[Internal herniation through a mesenteric defect after Roux-en-Y anastomosis]. / Hernie interne à travers une brèche mésentérique sur une anse en Y montée selon Roux.

We report a case of entire of small bowel necrosis due to internal herniation through a mesenteric rent around the Roux-en-Y anastomosis. For prevention of internal herniation around the Roux-en-Y limb, secure closing of the mesenteric is recommended. Nevertheless, the consequences of a mesenteric closing defect are rarely reported. Necrosis of the entire small has never been described yet.

[Ehlers-Danlos syndrome revealed by sigmoid perforation]. / Syndrome d'Ehlers-Danlos révélé par une perforation sigmoïdienne.

We report a case of colonic perforation revealing Ehlers -Danlos syndrome type IV in a male adult. This syndrome is a heritable disorder of collagen synthesis. Its prognosis is severe resulting in vascular rupture or bowel perforation. In his surgical strategy, the surgeon has to cope with the recurrent feature of the colonic perforation. In order to prevent other perforations, a therapeutic scheme has been set up according to literature.

[Accessory liver lobe torsion mimicking a pancreatic tumor]. / Torsion d'un lobe hépatique accessoire mimant une tumeur pancréatique.

We report a case of liver accessory lobe torsion. In few published cases, pre-operative diagnosis was made by radiologic findings for non specific abdominal pain. In reported case, only surgery led to diagnosis, whereas pancreatic tumor was suspected by ultrasound and tomodensitometry.

Laparoscopy for acute small-bowel obstruction secondary to adhesions.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Postoperative adhesions are the leading cause of small-bowel obstruction in developed countries. Several arguments suggest that laparoscopy may lead to fewer adhesions than does laparotomy. We report here the short-term results of laparoscopy in patients admitted on an emergency basis for acute small-bowel obstruction secondary to adhesions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective trial included 134 consecutive patients: 39 underwent emergency surgery, and 95 had laparoscopic adhesiolysis shortly after resolution of the obstruction with nasogastric suction. Of the previous operations for which the dates were known, 16% had taken place within 1 year of the obstruction and 33.5% within 5 years. In all, 27% of the patients had open laparoscopy, and 16% had conversions: 7% after elective laparoscopy and 36% after emergency laparoscopy. RESULTS: There were no operative deaths. One patient underwent a reoperation the following day for fistula after incomplete adhesiolysis attributable to multiple adhesions found during elective laparoscopy. If laparoscopy is considered to have failed when adhesiolysis was incomplete or conversion or reoperation was necessary, our success rate was 80% after elective laparoscopy and 59% after emergency laparoscopy. CONCLUSION: Emergency situations in acute small-bowel obstruction combine several circumstances unfavorable for laparoscopy: a limited work area and a distended and fragile small bowel. Laparoscopic adhesiolysis after the crisis has passed may produce better results, but only long-term follow-up can confirm the role of elective laparoscopy for this indication.

[Gastric stromal tumors. Results of a multicenter study. French Associations of Surgery Research]. / Tumeurs gastriques conjonctives. Résultats d'une étude multicentrique. Associations Françaises de Recherche en Chirurgie.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Gastric stromal tumours are not perfectly known. The aim of this retrospective multicenter study (29 centers) was to improve knowledge of these tumours. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1986 to 1994, 159 patients were operated on for leiomyomas (50), leiomyosarcomas (24), malignant/benign schwann cell tumours (10/29), automatic nerve tumours (4), leiomyoblastomas (28), spindle cell tumours (14). The mean duration of follow-up was 5 years. Presenting symptoms, diagnostic procedures, operative and pathological findings, evolution (recurrence, death) were recorded for each patient. RESULTS: Gastrointestinal bleeding and epigastric pain were the most common presenting symptoms (54% and 50% of patients, respectively). Endosonography was the most sensitive examination (97%). Malignant tumours size was greater than benign tumours size (12.6 cm versus 5.2 cm). Extension to contiguous organs or metastases were frequent (33% and 26% of patients, respectively). In 16 patients, pathological examination could not differentiate between malignant and benign tumour. Seven patients who had been operated on for a benign tumour (6%) developed a local (n = 4) or a metastatic (n = 3) recurrence. The 5-year survival rate was 40% for leiomyosarcomas, 28% for schwannosarcomas and 90% for malignant leiomyoblastomas. CONCLUSION: The main feature of stromal gastric tumours is the frequent difficulty to differentiate between malignant and benign tumours. The prognosis of malignant tumours depends on pathological types. The prognosis of benign tumours is uncertain since recurrences may develop.

Diagnosis of asymptomatic common bile duct stones: preoperative endoscopic ultrasonography versus intraoperative cholangiography--a multicenter, prospective controlled study. French Associations for Surgical Research.

BACKGROUND: In patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis, preoperative diagnosis of common bile duct (CBD) stones can modify the therapeutic strategy. The aims of this prospective, controlled multicenter study were to assess the feasibility, concordance, discordance, and indexes such as sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of preoperative endoscopic ultrasonography compared with those of intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) in the diagnosis of asymptomatic CBD stones (i.e., patients undergoing cholecystectomy with no clinical or biologic evidence of CBD stones). METHODS: From October 1993 to October 1995, 240 consecutive patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis, scheduled for cholecystectomy in 14 surgical centers, were enrolled in this study. All patients were selected for this study according to a preoperative high-risk CBD stone predictive score. Each patient underwent both endoscopic ultrasonography and IOC, as well as surgical exploration of the CBD when stones were detected during one or both preoperative investigations. All patients were seen 1 months and 1 year after operation to check for residual stones. RESULTS: The feasibility of endoscopic ultrasonography was significantly higher overall than that of IOC (99% vs 90%; p < 0.001), except when IOC was through a laparotomy (97% vs 93%; p = 0.16). The number of patients available for study was 215. In 198 cases (92%), results of both investigations were in concordance (161 negative and 37 positive values). Seventeen cases (8%) were discordant. There was overall concordance between the two investigations (kappa coefficient 0.764; 95% confidence interval 0.66 to 0.87), but the percentage of discordance was in favor of IOC. Sensitivity and specificity of IOC were significantly higher than those of endoscopic ultrasonography (1.00 and 0.98 vs 0.85 and 0.93, respectively). With a prevalence of CBD stones of 19%, positive and negative predictive values of IOC were significantly higher than those of endoscopic ultrasonography (0.93 and 1.00 vs 0.75 and 0.96, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Although endoscopic ultrasonography is feasible more often than IOC, IOC is associated with a slightly lower degree of discordance and better information indexes and remains an efficient method of investigation for CBD stones. Endoscopic ultrasonography can be suggested in preference to endoscopic retrograde cholangiography when postoperative residual stones are suspected but need not be performed routinely before cholecystectomy.

Preoperative evaluation of the probability of common bile duct stones. French Association for Surgical Research.

BACKGROUND: This study was done to determine if certain criteria could predict the presence of common bile duct stones in patients with symptomatic gallstones. It was hoped that patients could be identified in whom intraoperative cholangiography was unnecessary. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred seventy-five patients, from 15 surgical centers, were prospectively enrolled. For each patient, the preoperative score (Huguier score) previously published was calculated according to clinical and ultrasound data: age, diameter of the common bile duct, diameter of the smallest gallstone, history of biliary colic, and acute cholecystitis. All patients underwent an open cholecystectomy and an intraoperative cholangiography. The absence or presence of a common bile duct stone was evaluated during the operation, if necessary, after an instrumental investigation of the common bile duct. RESULTS: Ultrasound was not interpretable in eight (5 percent) of 175 patients. Final analysis was made from the charts of the 167 remaining patients. Thirty (18 percent) had common bile duct stones. When the score was equal to or greater than 3.5, the risk of having a common bile duct stone was 24 percent (27 of 111). When the score was less than 3.5, this risk was 5 percent (three of 56). CONCLUSIONS: Huguier's score is well assessed and can be safely used. Intraoperative cholangiography could be avoided in 33 percent of patients when the score is less than 3.5 (56 of 167).

[Incidence of acquired infection in the surgical departments of 5 hospitals]. / Incidence des infections acquises dans les services de chirurgie de cinq hôpitaux.

A program for monitoring nosocomial infections was implemented in the surgical units of five hospitals. The overall incidence of infections after clean surgery varied from 6.6% to 15% depending on the units. Surgical wound infections were in the 2.8 to 5% range, which corresponded to 30-66% of nosocomial infections. The main septic complication of surgery in 2 of the 5 units was urinary tract infection, with an incidence of 1.6 to 7.8%. Bacteriaemia complicating urinary tract infections and intravenous catheter infections accounted for 4% to 16% of all infections. Staphylococcus aureus was responsible for 40 to 77% of surgical wound infections and Escherichia coli for 30 to 50% of urinary tract infections. After a 4-5 months period of monitoring, the incidence of nosocomial infections was reduced by 32 to 68% depending on individual units.