[A new effective method to reduce pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy]. / Un nuovo efficace sistema per ridurre il dolore dopo videolaparocolecistectomia.

BACKGROUND: The primary aim of this randomized controlled prospective study (www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00599144) was assessing effectiveness on pain control after videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy (VLC) of 0.5% Bupivacaine-soaked sheet of regenerated oxidized cellulose positioned in the gallbladder bed. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We randomized in three equal groups 45 patients that underwent elective videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy: group A - Bupivacaine-soaked sheet of regenerated oxidized cellulose positioned in the gallbladder bed; group B - Bupivacaine infiltrated in the muscular fasciae of the trocars' seat; group C - control group, not using local anesthetic. Six and 24 hours after the intervention we recorded the type of the pain and its intensity, using a visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: We observed no statistically significant difference in pain intensity. Considering the type of pain, 55,56% of patients referred visceral pain, 62,22% parietal pain and 44,44% shoulder pain. Group A shows, at both endpoints, a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05) of visceral and shoulder pain versus other groups. Moreover, the use of a local anesthetic significantly reduces the use of post-operative pain drugs, both for group A and B. CONCLUSION: A Bupivacaine-soaked sheet of regenerated oxidized cellulose positioned in the gallbladder bed post-VLC is safe and not economically demanding, and can give advantages in increasing post-operative comfort.

Modular branched neurotensin peptides for tumor target tracing and receptor-mediated therapy: a proof-of-concept.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate that oligo-branched peptides can be effective either for spotlighting tumor cells that overexpress peptide receptors, or for killing them, simply by exchanging the functional moiety coupled to the conserved receptor-targeting core. Tetra-branched peptides containing neurotensin (NT) sequence are described here as selective targeting agents for human colon, pancreas and prostate cancer. Fluorophore-conjugated peptides were used to measure tumor versus healthy tissue binding in human surgical samples, resulting in validation of neurotensin receptors as highly promising tumor-biomarkers. Drug-armed branched peptides were synthesized with different conjugation methods, resulting in uncleavable adducts or drug-releasing molecules. Cytotoxicity on human cell lines from colon (HT-29), pancreas (PANC-1) or prostate (PC-3) carcinoma indicated branched NT conjugated with MTX and 5-FdU as the most active agents on PANC-1 (EC(50) 4.4e-007 M) and HT-29 (1.1e-007 M), respectively. Tetra-branched NT armed with 5-FdU was used for in vivo experiments in HT-29-xenografted mice and produced a 50% reduction in tumor growth with respect to animals treated with the free drug. An unrelated branched peptide carrying the same drug was completely ineffective. In vitro and in vivo results indicated that branched peptides are valuable tools for tumor selective targeting.

[Laparoscopic approach in acute bowel obstruction due to ileal endometriosis: case report]. / Occlusione intestinale acuta da endometriosi ileale trattata in laparoscopia. Case report.

Endometriosis affects 10-20% of fertile women, and in 3-37% of them it extends to the bowel. Its location, in the ileal tract of the bowel, usually the end-part, is only the 7%; and the occurrence of intestinal obstruction is no more than 0.15% of patients affected by endometriosis. We present a case of acute bowel obstruction due to ileal endometriosis in a 39 years woman, diagnosed and treated by laparoscopic approach.