Use of progressive pneumoperitoneum in the treatment of giant abdominal hernias

The preoperative use of progressive pneumoperitoneum in the treatment of large or complicated ventral hernias is established to be safe and useful. Indications for use of this technique include massive hernias, hernias that are repaired in a contaminated field, hernias in patients considered poor operative risks, and recurrent hernias. Five patients are described in whom this technique was used; all five hernias were closed primarily without tension, mesh, or postoperative complications. follow-up reveals no evidence of recurrence.     

Outpatient therapy of intra-abdominal abscesses following early discharge from the hospital

Although percutaneous aspiration and drainage of abdominal abscesses will frequently avert an open surgical procedure, patients remain hospitalized during drainage. The authors treated 9 patients for abscesses using percutaneous drainage catheters and sent them home with the catheter in place. All had an uneventful recovery. An average of $12,050 was saved in each case. The authors suggest that outpatient drainage of abdominal abscesses is significantly less expensive than inpatient treatment, yet does not jeopardize patient care.     

Neonatal brain: color Doppler imaging. Part I. Technique and vascular anatomy

Color Doppler imaging (CDI) can demonstrate the relative direction and velocity of blood flow in color, superimposed on a conventional gray-scale ultrasound image that depicts stationary tissue. Twenty-five infants were studied with portable CDI in the coronal, sagittal, and axial planes. Bilateral antegrade flow was noted in the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries in all patients. Multiplanar CDI can image flow in the circle of Willis and its tributaries and branches.