First experience in laparoscopic surgery in low and middle income countries: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic surgery has reduced morbidity and mortality rates, shorter postoperative recovery periods and lower complication rates than open surgery. It is routine practice in high-income countries and is becoming increasingly common in countries with limited resources. However, introducing laparoscopic surgery in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) can be expensive and requires resources, equipment, and trainers. AIM: To report the challenges and benefits of introducing laparoscopic surgery in LMIC as well as to identify solutions to these challenges for countries with limited finances and resources. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched for studies reporting first experience in laparoscopic surgery in LMIC. Included studies were published between 1996 and 2022 with full text available in English. Exclusion criteria were studies considering only open surgery, ear, nose, and throat, endoscopy, arthroscopy, hysteroscopy, cystoscopy, transplant, or bariatric surgery. RESULTS: Ten studies out of 3409 screened papers, from eight LMIC were eligible for inclusion in the final analysis, totaling 2497 patients. Most reported challenges were related to costs of equipment and training programmes, equipment problems such as faulty equipment, and access to surgical kits. Training-related challenges were reliance on foreign trainers and lack of locally trained surgeons and theatre staff. The benefits of introducing laparoscopic surgery were economic and clinical, including a reduction in hospital stay, complications, and morbidity/mortality. The introduction of laparoscopic surgery also provided training opportunities for junior doctors. CONCLUSION: Despite financial and technical challenges, many studies emphasise the overall benefit of introducing laparoscopic surgery in LMICs such as reduced hospital stay and the related lower cost for patients. While many of the clinical centres in LMICs have proposed practical solutions to the challenges reported, more support is critically required, in particular regarding training.

Parastomal hernia containing the stomach-a rare complication.

A lady in her 70s presented to hospital with sudden onset nausea and excessive vomiting. She had a constant and worsening abdominal pain that radiated to the back but was focused on her stoma in the left iliac fossa. The patient had bilateral hernias and colostomy following a Hartman's procedure for perforated diverticulosis in 2018 and had presented twice before in the last 6 months with similar symptoms. CT abdomen pelvis showed a large portion of the stomach in the parastomal hernia leading to a narrowing of the stomach at the hernia neck but no ischaemic changes. She was diagnosed with bowel obstruction and successfully treated with fluid resuscitation, proton pump inhibitors, analgesia, antiemetics and decompression of the stomach using large bore nasogastric tube. A total of 2600 ml fluid was aspirated in 24 h and her stoma restarted normal output. After 10 days she was discharged home.

Surgical Outcomes, Long-Term Recurrence Rate, and Resource Utilization in a Prospective Cohort of 165 Patients Treated by Transanal Total Mesorectal Excision for Distal Rectal Cancer.

A transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) is a smart alternative to a conventional TME. However, worrisome reports of a high recurrence and complications triggered a moratorium in a few countries. This study assessed the outcomes and resource utilization of a taTME. Consecutive patients with distal rectal cancer treated by a taTME were prospectively included. Outcomes were reported as the median and interquartile range (IQR). One hundred sixty-five patients (67% male and 33% female) with a tumor 7 cm (IQR 5-10) from the anal verge were followed for 50 months (IQR 32-79). The resection margins were threatened in 25% of the patients, while 75% of the patients received neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy. A good mesorectal dissection and clear margins were achieved in 96% of the specimens, and 27 lymph nodes (IQR 20-38) were harvested. Ninety-day major morbidity affected 36 patients (21.8%), including 12 with anastomotic leakages (7.2%). A recurrence occurred locally in 9 patients (5.4%), and 44 patients had a distant metastasis (26.7%). The five-year disease-free survival and overall survival were 67% and 90%, respectively. A multivariate analysis found a long operation and frailty predicted an anastomotic leak, while a positive distal margin and lymph nodes predicted a local recurrence and distant metastasis. A two-team taTME saved 102 min of operative time and EUR 1385 when compared to a one-team approach. Transanal total mesorectal excision produced sound surgical quality and excellent oncologic outcomes.

Extended lymph node resection versus standard resection for pancreatic and periampullary adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic and periampullary adenocarcinomas account for some of the most aggressive malignancies, and the leading causes of cancer-related mortalities. Partial pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) with negative resection margins is the only potentially curative therapy. The high prevalence of lymph node metastases has led to the hypothesis that wider excision with the removal of more lymphatic tissue could result in an improvement of survival, and higher rates of negative resection margins. OBJECTIVES: To compare overall survival following standard (SLA) versus extended lymph lymphadenectomy (ELA) for pancreatic head and periampullary adenocarcinoma. We also compared secondary outcomes, such as morbidity, mortality, and tumour involvement of the resection margins between the two procedures. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Embase from 1973 to September 2020; we applied no language restrictions. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCT) comparing PD with SLA versus PD with ELA, including participants with pancreatic head and periampullary adenocarcinoma. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened references and extracted data from study reports. We calculated pooled risk ratios (RR) for most binary outcomes except for postoperative mortality, for which we estimated a Peto odds ratio (Peto OR), and mean differences (MD) for continuous outcomes. We used a fixed-effect model in the absence of substantial heterogeneity (I² < 25%), and a random-effects model in cases of substantial heterogeneity (I² > 25%). Two review authors independently assessed risk of bias, and we used GRADE to assess the quality of the evidence for important outcomes. MAIN RESULTS: We included seven studies with 843 participants (421 ELA and 422 SLA). All seven studies included Kaplan-Meier curves for overall survival. There was little or no difference in survival between groups (log hazard ratio (log HR) 0.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) -3.06 to 3.31; P = 0.94; seven studies, 843 participants; very low-quality evidence). There was little or no difference in postoperative mortality between the groups (Peto odds ratio (OR) 1.20, 95% CI 0.51 to 2.80; seven studies, 843 participants; low-quality evidence). Operating time was probably longer for ELA (mean difference (MD) 50.13 minutes, 95% CI 19.19 to 81.06 minutes; five studies, 670 participants; moderate-quality evidence). There was substantial heterogeneity between the studies (I² = 88%; P < 0.00001). There may have been more blood loss during ELA (MD 137.43 mL, 95% CI 11.55 to 263.30 mL; two studies, 463 participants; very low-quality evidence). There was substantial heterogeneity between the studies (I² = 81%, P = 0.02). There may have been more lymph nodes retrieved during ELA (MD 11.09 nodes, 95% CI 7.16 to 15.02; five studies, 670 participants; moderate-quality evidence). There was substantial heterogeneity between the studies (I² = 81%, P < 0.00001). There was little or no difference in the incidence of positive resection margins between groups (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.13; six studies, 783 participants; very low-quality evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence of an impact on survival with extended versus standard lymph node resection. However, the operating time may have been longer and blood loss greater in the extended resection group. In conclusion, current evidence neither supports nor refutes the effect of extended lymph lymphadenectomy in people with adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas.

Glomus tumour of the stomach.

Glomus tumours are benign tumours typically arising from the glomus bodies and primarily found under the fingernails or toenails. These rare neoplasms account for <2% of all soft tissue tumours and are generally not found in the gastrointestinal tract. We report a case of a 40-year-old man presenting with recurrent epigastric pain and pyrosis. Endoscopy revealed a solitary tumour in the antrum of the stomach. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy was suspicious for a gastrointestinal stroma tumour. After CT indicated the resectability of the tumour, showing neither lymphatic nor distant metastases, a laparoscopic-assisted gastric wedge resection was performed. Surprisingly, histology revealed a glomus tumour of the stomach.

Muscle ischaemia in patients with orthostatic hypotension assessed by velocity recovery cycles.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with orthostatic hypotension may experience neck pain radiating to the occipital region of the skull and the shoulders while standing (so-called coat-hanger ache). This study assessed muscle membrane potential in the trapezius muscle of patients with orthostatic hypotension and healthy subjects during head-up tilt (HUT), by measuring velocity recovery cycles (VRCs) of muscle action potentials as an indicator of muscle membrane potential. METHODS: Eight patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA), orthostatic hypotension and a positive history for coat-hanger pain and eight normal controls (NCs) were included in this study. Repeated VRCs were recorded from the trapezius muscle by direct muscle stimulation in the supine position and during HUT for 10 min. RESULTS: Muscle VRC recordings did not differ between MSA patients and NCs in the supine position. During HUT, early supernormality decreased progressively and relative refractory period increased in MSA patients whereas VRC measures remained unchanged in NCs. Ten minutes after the start of HUT, early supernormality was reduced by 44% and relative refractory period was increased by 17%. CONCLUSIONS: Muscle membranes in patients with orthostatic hypotension become progressively depolarised during standing. Membrane depolarisation is most likely the result of muscle ischaemia, related to the drop in perfusion pressure caused by orthostatic hypotension. Coat-hanger ache is most likely a consequence of this muscle ischaemia.

Velocity recovery cycles of human muscle action potentials: repeatability and variability.

OBJECTIVE: Velocity recovery cycles (VRCs) of human muscle action potentials have been proposed as a new technique for assessing muscle membrane function in myopathies. This study was undertaken to determine the variability and repeatability of VRC measures such as supernormality, to help guide future clinical use of the method. METHODS: To assess repeatability, VRCs with one and two conditioning stimuli were recorded from brachioradialis muscle by direct muscle stimulation in 20 normal volunteers, and the measurements repeated 1 week later. To further assess variability and dependence on electrode separation, age and sex, recordings from an additional 20 normal volunteers were added. RESULTS: There was a high intraclass correlation between repeated recordings of early supernormality, indicating excellent reliability of this VRC measure. However, relative refractory period had a smaller coefficient of repeatability in relation to the changes previously described during ischemia. We found no evidence that any of the excitability measures depended on electrode separation, conduction time or apparent velocity. There were also no significant differences between the recordings from men and women, or between the recordings from older (mean 44.9 y) and younger (26.5 y) subjects. CONCLUSIONS: VRC measures are sufficiently consistent to be suitable for comparing muscle membrane function both within subjects and between groups. Early supernormality measurements benefit most from within subject comparisons. SIGNIFICANCE: These normative data sets provide a firm basis for planning clinical studies.