Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis: the evolving trend in an institution.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the gold standard for symptomatic cholecystolithiasis. Technical maturation and advances in instrumentation have enabled the application of this procedure for acute cholecystitis (AC). We review the evolving role of LC for AC in our institution. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted of patients who received LC for AC between January 1994 and June 2001. Patients' demographics, clinical findings and perioperative outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS: There were 140 men and 141 women with a mean age of 56.9 years (range, 23-89 years). Two hundred and eighteen of these patients underwent successful LC. There were 63 conversions (22.4%) for uncertain anatomy and difficult dissection (41), gangrenous or perforated gallbladder (16) and bleeding (6). The conversion rates as stratified to surgeon's seniority were 25.1%, 22.8% and 9.7% for registrar, senior registrar and consultant, respectively. The mean operative time was 84.3 minutes (range, 30-255 minutes) and the mean postoperative stay was 5.8 days (range, 1-35 days). The overall complication rate was 11.6%, including two bile duct injuries and two perioperative deaths. CONCLUSION: LC for AC is safe and effective and associated with a low incidence of complications when routinely applied by surgical residents. The conversion rate is related to operators' surgical experience.

Primary omental ectopic pregnancy.

Omental ectopic pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy. Presented here is a case primary omental ectopic pregnancy according to Studdiford's criteria. This patient presented with epigastric pain and anemia without vaginal bleeding, lower abdominal or pelvic pain. Pregnancy status was confirmed after admission. Transvaginal ultrasound examination revealed intrauterine contraceptive device in situ and a large amount of free peritoneal fluid, but no intrauterine sac or adnexal mass. Laparoscopy was performed but pelvic pathology did not account for the 2500 mL of haemoperitoneum. Laparotomy was carried out and partial omentectomy was performed.

Randomized controlled trial comparing epinephrine injection plus heat probe coagulation versus epinephrine injection plus argon plasma coagulation for bleeding peptic ulcers.

BACKGROUND: Epinephrine injection with heat probe coagulation is an effective treatment for bleeding peptic ulcer. Few studies have investigated the efficacy of dual therapy with epinephrine injection plus either heat probe or argon plasma coagulation for high-risk bleeding peptic ulcers. This study compared epinephrine injection plus heat probe coagulation to epinephrine injection plus argon plasma coagulation for the treatment of high-risk bleeding peptic ulcers. METHODS: The study design was prospective, randomized, and controlled. Patients with actively bleeding peptic ulcers, ulcers with adherent clots, or ulcers with nonbleeding visible vessels were randomly assigned to epinephrine injection plus heat probe coagulation or epinephrine injection plus argon plasma coagulation. Patients with previous gastric surgery, malignant ulcers, and unidentifiable ulcers because of torrential bleeding were excluded. The primary outcome measure was recurrence of bleeding. Secondary outcome measures were initial hemostasis, endoscopic procedure duration, number of patients requiring surgery, mortality within 30 days, and ulcer status at 8 week follow-up endoscopy. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-two patients were enrolled; 7 with malignant ulcers were excluded after randomization. One hundred eighty-five cases were analyzed, 97 in the heat probe group and 88 in the argon plasma coagulation group. Patient demographics and ulcer characteristics were comparable between the groups. There was no significant difference in terms of initial hemostasis (95.9% vs. 97.7%), frequency of recurrent bleeding (21.6% vs. 17.0%), requirement for emergency surgery (9.3% vs. 4.5%), mean number of units of blood transfused (2.4 vs. 1.7 units), mean hospital stay (8.2 vs. 7.0 days), and hospital mortality (6.2% vs. 5.7%). Sixty (61.8%) patients in the heat probe group and 52 (52.9%) in the argon plasma coagulation group underwent endoscopy at 8 weeks. There was no significant difference between these groups in the relative frequency of nonhealing ulcer at 8 weeks. CONCLUSION: Epinephrine injection plus argon plasma coagulation is as safe and effective as epinephrine injection plus heat probe coagulation in the treatment of patients with high-risk bleeding peptic ulcers.