Robotic approach to hepatobiliary surgery.

Robot-assisted hepatobiliary surgery has been steadily growing in recent years. It represents an alternative to the open and laparoscopic approaches in selected patients. Endowristed instruments and enhanced visualization provide important advantages in terms of selective bleeding control, microsuturing, and dissection. Cholecystectomies and minor hepatectomies are being performed with comparable results to open and laparoscopic surgery. Even complex procedures, such as major and extended hepatectomies, can have excellent outcomes, in expert hands. The addition of indocyanine green fluorescence provides an additional advantage for recognition of the vascular and biliary anatomy. Future innovations will allow for expanding its use and indications. Robotic surgery has become a very important component of modern minimally invasive surgery and the development of new robotic technology will facilitate a broader adoption of this technique.

[Robotic approach to hepatobiliary surgery. German version]. / Roboterassistierte hepatobiliäre Chirurgie.

Robot-assisted hepatobiliary surgery has been steadily growing in recent years. It represents an alternative to the open and laparoscopic approaches in selected patients. Endowristed instruments and enhanced visualization provide important advantages in terms of selective bleeding control, microsuturing, and dissection. Cholecystectomies and minor hepatectomies are being performed with comparable results to open and laparoscopic surgery. Even complex procedures, such as major and extended hepatectomies, can have excellent outcomes, in expert hands. The addition of indocyanine green fluorescence provides an additional advantage for recognition of the vascular and biliary anatomy. Future innovations will allow for expanding its use and indications. Robotic surgery has become a very important component of modern minimally invasive surgery and the development of new robotic technology will facilitate a broader adoption of this technique.

[Robotic hepatobiliary and gastric surgery]. / Roboterunterstützte hepatobiliäre Chirurgie und Magenchirurgie.

Hepatobiliary surgery is a challenging surgical subspecialty that requires highly specialized training and an adequate level of experience in order to be performed safely. As a result, minimally invasive hepatobiliary surgery has been met with slower acceptance as compared to other subspecialties, with many surgeons in the field still reluctant about the approach. On the other hand, gastric surgery is a very popular field of surgery with an extensive amount of literature especially regarding open and laparoscopic surgery but not much about the robotic approach especially for oncological disease. Recent development of the robotic platform has provided a tool able to overcome many of the limitations of conventional laparoscopic hepatobiliary surgery. Augmented dexterity enabled by the endowristed movements, software filtration of the surgeon's movements, and high-definition three-dimensional vision provided by the stereoscopic camera, allow for steady and careful dissection of the liver hilum structures, as well as prompt and precise endosuturing in cases of intraoperative bleeding. These advantages have fostered many centers to widen the indications for minimally invasive hepatobiliary and gastric surgery, with encouraging initial results. As one of the surgical groups that has performed the largest number of robot-assisted procedures worldwide, we provide a review of the state of the art in minimally invasive robot-assisted hepatobiliary and gastric surgery.The English full-text version of this article is available at SpringerLink (under supplemental).

Fatal hypersensitivity reaction to an oral spray of flurbiprofen: a case report.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Safety of the anti-inflammatory drug flurbiprofen is comparable with that of other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs of the propionic acid class, which are commonly associated with gastrointestinal and renal side effects. Here we report a case of a fatal hypersensitivity reaction to an oral spray of flurbiprofen taken for sore throat. CASE SUMMARY: A 29-year-old man came to the emergency care unit reporting sore throat with an intense burning sensation associated with fever. Pharyngotonsillitis was diagnosed, and local treatment with oral flurbiprofen spray was prescribed. Immediately after using the spray, the patient experienced a severe reaction characterized by serious dyspnoea, followed by death. The cause of death was heart failure with acute asphyxia from oedema of the glottis. The cause of death was concluded to be hypersensitivity to flurbiprofen spray. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Oral propionic acid derivatives have been associated with a relatively high frequency of allergic reactions. However, allergy to flurbiprofen has rarely been documented. Scientific literature reports two relevant cases of hypersensitivity reaction to flurbiprofen: in one case, a patient presented with a maculopapular rash 48 h after having taken oral flurbiprofen followed by angio-oedema and hypotension. In another case, a single oral dose of flurbiprofen caused itching and swelling around the eyes, redness and increased lacrimation. We describe, for the first time, a fatal case of hypersensitivity reaction to flurbiprofen oral spray. Hypersensitivity reactions to flurbiprofen are infrequent; however, health professionals should be aware of potential adverse reactions, even during topical administration as oral spray.

Esophageal dilation after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal dilation can occur after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). There are few studies in the literature that describe the outcomes of patients with esophageal dilation. The aim of this article is to evaluate weight loss and symptomatic outcome in patients with esophageal dilation after LAGB. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of all LAGBs performed at Columbia University Medical Center from March 2001 to December 2006. Patients with barium swallow (BaSw) at 1 year after surgery were evaluated for esophageal diameter. A diameter of 35 mm or greater was considered to be dilated. Data collected before surgery and at 6 months and 1, 2 and 3 years after surgery were weight, body mass index (BMI), status of co-morbidities, eating parameters, and esophageal dilation as evaluated by BaSw. RESULTS: Of 440 patients, 121 had follow-up with a clinic visit and BaSw performed at 1 year. Seventeen patients (10 women and 7 men) (14%) were found to have esophageal dilation with an average diameter of 40.9 +/- 4.6 mm. There were no significant differences in percent of excess weight lost at any time point; however, GERD symptoms and emesis were more frequent in patients with dilated esophagus than in those without dilation. Intolerance of bread, rice, meat, and pasta was not different at any time during the study. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience the incidence of esophageal dilation at 1 year after LAGB was 14%. The presence of dilation did not affect percent excess weight loss (%EWL). GERD symptoms and emesis are more frequent in patients who develop esophageal dilation.

Laparoscopic surgery for pancreatic tumors, an uptake.

Laparoscopy is not universally accepted as the best approach for pancreatic tumor disease. It is considered an élite surgical approach especially because of the technical difficulties involved; and the highly trained surgeons that are required to perform these operations. In addition, long operation times and lack of reduction in length of hospital stay press for the use of the laparotomic approach instead of a laparoscopic one. Four major areas of interest have been focused on: pancreaticoduodenectomy, pancreas resection and enucleation, the increasingly important areas of diagnostic laparoscopy for staging of pancreatic cancer and laparoscopic palliation of unresectable pancreatic cancer. A review of the literature about laparoscopic management of pancreatic tumors disease has been examined: 14 laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomies, 93 pancreatic resections, 41 enucleations, 4 left pancreatectomies and 2 hand assisted enucleations have been described since 1994. The laparoscopic distal pancreas resection and enucleation appear to be the best treatment option for lesions located in the body and tail of the gland; conversely laparoscopy may not be indicated for lesions located in the head of the gland. The laparoscopic approach today, does not present advantages in terms of post-operative outcome and operation times than the laparotomic approach. The hand assisted approach may be helpful in difficult cases to facilitate the operation; it permits an easier and safer dissection still conserving a minimally invasive approach. Moreover, laparoscopy is also becoming the best approach for tumor staging and palliation, and many surgeons use the laparoscopy to obtain the most information with the minimal damage in a situation already compromised by a weakening disease.

Anorectal involvement is frequent in limited systemic sclerosis.

The gastrointestinal tract, particularly the oesophagus, is affected in about half of all patients with systemic sclerosis. Only a few studies so far have dealt with the anorectal tract. We studied the anal function using anorectal manometry in 12 patients with limited systemic sclerosis. We also studied the oesophageal function. For the oesophagus, we measured the difference between intragastric and oesophageal pressure, while for the anorectal tract we investigated the maximum resting pressure, the maximum voluntary squeeze effort and the rectoanal inhibitory reflex. Maximum resting pressure and maximum voluntary squeeze effort were found to be decreased in all patients. The rectoanal inhibitory reflex was abnormal in four patients. Statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between maximum resting pressure and maximum voluntary squeeze effort. No correlation was found between oesophageal and anorectal involvement. Anorectal dysfunction is common in patients with limited systemic sclerosis. We suggest that these patients should have an evaluation of their anorectal function including anorectal manometry.

[Anomalous origin of the right coronary from the left sinus of Valsalva. A possible cause of juvenile sudden death]. / Origine anomala della coronaria destra dal seno di Valsalva sinistro. Una possible causa di morte improvvisa giovanile.

Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the left sinus of Valsalva is a rare congenital anomaly classified as a "minor" anomaly of no clinical importance. Recently, manifestations of myocardial ischemia (angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, nonfatal ventricular fibrillation, sudden death) have been described in patients with this anomaly in the absence of atherosclerosis or other. Sudden death occurs frequently in symptomatic patients and rarely in asymptomatic patients (sudden unexpected death). In this study we report two cases of juvenile sudden death observed in asymptomatic patients with anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the left sinus of Valsalva. In both cases the sudden death was exertion-related. In case 1 the coronary anomaly was the cause of death, since it was the only significant anatomic abnormality at necropsy; the microscopic findings revealed ischemic lesions only in the myocardium supplied by the anomalous right coronary artery. In case 2 the coronary anomaly was connected to other cardiac and non cardiac diseases (lymphocytic active myocarditis, chronic portitis, encephalitis, medullary adrenalitis). Since these morphologic lesions were extremely slight and there was no adrenal catecholamine damage in the myocardium, we consider negligible their possible role in determining death, which in this case was induced by the congenital coronary anomaly. The cardiac microscopic findings, also in this case, revealed ischemic lesions in the myocardium supplied by the anomalous right coronary artery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)