Intraoperative assessment of blood flow using transabdominal ultrasound during laparoscopic surgery of celiac artery compression syndrome.

Surgical treatment of celiac artery (CA) compression syndrome (CACS) is to release the median arcuate ligament (MAL) by removing the abdominal nerve plexus surrounding CA. In laparoscopic surgery of CACS, objective intraoperative assessment of blood flow in CA is highly desirable. We herein demonstrate a case of laparoscopic surgery of CACS with use of intraoperative transabdominal ultrasound. A 52-year-old woman was presented with epigastric pain and vomiting after eating. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography demonstrated significant stenosis at the origin of CA. Doppler study of CA was also performed, and she was diagnosed as CACS. Laparoscopic surgery was performed, and the MAL was divided. And then, Doppler study using intraoperative transabdominal ultrasound confirmed the successful decompression of CA. This patient was discharged on postoperative day 11, and her symptoms was improved. Intraoperative assessment of blood flow in CA using transabdominal ultrasound was a simple and useful method for laparoscopic surgery of CACS.

Polysomnographic assessment of respiratory disturbance during deep propofol sedation for endoscopic submucosal dissection of gastric tumors.

AIM: To investigate that polysomnographic monitoring can accurately evaluate respiratory disturbance incidence during sedation for gastrointestinal endoscopy compare to pulse oximetry alone. METHODS: This prospective observational study included 10 elderly patients with early gastric cancer undergoing endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) under propofol sedation. Apart from routine cardiorespiratory monitoring, polysomnography measurements were acquired. The primary hypothesis was tested by comparing the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), defined as the number of apnea and hypopnea instances per hour during sedation, with and without hypoxemia; hypoxemia was defined as the reduction in oxygen saturation by ≥ 3% from baseline. RESULTS: Polysomnography (PSG) detected 207 respiratory disturbances in the 10 patients. PSG yielded a significantly greater AHI (10.44 ± 5.68/h) compared with pulse oximetry (1.54 ± 1.81/h, P < 0.001), thus supporting our hypothesis. Obstructive AHI (9.26 ± 5.44/h) was significantly greater than central AHI (1.19 ± 0.90/h, P < 0.001). Compared with pulse oximetry, PSG detected the 25 instances of respiratory disturbances with hypoxemia 107.4 s earlier on average. CONCLUSION: Compared with pulse oximetry, PSG can better detect respiratory irregularities and thus provide superior AHI values, leading to avoidance of fatal respiratory complications during ESD under propofol-induced sedation.

Assessment for diagnosis of lymph node metastasis in esophageal cancer using endoscopic ultrasound elastography.

BACKGROUND: We performed endoscopic ultrasound real-time tissue elastography to more accurately diagnose lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of EUS elastography to distinguish benign from malignant lymph nodes in esophageal cancer patients. METHODS: The present study had two steps. As the first step (study 1), we developed diagnostic criteria for metastatic lymph nodes using elastography and verified the validity of the criteria. Three hundred and twenty-two lymph nodes from 35 patients treated by surgical resection were included in the study. As the second step (study 2), we preoperatively examined the lymph nodes of esophageal cancer patients with EUS elastography and compared its diagnostic performance with that of the conventional B-mode EUS images. A total of 115 lymph nodes from 31 patients were included. RESULTS: In study 1, lymph nodes were considered malignant if 50 % or more of the node appeared blue, or if the peripheral part of the lesion was blue and the central part was red/yellow/green. The sensitivity and specificity of the elastography were 79.7 and 97.6 % with an accuracy of 93.8 %, which was significantly higher than the values for conventional B-mode imaging. In study 2, the sensitivity and specificity of the EUS elastography were 91.2 and 94.5 % with an accuracy of 93.9 %, which was also significantly higher than the values for conventional B-mode EUS imaging. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that EUS elastography is useful for diagnosing lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer.