Should we treat white line hernias by laparoscopy? About a prospective study of 42 cases.

UNLABELLED: We report a prospective study of 42 cases of primary uncomplicated umbilical and epigastric hernia operated by laparoscopy with a 1 year mean follow-up. The purpose of our study is to investigate the contribution of laparoscopy in the treatment of in terms of results in the short and medium term. Early surgical morbidity was 14.3%. There was no mortality. At 6 months of the intervention, 28.5% of patients have kept umbilical pain. At 1 year of intervention, 2 patients have kept umbilical chronic pain. No case of recurrence was noted. In conclusion, the laparoscopic approach should be reserved for cases of large hernias and for recurrent and incisional hernias. KEY WORDS: Epigastric hernia, Laparoscopy, Mesh, Umbilical hernia.

Histopathological findings in appendectomy specimens: a study of 24,697 cases.

PURPOSE: Appendicitis is by far the commonest major emergency general surgical operation. Histopathological examination of the appendix is routinely performed. METHODS: This study is a retrospective analysis of 24,697 appendectomies performed from January 2003 to December 2011. Pathological reports were analyzed for the following parameters: age, gender, and pathological diagnosis. RESULTS: Appendectomy specimens represent 17 % of all pathological reports. Acute appendicitis was present in 19,637 (79.5 %) patients. The perforation rate was 6.3 % and was significantly higher in adult patients. The negative appendectomy rate was 15 % and was significantly higher in female and adult patients. The incidence of negative appendectomies had clearly decreased over the 9-year period distribution. Incidental unexpected pathological diagnoses were noted in 226 (0.9 %) appendectomy specimens. Neoplastic lesions were present in 171 cases (0.7 %); they include carcinoid, adenocarcinoma, and mucinous neoplasms. CONCLUSIONS: Routine pathological examination of appendectomy specimens is expensive. With advances in technology and imaging modalities, the diagnosis of acute appendicitis has improved, with a subsequent significant reduction in negative appendectomy. There are still a number of unusual diagnoses found in appendicectomy specimens supporting the continued use of routine histology.