Surgical endoscopy
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Review Comparative Study
Endoscopic sphincterotomy and interval cholecystectomy are reasonable alternatives to index cholecystectomy in severe acute gallstone pancreatitis (GSP).
UK guidelines for gallstone pancreatitis (GSP) advocate definitive treatment during the index admission, or within 2 weeks of discharge. However, this target may not always be achievable. This study reviewed current management of GSP in a university hospital and evaluated the risk associated with interval cholecystectomy. ⋯ This study demonstrates that overall 62% (22 endoscopic sphincterotomy and 40 index cholecystectomy) of patients with GSP have definitive therapy during the Index admission. However, surgery was deferred in the majority (n = 30) of patients with severe GSP, and 19/30 underwent ES prior to discharge. ES and interval cholecystectomy in severe GSP is associated with minimal morbidity and readmission rates, and is considered a reasonable alternative to an index cholecystectomy in patients with severe GSP.
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Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary diseases has been used since the early 1990s, yet its impact on intraoperative and postoperative morbidity has not yet been fully evaluated. This report aims to provide a retrospective analysis of the literature and the authors' clinical experience with VATS in pulmonary surgery, with the goal of ascertaining rational criteria that explain operative complications and thus improve outcomes. ⋯ The analysis of the literature and our experience show that VATS is a reliable approach to the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary diseases with low complication rate. To further reduce intraoperative and postoperative morbidity, however, it is necessary to select the patients carefully, to adhere strictly to oncological surgical principles, and to adopt a meticulous technique. Although conversion to open surgery represents failure of VATS, it is mandatory when the procedure is not completely safe.
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Review Meta Analysis
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for severe acute cholecystitis. A meta-analysis of results.
The aim of this review was to evaluate surgical outcomes of laparoscopic cholecystectomy for gangrenous and empyematous acute cholecystitis defined as severe acute cholecystitis. ⋯ A lower feasibility of laparoscopic cholecystectomy has been found for severe cholecystitis. A lower threshold of conversion is recommended since this may allow to reduce local postoperative complications. Literature data lack valuable comparative studies with other treatment modalities, which therefore need to be investigated.
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A review of conversions of gastric banding for obesity to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, or duodenal switch attempts to determine which revisional procedure best enhances weight loss. Indications for these conversions are multiple and include hardware problems, motility problems, and miscellaneous like inadequate weight loss. ⋯ Smaller cohorts of patients who underwent a biliopancreatic diversion or simply a sleeve gastrectomy are too small to conclude on their efficacy. Prospective randomized trials are needed to determine which revisional procedure is best in the setting of inadequate weight loss of excessive weight regain after gastric adjustable banding for severe obesity.