A simple technique of securing inferior epigastric vessels and repairing the rectus sheath at laparoscopic surgery.

Trauma to the inferior epigastric artery during insertion of ports for laparoscopic surgery can be associated with major hemorrhage. Several techniques have been developed to deal with this emergency, but most require special and expensive instrumentation that may not be readily available. We describe a simple and quick method to deal with this complication using only standard sutures and a laparoscopic needle holder. Two sutures with straight needles are inserted below laterally and medially to the vessels and pulled out via a contralateral port. The sutures are tied together and pulled back into the abdominal cavity and tied to secure the vessels. The procedure is repeated above the vessels to produce complete hemostasis. The technique also can be applied easily to repair the rectus sheath after using large trocars and cannulas and thereby prevent herniation.

Response of skin thickness and metacarpal index to estradiol therapy in postmenopausal women.

A radiologic method for measuring skin thickness and metacarpal index was used to investigate 41 postmenopausal women treated with estradiol (100-mg) subcutaneous implants (Organon, UK). All the women completed the first six months of the study, and 33 completed one year. Both skin thickness and metacarpal index increased to a statistically significant degree over the one-year period, with most of the increase occurring in the first six months of therapy. Skin thickness showed the largest increases, from a mean of 0.86 mm at the start of the study to 0.97 mm at six months and 1 mm at one year. The metacarpal index increased from a mean of 0.77 at the start of the study to a mean of 0.799 and 0.8 at six months and one year, respectively.

Amenorrhea and endometrial atrophy with continuous oral estrogen and progestogen therapy in postmenopausal women.

An oral regimen of continuous conjugated equine estrogens (Premarin 0.625 or 1.25 mg daily) and low-dose progestogen (Norethisterone 0.35 to 2.1 mg daily) have been used to treat 95 nonhysterectomized postmenopausal women for up to 2.5 years. This method of hormone replacements was undertaken in an attempt to avoid the withdrawal bleeding and progestogenic side effects associated with conventional cyclical therapy with estrogen and progestogen, while simultaneously protecting the endometrium from estrogenic over-stimulation. With the lower dose of estrogen, amenorrhea was achieved immediately in 30 of 46 patients (65%), and after adjustments to the dose of the progestogen in all ten patients observed for at least one year (maximum 2.5 years). With the higher dose of estrogen, irregular spotting during the first three months resulted in the cessation of treatment by six of the 49 patients (12%), but 23 (47%) women had no bleeding during that time; by 15 months, all 13 patients who had remained in treatment had become amenorrheic (maximum 2.25 years). Endometrial biopsy specimens after six months of combined treatment in 56% of patients revealed atrophic histology regardless of the dose of the estrogen.

The excision of uterine fibroids by vaginal myomectomy: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of the excision of uterine fibroids by vaginal myomectomy. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: A gynecology department of a university teaching hospital. PATIENT(S): Women with menorrhagia, pelvic pain, symptoms of pressure, or subfertility attributable to moderate-sized uterine fibroids who otherwise would have required abdominal or laparoscopic myomectomy. INTERVENTION(S): Vaginal myomectomy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The feasibility of vaginal surgery, operative complications, postoperative recovery, and relief of symptoms. RESULT(S): Myomectomy was completed vaginally in 32 (91.4%) of 35 patients and none required hysterectomy. The overall operating time was 78 minutes, the estimated operative blood loss was 313 mL, and the mean postoperative hospital stay was 4 days. Pelvic hematomas developed in 4 patients, and one colpotomy required resuture. Seventy-four percent of the women reported relief of their symptoms at 3 months' follow-up. Three patients have had full-term pregnancies since the operation. CONCLUSION(S): Myomectomy can be performed by the vaginal route in selected cases with low morbidity and a good short-term success rate. Unlike open myomectomy, it requires no skin incision, and unlike laparoscopic myomectomy, it can be used in patients who have numerous, relatively large, and intramural fibroids.

Lignocaine aerosol spray in outpatient hysteroscopy: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of lignocaine spray during outpatient hysteroscopy in reducing the need for additional anesthesia and reducing the discomfort of the procedure. DESIGN: A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: An undergraduate university teaching hospital in London. PATIENT(S): One hundred twenty patients undergoing outpatient hysteroscopy. INTERVENTION(S): Application of lignocaine spray to the cervix, cervical canal, and uterine cavity during outpatient hysteroscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The need to use additional anesthesia and the pain experienced at various steps of the procedure. RESULT(S): Women treated with active spray experienced significantly less pain when the cervix was grasped with a tenaculum at the start of hysteroscopy. There were no other significant differences in the outcome of hysteroscopy between the placebo and lignocaine groups, although there was a significant reduction in the use of additional anesthesia in both groups compared with historical controls. CONCLUSION(S): Lignocaine spray has beneficial effects on cervical but not uterine sensation. Pretreatment with either lignocaine or placebo seems to reduce the need for additional intracervical anesthesia during hysteroscopy.

Hysteroscopy in women with abnormal uterine bleeding on hormone replacement therapy: a comparison with postmenopausal bleeding.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of outpatient diagnostic hysteroscopy in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and to contrast this with a control group of women presenting with postmenopausal bleeding. DESIGN: Comparative observational study. SETTING: Outpatient hysteroscopy clinic in a university hospital. PATIENTS: Three hundred ten patients undergoing outpatient hysteroscopy. INTERVENTIONS: Outpatient diagnostic hysteroscopy with endometrial biopsy when indicated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hysteroscopic findings, need for cervical dilatation and local anaesthesia, correlation between hysteroscopy and histologic diagnosis. RESULTS: There were 157 (7.1%) patients with AUB on HRT and another 153 (6.9%) with postmenopausal bleeding out of 2,203 outpatient hysteroscopies. Hysteroscopy was successful in 97% and 92% of patients, respectively, and intrauterine pathology was diagnosed in 46.7% and 39.7% of these cases. Functional endometrium was noted significantly more often with HRT and endometrial atrophy with postmenopausal bleeding. Overall, local anesthesia was used in 126 (40.6%) and shown to be associated significantly with the need for cervical dilatation. Endometrial biopsy was attempted in 125 (80%) and 119 (78%) patients in the study and control groups, but was unsuccessful significantly more often with postmenopausal bleeding (38.7%) versus 16%). There were six cases of endometrial carcinoma, all in the control group. CONCLUSION: There is a high incidence of intrauterine abnormalities in women with menstrual symptoms while taking HRT, but the pathology differed from those with postmenopausal bleeding. As focal lesions are found commonly in such patients, their detection by diagnostic hysteroscopy should improve compliance with HRT as it would allow individualization of treatment.

Endometrial and menstrual response to subcutaneous oestradiol and testosterone implants and continuous oral progestogen therapy in post-menopausal women.

A regimen of subcutaneous implants of oestradiol and testosterone in combination with continuous oral norethisterone (0.35mg to 5mg daily) was used to treat 71 non-hysterectomised post-menopausal women for up to 30 mth in an attempt to avoid the withdrawal periods associated with conventional cyclical therapy, while at the same time protecting the endometrium from oestrogenic overstimulation. Amenorrhoea, defined as no vaginal bleeding for at least 3 mth, occurred immediately in 5.4-55.6% of women, the percentage depending on the daily dose of the progestogen. In those women who bled, the dose of norethisterone was adjusted at 3-mth intervals. Despite this protocol, only 51.0% of the patients were amenorrhoeic after 6 mth, and 63.2% after 1 yr. Although eight women did develop amenorrhoea for 12-27 mth, there was a high drop-out rate by the others, mainly because of unacceptable irregular bleeding. Irrespective of the bleeding pattern, endometrial biopsies 6 mth after treatment revealed endometrial atrophy. It is concluded that this form of therapy is inferior to oral continuous combined hormone replacement where amenorrhoea can almost invariably be achieved.

Liver transplantation during pregnancy.

We present a case of successful liver transplantation during the midtrimester of pregnancy, showing that pregnancy itself is not a contraindication to liver transplantation with life-threatening illness. Improvements in anaesthetic and surgical technique will enhance the possibility of foetal survival.

Managing gynaecological emergencies with laparoscopy.

A consecutive series of 49 women (50 procedures), whose conditions were haemodynamically stable, presenting with acute lower abdominal pain, pelvic tenderness, and either a urine concentration of greater than 50 U/l beta human chorionic gonadotrophin or a pelvic mass shown by ultrasonography were treated with operative laparoscopy under video monitoring (videopelviscopy) as an alternative to laparotomy. Ectopic pregnancy, ovarian and non-ovarian cysts, pelvic adhesions, endometriosis, and fibroids were found, for which salpingotomy, salpingectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy, cystectomy, adhesiolysis, thermocoagulation, and myomectomy were carried out by laparoscopy. In one patient pelviscopy was repeated because of persistent tubal pregnancy after the fimbria was expressed. Laparotomies were carried out on three patients because treatment was not possible by laparoscopy and on a further patient two days after adhesiolysis had been attempted. These were the only serious complications. For the 46 cases (45 patients) in which operative laparoscopy was successful the mean stay in hospital was 1.9 days after operation, and this group of patients returned to normal activities and to work after an average of 2.3 and 2.6 weeks respectively. Most gynaecological emergencies that are managed by laparotomy can be treated by laparoscopy and benefit both patients and the health service.

Transcervical resection of endometrium in women with menorrhagia.

As an alternative to hysterectomy 16 women with menorrhagia were treated with hysteroscopic transcervical resection of the endometrium with an unmodified urological resectoscope. Twelve patients requested total resection of the endometrial lining with the intention of producing amenorrhoea, and four chose partial resection and hypomenorrhoea. Surgery was completed successfully in 15; the remaining woman, who had an acutely retroflexed uterus, sustained a uterine perforation during insertion of the rigid hysteroscope. There were no important postoperative complications, and 13 patients were discharged from hospital the day after operation. Follow up for up to six months showed beneficial effects on the duration of menses and the subjective assessment of menstrual blood loss and pain in the treated women, six of them becoming amenorrhoeic after total resection. Hysteroscopy at three months in 13 patients showed fibrosis confined to the upper half of the uterine cavity. Endouterine biopsy specimens showed the presence of microscopic deposits of normal endometrium in 10 women. Although these results are preliminary, transcervical resection of the endometrium may have an important role in managing this common complaint.

Effects and analysis of the menstrual cycle.

The menstrual cycle is much more than a cycle of periods. Menstruation is only one manifestation of the ovarian cycle which is itself associated with more than 200 physical, psychological and behavioural changes. Numerous medical disorders also appear to be modulated by cyclical ovarian activity. Objective assessment of these cyclical changes can be difficult. One approach is by trend analysis, which can be used to provide both qualitative and quantitative information concerning daily menstrual cycle data. The application of this technique to the assessment of menstrual cycle symptoms and the premenstrual syndrome are demonstrated.

Characterisation of cyclical symptoms.

The ovarian cycle has a fundamental effect on the lives of women, both in health and disease. Although the mechanism for this is presently unknown, the continuing study of the cycle will produce greater understanding.

A simple method for the diagnosis of premenstrual syndrome by use of a self-assessment disk.

A diagnostic disk based on the obstetric calculator was developed for the self-assessment of menstrual cycle symptoms. The instrument, called the PMT-Cator (Rocket of London, Watford, England) can be used to monitor five symptoms for up to 6 weeks. A set of simple calculations are described inside the disk to determine whether the symptom scores are suggestive of premenstrual syndrome. Results of the PMT-Cator correlate well with those of more complex analysis. The PMT-Cator may have other uses as well.

Assessment of menstrual cycle symptoms by trend analysis.

The physical, psychological, and behavioral changes associated with the menstrual cycle can be assessed statistically by time series analysis. One such method, Trigg's technique for trends, has been adapted for the study of prospective symptom ratings used in evaluation of the premenstrual syndrome. Such analysis provides both qualitative and quantitative information concerning menstrual cycle symptomatology. The pattern of symptoms, as denoted by Trigg's tracking signal, can be identified. The premenstrual syndrome can be defined mathematically in terms of significant symptom trends at specified times in the menstrual cycle. The overall severity of symptoms at any point in the cycle can be gauged by the exponentially smoothed average symptom ratings. A derived statistic, the menstrual cycle ratio, is proposed as a global index of menstrual cycle morbidity which can be easily standardized to allow for comparability of research reports.

The development of laparoscopic surgery.

For centuries people have been trying to look inside the abdomen but it is only relatively recently that the technology has been available to make this a meaningful possibility. Major milestones have included safe peritoneal insufflation, cold-light illumination, laparoscopes with the rod lens system, instruments for the safe manipulation of pelvic organs, techniques to ensure haemostasis, laser, video monitoring and most recently double-optic laparoscopy. As a result, the indications for gynaecological laparoscopy have been greatly extended from its initial use as a diagnostic aid or a means of female sterilization, and procedures such as adhesiolysis, ovarian cystectomy, tubal surgery for infertility or ectopic pregnancy, excision of endometriosis and even myomectomy are now possible without open surgery. Well-defined safety guidelines must of course be adhered to and proper training is essential in the various techniques, but the medical, financial and social advantages are such that we owe it to our patients to exploit the full potential of this new mode of management.

Indications and alternatives to hysterectomy.

Hysterectomy is the commonest major operation performed by gynaecologists and is the definitive cure for many of it's indications which include dysfunctional uterine bleeding, fibroids, utero-vaginal prolapse, endometriosis and adenomyosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, pelvic pain, gynaecological cancers and obstetric complications. It is a successful operation in terms of relieving women of their presenting symptoms and high levels of satisfaction are reported by patients. However, it has a high risk of complications, involves a prolonged convalescence, is expensive and to some women represents a loss of femininity. It should only be employed after trying conservative treatments first if appropriate. If this fails, currently only endometrial ablation and myomectomy are valid alternatives to hysterectomy. If ultimately hysterectomy is required, there is considerable evidence that patient care can be improved by increasing the proportion of operations that are done vaginally and laparoscopically and decreasing the number of laparotomies.