Circumferential Esophageal Reconstruction Using a Tissue-engineered Decellularized Tunica Vaginalis Graft in a Rabbit Model.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric surgeons have faced esophageal reconstruction challenges for decades owing to a variety of congenital and acquired conditions. This work aimed to introduce a reproducible and efficient approach for creating tissue-engineered esophageal tissue using bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) cultured in preconditioned mediums seeded on a sheep decellularized tunica vaginalis (DTV) scaffold for partial reconstruction of a rabbit's esophagus. METHODS: DTV was performed using SDS and Triton X-100 solutions. The decellularized grafts were employed alone (DTV group) or after recellularization with BMSCs cultured for 10 days in preconditioned mediums (RTV group) for reconstructing a 3 cm segmental defect in the cervical esophagus of rabbits (n = 20) after the decellularization process was confirmed. Rabbits were observed for one month, after which they were euthanized, and the reconstructed esophagi were harvested for histological analysis. RESULTS: Six rabbits in the DTV group and eight rabbits in the RTV group survived until the end of the one-month study period. Despite histological examination demonstrating that both grafts completely repaired the esophageal defect, the RTV graft demonstrated a histological structure similar to that of the normal esophagus. The reconstructed esophagi in the RTV group revealed the arrangement of the different layers of the esophageal wall with the formation of newly formed blood vessels and Schwann-like cells. CONCLUSION: DTV xenograft is a novel scaffold that promotes cell adhesion and differentiation and might be effectively utilized for regenerating esophageal tissue, paving the way for future clinical trials in pediatric patients.

Laparoscopic Suture versus Mesh Rectopexy for the Treatment of Persistent Complete Rectal Prolapse in Children: A Comparative Randomized Study.

PURPOSE: To compare laparoscopic mesh rectopexy with laparoscopic suture rectopexy. Patients and Methods. The prospective study was conducted at Pediatric Surgery Department, Al-Azhar University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt between Feb 2010 and Jan 2015. Seventy-eight children with persistent complete rectal prolapse were subjected to laparoscopic rectopexy. Fourteen parents refused to participate. All patients received initial conservative treatment for more than one year. The remaining 64 patients were randomized divided into two equal groups. Group A; 32 patients underwent laparoscopic mesh rectopexy and group B, 32 underwent laparoscopic suture rectopexy. The operative time, recurrence rate, post-operative constipation, and effect on fecal incontinence, were reported and evaluated for each group. RESULTS: Sixty-four cases presented with persistent complete rectal prolapse were the material of this study. They were 40 males and 24 females. Mean age at operation was 8 (5-12) years. All cases were completed laparoscopically. Mean operative time in laparoscopic suture rectopexy was shorter than laparoscopic mesh rectopexy group. No early post-operative complications were encountered. No cases of recurrence with mesh rectopexy group while in suture rectopexy group it was 4 cases (14.2%). Post-operative constipation occurred in one case (3.57%) in suture rectopexy group and occurred in one case (3.3%) in mesh rectopexy group. Fecal incontinence improved in 26/28 cases (92.8%) in suture rectopexy while in mesh rectopexy it was improved in 30/30 cases (100%) of cases. CONCLUSION: Both laparoscopic mesh and suture rectopexy are feasible and reliable methods for the treatment of complete rectal prolapse in children. However, no recurrence, low incidence of constipation and high improvement of incontinence at follow up more than 36 months with mesh rectopexy accordingly, we considered mesh rectopexy to be the procedure of choice in treatment of complete rectal prolapse.

Penile Median Raphe Anomalies as an Indicator of Megameatus Intact Prepuce Anomaly in Children Undergoing Routine Circumcision.

OBJECTIVE: To arouse the suspicious for early diagnosis and hence, proper management of megameatus with an intact prepuce (MIP), as there is no external clue for detection of such cases, which usually come to light for the first time in a boy who is about to retract his prepuce or during neonatal circumcision. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Examination of neonates and infants coming to circumcision clinic to detect congenital genitourinary anomalies. Evaluation of 12,518 neonates and infants coming for ritual circumcision from 2006-2017, who were examined thoroughly to detect any incidental congenital genitourinary anomalies. Fifteen of them were diagnosed to have a MIP anomaly. They were investigated to perceive any associated median raphe (MR) anomalies. Sensitivity, positive predictive value, specificity, and negative predictive value of MR anomalies in cases of MIP were estimated and compared with other children who had a normally positioned meatus. RESULTS: Overall incidence of MIP in this group of babies was 0.12%. Twelve of 15 cases (80%) with MIP had 19 forms of MR anomalies; mainly raphe deviation in 6 cases, hyperpigmented raphe in 6, prominent raphe in 4, and bifurcation in 3 cases. Three cases had a redundant long prepuce, and 1 had paraphimosis after preputial retraction, otherwise no other genitourinary anomalies could be detected in those cases. CONCLUSION: MR anomalies, mainly deviation and hyperpigmented prominent raphe, are significant indictors for the presence of an invisible MIP anomaly. Abnormally redundant long prepuce may be seen in such cases, but this is not common.

Shalaby technique for efficient single incision laparoscopic pediatric inguinal hernia repair.

BACKGROUND: The desire to reduce incision related morbidity and pain while achieving improve cosmetic results has recently led to the introduction of single incision pediatric endosurgery [SIPES]. Over the last few years, SIPES has been increasingly used for a variety of procedures; single incision laparoscopic hernia repair [SILHR] is perhaps its common application. Intracorporeal suturing and knot tying during SIPES remain one of the most challenging tasks. The aim of this study is to present a novel technique to avoid excessive purposeless movements during SILHR in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One-hundred and fifty patients with 170 hernial defects were subjected to SILHR during the period from June 2009 to October 2011. Extraperitoneal saline was injected around internal inguinal ring [IIR] in males. The opened IIR was closed by percutaneous insertion of purse string suture using Reverdin Needle (RN) with intracorporeal suture tie. The main outcome measurements were; feasibility of the technique, tightness of the suture tie, operative time, postoperative hydrocele formation, recurrence rate, and cosmetic results. RESULTS: Ages ranged between 6 months and 7 years (mean 2±24.2years). There were 101 males and 49 females. Eighty-four patients presented with right sided inguinal hernia, 46 patients with left sided hernia, and 20 patients with bilateral hernia. The mean operative time was 12.4±1.7min for unilateral cases and 18.6±1.7min for the bilateral cases. On follow-up, there were only 1 case of recurrence and 3 cases of hydrocele and the scar is nearly invisible. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results of this study showed that our technique is very promising to achieve secure closure of IIR and reduced operative time with excellent cosmetic results.

Ten years experience with a novel modification of plastibell circumcision.

BACKGROUND: Plastibell device is a satisfactory method of circumcision in infants. However the most common post-operative complication was bleeding (especially from the frenulum site). As a result, we introduce a novel modification of the device to prevent this complication. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective comparative study of Plastibell circumcision in infants up to the age of 12 months was conducted, using conventional Plastibell device and modified Plastibell device circumcision. In The first group (1000 infants), circumcision was performed with conventional Plastibell device while in the second group (4500 infants), circumcision was done with modified Plastibell device. RESULTS: The mean age was 8 weeks. The mean operating time were 8.5 min and 5.9 min for conventional Plastibell ring and modified Plastibell device circumcision respectively. The most common postoperative complication in first groups was bleeding. CONCLUSION: This modified Plastibell device, prevents the most series complication of bleeding. It is fast and ensures excellent cosmoses compared with the standard Plastibell template circumcision. Also it is easy to perform and allows the paediatric surgeon to achieve consistently excellent cosmetic results. Moreover, the shorter operating time makes circumcision by the modified Plastibell device a more practical method. The technique will be described in detail.

Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair; experience with 874 children.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR) in children has become an alternative to the open procedure. It is gaining popularity with more and more studies supporting its feasibility, safety, and efficacy. This is a retrospective study to present our experience with children who underwent LIHR. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 1184 inguinal hernias were repaired laparoscopically in 874 children. They were 703 boys and 171 girls. Their mean age was 2.9 ± 2.1 years (range, 6-108 months). Six-hundred and twenty four opened internal inguinal rings (IIRs) were closed by transperitoneal purse string suture technique (TPP) and 560 opened IIRs were closed by percutaneous purse string suture with lateral umbilical ligament enforcement using Reverdin Needle (RN) technique. RESULTS: All cases were completed laparoscopically without conversion. There were no serious intraoperative complications. Mean operating time, in TPP technique, was 15 ± 2.3 minutes for unilateral and 20 ± 1.7 minutes for bilateral inguinal hernia, while the mean operating time, in RN technique, was 8.7 ± 1.18 minutes for unilateral and 12.35 ± 2 minutes for bilateral hernia repair. The contralateral patent processus vaginalis (PPV) was present in 176 (20% of cases). Follow-up to date is 10-140 months (mean 80 ± 2.1 months). In the early stage of this study, the recurrence rate was 1.13%. In the last 450 cases, no recurrence occurred. Hydroceles occurred in 0.58% and no testicular atrophy or iatrogenic ascent of the testis. CONCLUSIONS: LIHR can be a routine procedure with results comparable to those of open procedures. Both recurrence and operative time are nearly equal or even less than that for the open procedure after gaining a learning curve and modifications of the techniques.

Laparoscopic Hernia Repair versus Open Herniotomy in Children: A Controlled Randomized Study.

Background. Laparoscopic hernia repair in infancy and childhood is still debatable. The objective of this study is to compare laparoscopic assisted hernia repair versus open herniotomy as regards operative time, hospital stay, postoperative hydrocele formation, recurrence rate, iatrogenic ascent of the testis, testicular atrophy, and cosmetic results. Patients and Methods. Two hundred and fifty patients with inguinal hernia were randomized into two equal groups. Group A was subjected to laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair. Group B was subjected to open herniotomy. The demographic data were matched between both groups. Assessment of the testicular volume and duplex assessment in preoperative, early, and late postoperative periods were done. Results. All cases were completed successfully without conversion. The mean operative time for group A was 7.6 ± 3.5 minutes, 9.2 ± 4.6 minutes and 11.4 ± 2.7 minutes, for unilateral hernia, unilateral hernia in obese child, and bilateral hernia, respectively. The recurrence rate was 0.8% in group A, whereas in group B the recurrence rate was 2.4%. Conclusion. Laparoscopic hernia repair by RN is an effective line of hernia repair. It resulted in marked reduction of operative time, low rate of recurrence, no testicular atrophy, no iatrogenic ascent of the testis, and excellent cosmetic results.

Laparoscopic mesh rectopexy for complete rectal prolapse in children: a new simplified technique.

PURPOSE: Rectal prolapse in children without underlying conditions is usually a self-limiting problem and requires no surgical treatment. For children with persistent rectal prolapse, a variety of surgical procedures have been described with success. Recently, there are many reports addressing the successful use of different laparoscopic approaches for complete rectal prolapse. We present a novel simplified laparoscopic technique for management of those patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the results that can be achieved by using this technique in management of persistent complete rectal prolapse in children. METHODS: We reviewed the reports of 680 patients with primary complete and partial rectal prolapse over the period from August 2000 to August 2008. Fifty-two patients with complete primary rectal prolapse refractory to medical treatment for 2 years underwent a novel simplified technique for laparoscopic mesh rectopexy. RESULTS: Conservative management was successful with no recurrences in 628 patients (92.4%) while 52 (7.6%) patients did not respond to conservative management at a median follow-up period of 2 years. They were 35 males and 17 females. Their ages ranged from 2 to 14 years (mean 6). All patients were subjected to laparoscopic mesh rectopexy successfully without any conversion. The mean duration of surgery was 40 min. No intraoperative complications were reported, but one patient developed postoperative constipation that responded well to conservative treatment. The mean postoperative hospitalization was 2 days. Two cases were lost to follow-up, while the others were available for 36 months. There was no recurrence. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopy mesh rectopexy is safe, rapid, effective technique. It improved functional outcome without recurrence. It is associated with minimal postoperative pain and short hospital stay with excellent cosmoses.