[Ramirez abdominoplasty for large incisional hernia: personal experience].

The Authors report their experience with the surgical treatment of incisional hernias over the period from July 2000 to June 2004 in the Division of General Surgery of the Department of Surgical Sciences of the University of Foggia where 22 patients were operated on. Nine of them had an incisional hernia of considerable size, while in the other 13 patients the hernia was less voluminous. The authors emphasise the essential role of synthetic prostheses (polypropylene) which now replace and supersede the reabsorbable ones which have fallen into disuse due to the lack of guarantees regarding their strength over lengthy periods.

[Prosthetic treatment in inoperable cancers of the oesophagus and cardia: a report of 7 cases].

The Authors report their personal experience with 9 patients affected by cardial cancer and 4 with medio-distal oesophageal cancer, treated at the Department of Surgical Sciences of the University of Foggia. Of the 9 patients with cardial cancers, 4 were submitted to total gastrectomy; while the other 5, who had clearly inoperable forms, were fitted with a self-expanding metal prosthesis (Ultraflex). Of the 4 cases with medio-distal oesophageal cancers, which were considered beyond any kind of surgical treatment, 2 (with stenosing forms) were fitted with the self-expanding prosthesis (Ultraflex), while the other 2 (with friable, bleeding tissue) were treated by laser therapy with all the drawbacks such treatment entails.