LINX®, a novel treatment for patients with refractory asthma complicated by gastroesophageal reflux disease: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Gastroesophageal reflux disease is one of the most common comorbidities in patients with asthma. Gastroesophageal reflux disease can be linked to difficult-to-control asthma. Current management includes gastric acid suppression therapy and surgical antireflux procedures. The LINX® procedure is a novel surgical treatment for patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease refractory to medical therapy. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first case of successful treatment of refractory asthma secondary to gastroesophageal reflux disease using the LINX® procedure. CASE PRESENTATION: Our patient was a 22-year-old white woman who met the American Thoracic Society criteria for refractory asthma that had remained poorly controlled for 5 years despite progressive escalation to step 6 treatment as recommended by National Institutes of Health-National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines, including high-dose oral corticosteroids, high-dose inhaled corticosteroid plus long-acting ß2-agonist, leukotriene receptor antagonist, and monthly omalizumab. Separate trials with azithromycin therapy and roflumilast did not improve her asthma control, nor did bronchial thermoplasty help. Additional consultations with two other university health systems left the patient with few treatment options for asthma, which included cyclophosphamide. Instead, the patient underwent a LINX® procedure after failure of maximal medical therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease with the additional aim of improving asthma control. After she underwent LINX® treatment, her asthma improved dramatically and was no longer refractory. She had normal exhaled nitric oxide levels and loss of peripheral eosinophilia after LINX® treatment. Prednisone was discontinued without loss of asthma control. The only immediate adverse effects due to the LINX® procedure were bloating, nausea, and vomiting. CONCLUSIONS: LINX® is a viable alternative to the Nissen fundoplication procedure for the treatment of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and poorly controlled concomitant refractory asthma.

Robotic cholecystectomy and resident education: the UC Davis experience.

INTRODUCTION: The popularity of robotic surgery highlights the need for strategies to integrate this technique into surgical education. We present 5 year data for robotic cholecystectomy (RC) as a model for training residents. METHODS: Data were collected on all RC over 66 months. Duration for docking the robot (S2) and performing RC (S3), and surgical outcomes, were recorded. We used a linear mixed effects model to investigate learning curves. RESULTS: Thirty-eight trainees performed 160 RCs, with most performing more than four. One case was aborted due to haemodynamic instability, and two were converted to open surgery due to adhesions. There were no technical complications. The duration of S2 (mean = 6.2 ± 3.6 min) decreased considerably (p = 0.027). Trainees also demonstrated decrease in duration of S3 (mean = 38.4 ± 15.4 min), indicating improvement in technique (p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: RC is an effective model for teaching residents. Significant and reproducible improvement can be realized with low risk of adverse outcomes.

Single-site robotic cholecystectomy in a broadly inclusive patient population: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: To describe our initial experience with single-site robotic cholecystectomy (SSRC) and its applicability to a broad segment of patients. BACKGROUND: At the initiation of our study, there were only 3 published reports on SSRC. These initial studies had limited inclusion criteria. We present our experience with the technical aspects and patient outcomes of SSRC in a broadly inclusive patient population. METHODS: Prospective cohort study from January 2012 to January 2013, in which 95 patients underwent SSRC. Procedural times, postoperative complications, delayed hospital discharges, and re-admissions were evaluated. RESULTS: Patients were predominantly female (71.6%) had mean age of 45.2 ± 6.1 years and mean body mass index (BMI) of 30.1 ± 7.1 kg/m. Overall, mean total operative time (TOT) for all patients (n = 95) was 88.63 ± 32.0 (range: 49-220) minutes. SSRC was not completed in 8 (8.42%) patients: 6 conversions to laparoscopy, 1 conversion to open, and 1 aborted case. The group of patients who were able to complete SSRC (n = 87) had a mean TOT of 83.5 ± 24.5 minutes and mean operative robotic time (RT) of 39.6 ± 15.2 minutes. RT was longer in patients with intra-abdominal adhesions (P = 0.0139) and higher BMI (P = 0.03). A minority of patients required hospital admission (11.6%), readmission (6.3%), or reoperation (1.1%). No bile duct injury or death occurred. CONCLUSIONS: SSRC is safe and has a manageable learning curve. Patient factors, such as obesity, did not significantly affect conversion rates or TOTs. SSRC is a promising new technique, which can be offered to a wide array of patients.

Comparison of robotic and laparoendoscopic single-site surgery systems in a suturing and knot tying task.

BACKGROUND: Laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) surgery has been established for various procedures. Shortcomings of LESS surgery include loss of triangulation, instrument collisions, and poor ergonomics, making advanced laparoscopic tasks especially challenging. We compared a LESS system with a robotic single-site surgery platform in performance of a suturing and knot-tying task under clinically simulated conditions. METHODS: Each of five volunteer minimally invasive surgeons was tasked with suturing a 5 cm longitudinal enterotomy in porcine small intestine with square knots at either end, using a laparoendoscopic or da Vinci robotic single-site surgery platform, within a 20 min time limit. A saline leak test was then performed. Each surgeon performed the task twice using each system. The time to completion of the task and presence of a leak were noted. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the overall completion rate within the defined time limit, and a Wilcoxon rank test was used to compare the specific times to complete the task. A p value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: All surgeons were able to complete the task on the first try within 20 min using the robot system; 60% of surgeons were able to complete it after two attempts using the LESS surgery system. Time to completion using the robot system was significantly shorter than the time using the standard LESS system (p < 0.0001). There were no leaks after closure with the robot system; the leak rate following the standard LESS system was 90%. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons demonstrated significantly better suturing and knot-tying capabilities using the robot single-site system compared to a standard LESS system. The robotic system has the potential to expand single-site surgery to more complex tasks.

Increased soluble leptin receptor levels in morbidly obese patients with insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

The adipocyte hormone, leptin has been demonstrated to have profibrogenic actions in vitro and in animal models. However, no correlation was found between plasma leptin levels and fibrosis stage in humans. Thus, our aim was to study whether soluble leptin receptor (SLR) or free leptin index (FLI; calculated as the ratio of leptin to SLR), may correlate better with the features of metabolic syndrome and with the histological grade and stage of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We studied a population (n = 104) of morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Data including BMI, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia were obtained. Plasma fasting leptin and SLR, fasting glucose and insulin were measured, and homeostasis model of assessment insulin resistance (HOMA(IR)) index and FLI were calculated. All patients had intraoperative liver biopsies. Leptin levels correlated with the BMI. The multiple regression analysis indicated that increasing HOMA and decreasing FLI were predictors of steatosis in the liver (P < 0.0003). SLR levels were positively correlated with the presence of diabetes mellitus and the stage of fibrosis. In conclusion, increased SLR levels in morbidly obese patients with diabetes are correlated with the stage of liver fibrosis, and may reflect progressive liver disease.

3-D telestration: a teaching tool for robotic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Telestration is an important teaching tool in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). While robotic surgery offers the added benefit of three-dimensional (3-D) visualization, telestration technology does not currently exist for this modality. This project aimed to develop a video algorithm to accurately translate a mentor's two-dimensional (2-D) telestration into a 3-D telestration in the da Vinci visual field. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prototype 3-D telestration system was constructed to translate 2-D telestration from a mentor station into 3-D graphics for the trainee at the robotic console. This system uses fast image correlation algorithms to allow 2-D images to be placed over the same anatomic location in the two separate video channels of the stereoscopic robotic visualization system. Three subjects of varying surgical backgrounds, blinded to the mode of telestration (2-D vs. 3-D), were tested in the laboratory, using a simulated robotic task. RESULTS: There were few technologic errors (2), only one of which resulted in a task error, in 99 total trials. Only the experienced MIS staff surgeon had a significantly faster task time in 2-D than in 3-D (P < 0.05). The MIS fellow recorded the fastest task times in 2-D and 3-D (P < 0.05). There were nine task errors, six of which were committed by the MIS fellow. The nonsurgeon trainee had the least number of errors but also had the slowest times. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic telestration in 3-D is feasible and does not negatively impact performance in laboratory tasks. We plan to refine the prototype and investigate its use in vivo.

Robotic cholecystectomy: learning curve, advantages, and limitations.

BACKGROUND: Robotic cholecystectomy is safe, feasible procedure. Initial studies showed significant set up time and operating time but no clear clinical advantage of the robotic involvement. We have investigated the learning curve, advantages and limitation of the procedure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed all (n = 51) robotic cholecystectomies performed between July 2004 and December 2005. The surgery was performed using the da Vinci system. We recorded operative time, setup time of robotics instrumentation, conversion to laparoscopic or open cholecystectomy and complication of the procedure. RESULTS: Forty-eight of the 51 procedures (94%) were completed robotically. We did not experience any significant complications directly related to robotics surgery. The mean +/- SD operating time was 77 +/- 22.3 min. The mean setup time for robotics (from incision until robot was in place, including draping the robot) was 24 +/- 8.8 min. However, the setup time significantly improved as we gained more experience: from 30.6 +/- 10.7 min (first 16 cases) to 18.3 +/- 4.0 min (cases 33-48). The mean robotic time was 34 +/- 16.1 min. We observed no significant improvement in robotic procedure time. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic cholecystectomy offers significant advantages such as three-dimensional view, easier instrument manipulations and possibility of remote site surgery. We observed some shortcomings of robotic surgery such as need for larger and additional ports, and need for undocking the machine in case of cholangiography or change of patient position. Our data shows that the learning curve is between 16 to 32 procedures to significantly decrease the setup time and total operating time.