Robotic-Assisted Repair of a Ureterosciatic Hernia with Combined Ureteral Stenting.

Pelvic floor hernias represent a rare type of hernia and a rare etiology of pelvic symptoms. The rarest type of pelvic floor hernias are sciatic hernias, which present with a variety of symptoms depending on the hernia contents and location. Many different treatment approaches are described in the literature. A 73-year-old female presented to our outpatient minimally invasive surgery (MIS) clinic with one year of colicky left flank pain. She had previously presented to an emergency department, at which time a computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated left-sided hydronephrosis in the setting of a left-sided ureterosciatic hernia. She was asymptomatic and had no palpable hernia bulge. An operative repair was offered based on her prolonged symptoms. The patient was brought electively to the operating room with minimally invasive and urological surgeons. A left ureteral stent was placed over a guidewire. A robotic repair was performed with a round piece of biosynthetic mesh, secured in place with fibrin glue. Sciatic hernias are an extremely rare etiology of pelvic symptoms and require a high index of suspicion to identify. Obstructive and neuropathic symptoms may be intermittent, so diagnosis is often made using CT imaging. We report a successful treatment with pre-operative ureteral stenting followed by a robotic repair using biologic mesh secured with fibrin glue fixation. We believe this is a durable repair although acknowledge that longer follow-up is needed to establish the longevity of our treatment modality.

Post-Operative Ischemia and Surgical Technique Affect Late Mortality of Femoral Artery Pseudoaneurysms Following Injection Drug Use.

BACKGROUND: Surgical management of infected common femoral artery (CFA) pseudoaneurysms arising from intravenous drug use (IVDU) is clinically challenging with excellent perioperative outcomes reported for a number of techniques. Long-term outcomes after arterial ligation versus revascularization are not known. We report both short- and long-term comparison of lower extremity perfusion and outcomes for 25 patients that underwent simple or more extensive ligation or revascularization treatment. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 25 consecutive patients presenting primarily with infected CFA pseudoaneurysms related to IVDU at one referral institution was performed to determine short- and long-term outcomes at time of discharge, 30 days, and 1 year, including intraoperative differences, postoperative and follow-up ankle-brachial index, bacteriology, and postoperative mortality. In addition to a direct comparison between the revascularization patients (n = 12) and simple ligation patients (n = 13), a comparison within the simple ligation group was performed between those who underwent a ligation of the CFA with preservation of the femoral bifurcation (double ligation) and those who underwent ligation of the CFA, superficial femoral artery, and profunda femoral artery individually (triple ligation [TL]). RESULTS: All techniques resulted in similar mortality at 30 days. Lower extremity perfusion at discharge was highest in the revascularization group, and lowest in the TL patients. One year mortality was significantly higher in the TL cohort. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of long-term outcomes after surgery for infected CFA pseudoaneurysms, and demonstrates increased late mortality in patients treated with extensive (triple) ligation with persistent ischemia. We conclude that revascularization after resection of infected CFA aneurysms, or surgical techniques that preserve or recreate the femoral artery bifurcation cause less ischemia and late mortality in these challenging patients.

Establishing the first Hartford consensus-compliant medical school in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Following the Hartford Consensus meetings, the Stop the Bleed Campaign was created to reduce the prevalence of death from exsanguination in the case of traumatic hemorrhage. The campaign revolves around providing hemorrhage control training to members of the public and increasing public access to hemorrhage control equipment. To our knowledge, no medical school has established a self-sustaining Stop the Bleed program to train their students and faculty as well as made hemorrhage control equipment available for use in an emergency. METHODS: Bleeding control classes were offered at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine beginning in January 2018. A proposal was made to the medical school's Council on Curriculum Oversight in May 2018 to incorporate the training as part of the required curriculum for first-year students. A second proposal was made to Quinnipiac University's Emergency Management Team in June 2018 to purchase hemorrhage control equipment. RESULTS: Twelve bleeding control courses were held between January and August 2018. Two hundred ten medical students, 19 faculty members, and 36 public safety officers completed initial training. Thirty-four medical students, two faculty members, and two public safety officers became certified instructors. Training was incorporated into the first-year curriculum to be taught by certified second-year students under the direction of the school's Department of Surgery. The school purchased approved training equipment. A student-coordinator position was created in the Surgery Interest Group. Hemorrhage control equipment was purchased for each public safety officer, patrol vehicles, and for the Central Dispatch headquarters. Public-access equipment has been purchased for each Automated External Defibrillator cabinet at the medical school. CONCLUSION: The School of Medicine community has been empowered with the ability to save lives. Students and faculty have been trained in life-saving skills, a self-sustaining training process has been created, and equipment has been purchased for hemorrhage control efforts.