Conservative hemodynamic surgery for varicose veins

Conservative hemodynamic surgery for varicose veins is a minimally invasive, nonablative technique that preserves the saphenous vein and helps avoid excision of varicosities. It represents a physiologic approach to the surgical treatment of varicose veins based on knowledge of the underlying venous pathophysiology gained through detailed duplex scanning. A change in venous hemodynamics is attained through fragmentation of the blood column by interruption of the refluxing saphenous trunks, closure of the origin of the refluxing varicose branches, and preservation of the communicating veins that drain the incompetent varicose veins into the deep venous system. After surgery, varicose veins regress through a reduction in hydrostatic pressure and efficient emptying of the superficial system by the musculo-venous pump. Obvious advantages of this technique are that it is done in an ambulatory setting, minimizes the risk of surgical complications, and permits a rapid return to full activity. The long-term hemodynamic improvement and recurrence rate of this technique remain to be established.     

The 16 golden hours for conservative treatment in children with postoperative small bowel obstruction

Background

Conservative treatment of postoperative small bowel obstruction in children is widely accepted, provided that there are no clinical signs of bowel strangulation. However, the length of time surgery can be safely deferred remains unclear.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to determine the time limit for observant management of postoperative small bowel obstruction.

Methods

The medical records of 128 children with 174 episodes of postoperative small bowel obstruction were reviewed.

Results

Spontaneous resolution occurred in 63% of cases, 85% within 48 hours of admission. Bowel compromise was noted in 31% of the operated cases, and about half of them underwent bowel resection, accounting for 6% of all admissions. None of the cases treated surgically within 16 hours of admission was associated with bowel strangulation or need for resection.

Conclusions

In children presenting with postoperative small bowel obstruction, prolonging observant treatment for more than 48 hours yields only a small benefit in terms of spontaneous resolution. Bowel strangulation can occur within 16 hours of admission. On the basis of these findings, we suggest raising the index of suspicion for compromised bowel after 16 hours and making the decision for surgery at around 48 hours.     

Clinical outcome at ten years after laparoscopic fundoplication: Nissen versus Toupet

Laparoscopic surgery has become the elective approach for the surgical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease in the last decade. Outcome data beyond 10 years are available for open fundoplication, with good-to-excellent results, but few studies report long-term follow-up after laparoscopic fundoplication. We performed a retrospective study of all the patients that underwent laparoscopic Nissen and Toupet fundoplications as antireflux surgery between 1995 and 1998 in our institution. To evaluate the long-term results, a face-to-face interview was performed in 2009. One hundred and six patients were included in the study. Surgical techniques performed were Nissen fundoplication (NF) in 56 patients and Toupet (TF) in 50. Complication rate was 4 per cent in both groups (nonsignificant [NS]). Two patients (4%) of NF required reoperation because of dysphagia. After 10 years, 10 per cent of the patients remain symptomatic in both groups. Fifteen per cent of NF take daily inhibitors of the proton pump versus 14 per cent of TF (NS). Twenty per cent of NF refer dysphagia, all of them without evidence of stenosis at endoscopy or contrasted studies. The satisfaction rate of the patients was 96 per cent in NF and 98 per cent in TF. Laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication seems to be as safe and long-term effective as Nissen, but with a lower incidence of postoperative dysphagia. In our experience Toupet fundoplication should be the elective approach for the surgical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease.     

Avoiding Axillary Treatment in Sentinel Lymph Node Micrometastases of Breast Cancer: A Prospective Analysis of Axillary or Distant Recurrence

Background

The need for axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in breast cancer patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) micrometastases remains controversial. The aims of the study were to evaluate the locoregional failure and outcome of breast cancer patients with sentinel node micrometastases who did not undergo completion ALND.

Methods

Between November 2000 and December 2006, SLN biopsy was successfully performed in 1178 patients with invasive breast carcinoma. Only patients with macrometastasis (>2 mm) underwent ALND, while patients with negative SLN or micrometastases did not undergo further treatment of the axilla, by either surgery or radiotherapy. Regarding adjuvant therapy decision, patients with SLN-micrometastases (pN1_mi) were considered as node-positive patients.

Results

Of 1,178 patients, 59 (5%) had micrometastases. Of those with micrometastases, 14 (24%) underwent ALND because the intraoperative study of the SLN yielded a positive result. With a median follow-up of 60 (range, 8–94) months, none of the patients with SLN micrometastases in whom ALND was omitted developed an axillary recurrence, while one patient in whom ALND was performed developed infraclavicular lymph node recurrence. One patient, who declined postoperative breast irradiation, developed breast recurrence and distant metastasis.

Conclusions

Breast cancer patients with SLN micrometastases in whom ALND was omitted had a very low locoregional failure rate. This study supports the theory that ALND might be avoided in these patients, providing that adjuvant systemic treatment equal to treatment provided to treat node-positive disease is administered. However, longer follow-up and results of additional prospective studies are needed.     

Teaching surgery at the UNAM and some educational concepts

Nowadays surgery cannot be conceived as independent from medicine; consequently, surgical education cannot be far from the main principles of medical education. This review underlines the characteristics of medical training in the field of surgery. General physicians should be trained to perform surgical procedures under particular situations. A new lesson plan was implemented at the Facultad de Medicina in Mexico City (UNAM), comprised of eight fundamental surgical skills. A well-structured surgical program implies clear and exact definitions of the skills to be acquired during training as well as an appropriate follow-up, knowledge reinforcement, continuing educational skills, application of medical tests for patient care and evaluation of the learning process.     

Pancreaticogastrostomía versus pancreaticoyeyunostomía después de pancreaticoduodenectomía: análisis crítico de los ensayos prospectivos aleatorizados

This is a critical analysis of prospective randomised trials that compare pancreatic reconstruction techniques with the stomach and the intestine, after pancreaticoduodenectomy. A questionnaire with questions from the Evidence Based Medicine Centre of Oxford University (PICO analysis) was used, following the criteria for the evaluation of randomised prospective studies for surgical interventions of the McMaster University in Ontario. It was found that the studies differed in methodological aspects, the most important being the lack of a uniform definition of a pancreatic fistula. The techniques for performing pancreaticogastrostomy and pancreaticojejunostomy were not homogeneous. There were no differences in the percentage of pancreatic fistula in three of these studies; one which modified the pancreaticogastrostomy technique had more favourable results. New comparative studies should use new definitions of the complications of pancreaticoduodenectomy and standardise the pancreatic reconstruction technique.     

Endovascular treatment of two aortoduodenal fistulae

We report the endovascular treatment of two patients presenting with aortoduodenal fistulae. The first patient was a 66-year-old man admitted with hematemesis. He was on clopidogrel and had received a cryopreserved aortic graft for a mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm five years earlier. Computed tomography (CT) showed aortic pseudoaneurysms in close contact with the duodenum. Endovascular repair was carried out. Twenty-seven months after the procedure the patient remains asymptomatic. The second patient was a 78-year-old man admitted with abdominal pain and nausea. CT revealed an abdominal aortic pseudoaneurysm and aortoduodenal fistula. He suffered from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that greatly increased his surgical morbidity and mortality. An endovascular repair was performed under epidural anesthesia. The patient died of a postoperative pneumonia 38 days after surgery. These two cases illustrate the importance of endovascular aortic repair especially when an open surgical procedure is either difficult or impossible.