and subileus in two. In the presence of poor general condition, acute deterioration, or severe aortic calcification, the EXT-procedure is the choice of surgical treatment for JAO.

OBJECTIVE: Rikkunshito, an herbal medicine, is widely prescribed in Japan for the treatment of anorexia and functional dyspepsia, and has been reported to recover reductions in food intake caused by cisplatin. We investigated whether rikkunshito could improve chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and anorexia in patients treated with cisplatin. METHODS: Patients with uterine cervical or corpus cancer who were to receive cisplatin (50 mg/m² day 1) and paclitaxel (135 mg/m² day 0) as first-line chemotherapy were randomly assigned to the rikkunshito group receiving oral administration on days 0–13 with standard antiemetics, or the control group receiving antiemetics only. The primary endpoint was the rate of complete control (CC: no emesis, no rescue medication, and no significant nausea) in the overall phase (0–120 hours). Two-tailed p<0.20 was considered significant in the planned analysis. RESULTS: The CC rate in the overall phase was significantly higher in the rikkunshito group than in the control group (57.9% vs. 35.3%, p=0.175), as were the secondary endpoints: the CC rate in the delayed phase (24–120 hours), and the complete response (CR) rates (no emesis and no rescue medication) in the overall and delayed phases (63.2% vs. 35.3%, p=0.095; 84.2% vs. 52.9%, p=0.042; 84.2% vs. 52.9%, p=0.042, respectively), and time to treatment failure (p=0.059). Appetite assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) appeared to be superior in the rikkunshito group from day 2 through day 6. CONCLUSION: Rikkunshito provided additive effect for the prevention of CINV and anorexia.
Administration, Oral ; Anorexia* ; Antiemetics ; Appetite ; Cisplatin* ; Drug Therapy ; Dyspepsia ; Eating ; Herbal Medicine* ; Humans ; Japan ; Nausea* ; Paclitaxel* ; Time-to-Treatment ; Vomiting*