Usefulness of Hand-assisted Laparoscopic Restorative Proctocolectomy for Ulcerative Colitis in the Era of Laparoscopic Surgery - A Single-center Observational Study.

Objectives: Hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) combines the benefits of laparoscopic surgery with the tactile feedback from open surgery. In the current era of laparoscopic surgery, the significance of HALS as a technical transition has diminished. This study clarified the usefulness of HALS in restorative proctocolectomy (RPC) for ulcerative colitis (UC) in the era of laparoscopic surgery. Methods: The 212 patients who underwent RPC with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis between 2007 and 2023 were included in this study. The patients were divided into three groups, open surgery (OS), HALS, and conventional laparoscopic surgery (LAP), and their characteristics, surgical outcomes, surgical complications, and functional outcomes were compared. Results: The number of surgical techniques was OS in 21 cases, HALS in 184 cases, and LAP in 7 cases. The number of surgeons was two for OS and HALS, and four for LAP, with OS and HALS having fewer surgeons than LAP. The length of the skin incision was 13, 7, and 3 cm for OS, HALS, and LAP, respectively, and the operation times was 250, 286, and 576 minutes for OS, HALS, and LAP, respectively, with LAP having the longest operation time. The postoperative complications and function did not differ markedly among the three groups. Conclusions: In RPC for UC, HALS involved fewer surgeons and a shorter operative time than LAP. Even in the era of laparoscopic surgery, HALS remains a useful option, especially when a shorter operation time is required or when the number of available surgeons is insufficient.

Intestinal ultrasound for intestinal Behçet disease reflects endoscopic activity and histopathological findings.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Intestinal Behçet disease is typically associated with ileocecal punched-out ulcers and significant morbidity and mortality. Intestinal ultrasound is a noninvasive imaging technique for disease monitoring. However, no previous reports have compared intestinal ultrasound with endoscopic ulcer activity or histopathological findings for intestinal Behçet disease. We evaluated the usefulness of intestinal ultrasound for assessing the activity of ileocecal ulcers in intestinal Behçet disease. METHODS: We retrospectively compared intestinal ultrasound findings with 73 corresponding endoscopic images and 6 resected specimens. The intestinal ultrasound findings were assessed for 7 parameters (bowel wall thickness, vascularity [evaluated using the modified Limberg score with color Doppler], bowel wall stratification, white-plaque sign [strong hyperechogenic lines or spots], mesenteric lymphadenopathy, extramural phlegmons, and fistulas), and endoscopic ulcer activity was classified into active, healing, and scar stages. Histopathological findings were evaluated by consensus among experienced pathologists. RESULTS: Bowel wall thickness (P< 0.001), vascularity (P< 0.001), loss of bowel wall stratification (P= 0.015), and white-plague sign (P= 0.013) were significantly exacerbated in the endoscopic active ulcer stage. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that a bowel wall thickness of > 5.5 mm (sensitivity 89.7%, specificity 85.3%) was potentially useful for detecting active lesions. When compared with histopathological findings, an increase in bowel wall thickness reflected the ulcer marginal ridge, and the white-plaque sign reflected the ulcer bottom. CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal ultrasound is useful for monitoring intestinal ulcer activity in intestinal Behçet disease.