This study included U.S. Medicare patients who underwent major cardiac, vascular, gastro-intestinal and orthopedic surgical procedures in 2011. Using the CMS Inpatient Standard Analytical Files with 100% of claims for Medicare fee-forservice beneficiaries, patients were identified based on principal ICD-9-CM procedure code on the claim. Overall, 63 procedures codes in four categories (cardiac, ...

Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms which, when administrated in adequate amounts confer health benefit on humans (FAO, 2001). Bacteria belonging to genera Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus are often used as probiotic supplements (Homayouni, 2008). With potential health advantages such as alleviation of symptoms of lactose malabsorption, cancer suppression, resistance to infectious ga...

Mild gastro-intestinal upset is common in babies, but severe disease is not now the scourge it formerly was, and part of the great improvement in infantile mortality is due to its decline in the twentieth century. The reasons for this are not clear, and many theories have been advanced. Formerly, a considerable number of cases of gastro-enteritis were thought to be due to dietetic, that is to s...

Accepted for publication 25 March 1991 Abstract Recent studies suggest that vagal nerve dysfunction may be important in the aetiology of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Delayed oesophageal transit and slowed gastric emptying occur frequently and may also be of pathogenic importance. In 48 patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease we studied the prevalence of and relations between auton...

During recent years the many indications from reports in the surgical literature, and the reduction of the mortality from abdominal injuries of warfare, have indicated that gastro-intestinal suction can play a major role in reducing the mortality rate in a great number of surgical conditions. It is felt that although its value is well known to the majority of surgeons, there are many problems w...

Abnormalities of the lower oesophageal sphincter may facilitate excessive reflux of gastric contents including acid and sometimes bile from the stomach into the oesophagus. Bile is particularly caustic and reflux of duodenal contents is more troublesome than reflux of gastric contents alone. There is little correlation between severity of symptoms and findings on endoscopy. Sometimes drugs that...

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease is one of the most common disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Over past decades, considerable shifts in thinking about the disease have taken place. At a time when radiology was the only diagnostic test available, reflux disease was regarded as synonymous with hiatus hernia. After the advent of the flexible endoscope, reflux disease was, for a period, equa...