Robotic excision of a pre-coccygeal nerve root tumor.

Pre-coccygeal ganglioneuroma is a rare clinical entity that presents incidentally or with non-specific symptoms. We present a case of a 25 year old housewife who was incidentally diagnosed with pre-coccygeal ganglioneuroma while getting investigated for primary infertility. The patient had no specific complaints except for irregular menstruation which had started 8 months back. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was suggestive of a presacral and pre-coccygeal lesion. Resection of the tumor was done through the anterior approach using the da Vinci Si robotic system. Two robotic arms and one assistant port were used to completely excise the tumor. Robotic excision of such a tumor mass located at a relatively inaccessible area allows enhanced precision and 3-dimentional (3D) view avoiding damage to important surrounding structures.

Perception of NOTES among health care workers and medical students.

UNLABELLED: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is an experimental surgical approach. Several intra-abdominal procedures have been successfully performed in animals and humans although the long-term safety is still unknown. Potential advantages are reduction of wound-related complications, reduced postoperative pain, improved cosmesis, and short recovery time. This study aimed to measure the overall perception among health care workers and medical students. MATERIALS: A brief 9-item survey was created to measure the perception among health care workers and medical students. A total of 120 surveys were completed. RESULTS: Overall, 15% had a favorable perception, 29% had an unfavorable perception, and 55% were undecided. A total of 40% considered the possibility of avoiding wound-related complications the most appealing advantage, whereas 54% cited unknown safety as the most concerning possible disadvantage. Current occupation, previous knowledge, and affiliation to the surgical department influenced the overall perception. CONCLUSION: Most health care workers and medical students in our sample were undecided in their perception of NOTES.

Rat models for bariatric surgery and surgery for type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus being one of the most prevalent diseases in the world has led to a variety of research using animal models. This review focuses on various rat models to study the effect that surgical procedures have on type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity. Rat models can be classified as Obese Diabetic, Non-Obese Diabetic, Obese Non-Diabetic, and Non-Obese Non-Diabetic. Here, we have discussed the particular characteristics of each rat so that it can provide the appropriate model to study different pathological processes involve in type 2 Diabetes and obesity.