Routine ilioinguinal nerve excision in inguinal hernia repairs.

BACKGROUND: Chronic inguinal neuralgia is one of the most significant complications following inguinal hernia repair. Routine ilioinguinal nerve excision has been proposed as a means to avoid this complication. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the long-term outcomes of neuralgia and paresthesia following routine ilioinguinal nerve excision compared to nerve preservation. METHODS: Retrospective chart review identified 90 patients who underwent Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repairs with either routine nerve excision (n = 66) or nerve preservation (n = 24). All patients were contacted and data was collected on incidence and duration of postoperative neuralgia and paresthesia. Comparison was made by chi(2) analysis. RESULTS: The patients with routine neurectomy were similar to the group without neurectomy based on gender (male/female 51/15 vs. 19/5) and mean age (68 +/- 14 vs. 58 +/- 18 years). In the early postoperative period (6 months), the incidence of neuralgia was significantly lower in the neurectomy group versus the nerve preservation group (3% vs. 26%, P <0.001). The incidence of paresthesia in the distribution of the ilioinguinal nerve was not significantly higher in the neurectomy group (18% vs. 4%, P = 0.10). At 1 year postoperatively, the neurectomy patients continued to have a significantly lower incidence of neuralgia (3% vs. 25%, P = 0.003). The incidence of paresthesia was again not significantly higher in the neurectomy group (13% vs. 5%, P = 0.32). In patients with postoperative neuralgia, mean severity scores on a visual analog scale (0-10) were similar in neurectomy and nerve preservation patients at all end points in time (2.0 +/- 0.0 to 2.5 +/- 0.7 vs. 1.0 +/- 0.0 to 2.2 +/- 1.5). In patients with postoperative paresthesia, mean severity scores on a visual analog scale (0-10) were similar in the neurectomy and nerve preservation patients at 1 year (2.5 +/- 2.2 vs. 4.0 +/- 0.0) and 3 years (3.5 +/- 2.9 vs. 4.0 +/- 0.0). CONCLUSIONS: Routine ilioinguinal neurectomy is associated with a significantly lower incidence of postoperative neuralgia compared to routine nerve preservation with similar severity scores in each group. There is a trend towards increased incidence of subjective paresthesia in patients undergoing routine neurectomy at 1 month, but there is no significant increase at any other end point in time. When performing Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair, routine ilioinguinal neurectomy is a reasonable option.

Establishing a women's health curriculum using the Delphi Method.

CONTEXT: A Women's Health Initiative Task Force was formed with the collaboration of five primary care medical specialties at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston to address the education of medical students about important issues related to women's health. OBJECTIVE: To identify and prioritize key concepts in issues related to women's health Methods: Literature review and three generational Delphi Method. RESULTS: The content was identified for development of a curriculum in Women's Health for medical students and resident physicians. Objectives, tasks, skills, learning opportunities, and learning materials were defined, and the curriculum is being designed to produce, within all specialties, parallel and consistent opportunities to educate students about issues important for women's health. CONCLUSION: The rankings of topics gathered though the Delphi Method will be used to develop a curriculum in Women's Health Issues that defines objectives, tasks, skills, learning opportunities, and learning materials for the purpose of educating UTMB medical students and resident physicians about the health needs of women.

Preliminary outcome analysis in patients with breast cancer and a positive sentinel lymph node who declined axillary dissection.

BACKGROUND: This retrospective study was designed to provide a preliminary outcome analysis in patients with positive sentinel nodes who declined axillary dissection. METHODS: A review was conducted of patients who underwent lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node excision for invasive disease between January 1998 and July 2000. Those who were found to have sentinel lymph node metastasis without completion axillary dissection were selected for evaluation. Follow-up included physical examination and mammography. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients were identified who met inclusion criteria. Primary invasive cell types included infiltrating ductal carcinoma, infiltrating lobular carcinoma, and mixed cellularity. Most primary tumors were T1. Nodal metastases were identified by hematoxylin and eosin stain and immunohistochemistry. Twenty-seven of the metastases were microscopic (<2 mm), and the remaining four were macroscopic. All patients received adjuvant systemic therapy. With a mean follow-up of 30 months, there have been no patients with axillary recurrence on physical examination or mammographic evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: We have presented patients with sentinel lymph nodes involved by cancer who did not undergo further axillary resection and remain free of disease at least 1 year later. This preliminary analysis supports the inclusion of patients with subclinical axillary disease in trials that randomize to observation alone.