Transanal minimally invasive rectal resection for deep endometriosis: a promising technique.

AIM: Surgical management of patients with deep endometriosis (DE) of the rectum is difficult. Inflammation and subsequent adhesions due to DE impede access to the lower pelvis and may lead to complications during laparoscopic low anterior resection (LAR). Transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS) is an alternative to an abdominal approach with potential advantages. The aim of this study was to provide a description of the TAMIS technique and to present the perioperative results of TAMIS and of conventional LAR in patients with DE. METHOD: A prospective consecutive cohort of patients undergoing rectal resection for DE had either conventional laparoscopic LAR or TAMIS rectal excision. Pre-, intra- and postoperative parameters, such as patient symptomatology, operating time and postoperative complications were compared between the groups. Quality of life was assessed using the EORTC-QLQ-29/30 questionnaires. RESULTS: Between May 2014 and March 2016 a total of 11 rectal resections were performed, including five TAMIS procedures. No differences were found in the pre-, intra- or postoperative parameters. Two major complications occurred after conventional LAR and none after TAMIS. No differences in quality of life were found between the groups. CONCLUSION: Transanal minimally invasive surgery for DE of the rectum is feasible. Potential advantages include better surgical access to the pelvis, possibly fewer complications than LAR and no extraction incision with no difference in quality of life. Larger prospective studies are required to compare TAMIS with conventional rectal resection.

Health-related quality of life after laparoscopic and open surgery for rectal cancer in a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies comparing laparoscopic and open surgical techniques have reported improved health-related quality of life (HRQL). This analysis compared HRQL 12 months after laparoscopic versus open surgery for rectal cancer in a subset of a randomized trial. METHODS: The setting was a multicentre randomized trial (COLOR II) comparing laparoscopic and open surgery for rectal cancer. Involvement in the HRQL study of COLOR II was optional. Patients completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38, and EuroQol - 5D (EQ-5D™) before surgery, and 4 weeks, 6, 12 and 24 months after operation. Analysis was done according to the manual for each instrument. RESULTS: Of 617 patients in hospitals participating in the HRQL study of COLOR II, 385 were included. The HRQL deteriorated to moderate/severe degrees after surgery, gradually returning to preoperative values over time. Changes in EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38, and EQ-5D™ were not significantly different between the groups regarding global health score or any of the dimensions or symptoms at 4 weeks, 6 or 12 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: In contrast to previous studies in patients with colonic cancer, HRQL after rectal cancer surgery was not affected by surgical approach. REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00297791 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).

Controversies in laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.

The introduction of laparoscopy as a surgical technique provided a method which allows for preventing major abdominal wall incisions and improving recovery of the patient after surgery. In abdominal wall surgery, laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has proven to be at least as safe as open repair. However, the technique of laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has not been standardized. Despite all the research that has been conducted and all the articles that have been published, there still seems to be a lack of consensus about the best method to repair a ventral hernia. The aim of this paper is to review knowledge on incisional hernias and discuss several controversies regarding the laparoscopic management of ventral hernias. A review of the literature was undertaken, and a search identified twenty records: six RCTs on incisional hernias, five RCTs on ventral hernias, and nine reviews or meta-analyses. Interpretation of the scientific data was difficult because the outcomes in literature were often based on pooled data of primary ventral hernias and incisional ventral hernias. Controversy remains regarding the optimal laparoscopic management of ventral hernias in terms of selection of patients for laparoscopic repair, optimal technique, outcomes and cost-efficacy. Lack of evidence allows persisting controversies in laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. RCTs and registries are necessary to document efficacy, morbidity, quality of life and costs during a sufficient period of time to provide clinicians with the evidence required to make the right choice for the best surgical technique.

Controversies in laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.

BACKGROUND: The introduction of laparoscopy as a surgical technique provided a method preventing major abdominal wall incisions and improving recovery of the patient after surgery. In abdominal wall surgery laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has proven to be at least as save as open repair. However, the technique of laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has not been standardized. Despite all the research that has been conducted and all the articles that were published, there still seems to be absence of consensus about the best method to repair a ventral hernia. AIM: To review knowledge on incisional hernias and discuss several controversies regarding the laparoscopic management of ventral hernias. METHODS: A review of the literature was undertaken. RESULTS: A search identified twenty records: six RCTs on incisional hernias, five RCTs on ventral hernias and nine reviews or meta-analyses. Interpretation of the scientific data is difficult because the outcomes in literature are often based on pooled data of primary ventral hernias and incisional ventral hernias. Controversy remains regarding the optimal laparoscopic management of ventral hernias in terms of selection of patients for laparoscopic repair, optimal technique, outcomes and cost-efficacy. CONCLUSION: Lack of evidence allows persisting controversies in laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. RCTs and registries are necessary to document efficacy, morbidity, quality of life and costs during a sufficient period of time to provide clinicians with the evidence required to make the right choice for the best surgical technique.

Fertility and body composition after laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy in a 30-year-old female with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is caused by an inborn defect in the 21-hydroxylase gene (CYP21), leading to virilization of female patients and causing ambiguous genitals in the majority of female infants. Adult women may suffer from loss of libido, irregular or absent cycles, and reduced fertility, despite intensive medical treatment. These problems have stimulated the search for alternative treatment modalities. We present an adult female patient, who was difficult to treat medically and whose clinical situation markedly improved after laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy. The procedure was well tolerated and without side effects. Postoperatively the elevated serum progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels, as well as the undetectable LH levels, normalized. The procedure resulted in marked clinical improvement. Within 12 months after surgery she lost 11 kg in weight. This weight loss consisted mainly of adipose tissue. Acne disappeared, and she had a regular 4-week menstrual cycle, with progesterone levels that are compatible with a luteal phase. The introduction of laparoscopic techniques may give an impulse to the application of surgical therapy at a larger scale in patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency who are difficult to treat with adrenal suppression therapy.

Anterior, lateral, and posterior retroperitoneal approaches in endoscopic adrenalectomy.

BACKGROUND: Three approaches are currently used for endoscopic adrenalectomy-the lateral (transperitoneal), the posterior (retroperitoneal), and the anterior (transperitoneal). Both the lateral and posterior approaches are performed with the patient placed in the flank decubitus position; in the anterior approach the patient is supine. This study was designed to compare these three types of access in a relatively large series of patients undergoing adrenalectomy at three different institutions. METHODS: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed in 216 patients with a variety of adrenal disorders, including 66 patients with Conn's syndrome, 55 with incidentaloma, 58 with Cushing's syndrome, 33 with pheochromocytoma, two with virilizing adrenogenital syndrome, and two with other lesions. Seventy-two adrenalectomies were performed using the lateral access, 67 via the posterior approach, and 77 via the transperitoneal anterior approach. There were 111 right and 105 left lesions. RESULTS: One patient in the lateral access group and three patients in the posterior group required conversion to open surgery. No conversions were needed in the anterior group. The learning curve was statistically significant only in the anterior access group. In both of the transperitoneal approaches (lateral and anterior), a statistically significant correlation was found between the operative time and the patient's body mass index (BMI). The postoperative hospital stay and time needed to return to normal activities were similar for the three groups. One patient who underwent retroperitoneal adrenalectomy for Cushing' disease died in the postoperative period of Candida sepsis and peritonitis. CONCLUSIONS: The anterior access route requires that the surgeon be skilled in advanced laparoscopic surgery. Both of the transperitoneal approaches (anterior and lateral) are suitable to remove larger adrenal masses. The posterior access may represent a better option in obese patients or in cases with small lesions.

Analysing completion times in an academic emergency department: coordination of care is the weakest link.

Congestion with prolonged stay in the emergency department (ED) is associated with poor health outcomes. Many factors contribute to ED congestion. This study investigates the length of time spent in the ED (time to completion) and the factors contributing to prolonged stay in an academic ED. Data of ED patients were prospectively collected during four weeks in February 2010. Presentation time, referrer, discharge destination, and medical specialities involved were registered in 2510 patients. Additional detailed data about relevant time steps were collected from 66 patients in the triage category Emergency Severity Index (ESI) 3. The Pearson's chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney test were used for statistical analysis. Time to completion was longer than four hours in 13% of patients (average in total population 2:23 hours). In ESI 3 patients, 24% stayed longer than four hours in the ED (p<0.001). Internal medicine had most patients exceeding the four-hour target (37%), followed by neurology (29%). Undergoing a CT scan, treatment by multiple specialities, age above 65 years and hospital admission were associated with exceeding the four-hour target (p<0.001). The elapsed time between receiving test results and admission/discharge also influenced the completion time (p<0.001). A significant percentage of vulnerable and ill patients with triage category ESI 3 exceeded the four-hour completion time in our ED. Absence of coordination of care when multiple specialists were involved and delay in the process of decision-making after completion of all diagnostics on the ED were among other factors responsible for this prolonged stay. Improving the coordination of care will, in our opinion, speed up the decision-making process and lead to shortening of completion times in many patients.

Primary hyperparathyroidism due to solitary adenoma. A comparative multicentre study of early and long-term results of different surgical regimens.

Surgical regimens for treatment of solitary parathyroid adenoma were compared in a multicentre study in five departments of surgery in the United States and Europe. Three hundred and twenty-five patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Eight years after the operation 272 patients (84%) were available for follow-up investigation. Severe postoperative hypocalcaemia (less than 2.00 mmol) was significantly more common after bilateral than unilateral exploration (p less than 0.001), and in women (p less than 0.01). Neither age nor preoperative serum calcium concentration was related to the severity of postoperative hypocalcaemia. At follow-up, 96% of the patients who had had unilateral, and 89% of those who had had Bilateral exploration had remained normocalcaemic without further treatment. Of the patients who had had incisional biopsies of normal glands 8% had hypercalcaemia and 8% had hypocalcaemia. Of patients operated on without a biopsy being taken or who had had one whole normal gland removed 1% were hypercalcaemic and 4% were hypocalcaemic. Early and late hypocalcaemia are reduced by atraumatic handling of the normal parathyroid gland without increasing the risk of persistent or recurrent hypercalcaemia.

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy in non-medullary thyroid cancer.

8 patients with papillary cancer (4 with metastases, 4 in remission), 7 follicular cancer patients (6 with metastases), 2 patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer and 4 other non-medullary thyroid cancer patients all received an intravenous bolus injection of 220 MBq [111In-DTPA-D-Phe1]octreotide. Planar anterior and posterior gamma camera images of head-neck, chest and abdomen were obtained 24 and 48 h after injection. All primary cancers showed [111In-DTPA-D-Phe1] octreotide uptake; none occurred in patients in remission. The results were compared with conventional radio-iodine scintigraphy in patients with metastasised, differentiated thyroid cancer.