Original Article: The impacts of DRG payment system on financial balance of multiple trauma: Experiences of three trauma centers in Taiwan.

Introduction: There are concerns regarding the adequacy of applying the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment system for multiple traumas (i.e., major diagnostic category 24, MDC-24) patients in Taiwan.

The preventability of trauma-related death: A two-year cohort study in a trauma center in middle Taiwan.

Introduction: The preventable death rate (PDR) is an important parameter in the quality assurance of traumatic care. Medical errors or untimely management may occur during stressful trauma care, resulting in preventable deaths. We aimed to develop an applicable PDR model in a trauma center in middle Taiwan.

Is robotic hepatectomy cost-effective? In view of patient-reported outcomes.

Background: Robotic hepatectomy has been accepted as an alternative for patients needing surgery. However, few reports addressed the patient-reported outcomes and long-term quality of life (QoL) of patients having undergone robotic liver surgery.

Methods: This study presented the QoL and cost-effectiveness associated with robotic and open hepatectomy by performing a comparative survey using two standardized questionnaires (Short Form-36 and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index).

Robotic-assisted right posterior segmentectomies for liver lesions: single-center experience of an evolutional method in left semi-lateral position.

Despite the popularity of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for hepatectomy, limitations in the approach of the right posterior section of the liver remain. Although skills and approach techniques have been developed for hepatectomy of lesions in the posterior segments of the liver, most are performed laparoscopically and are limited to few experienced hands using rigid laparoscopic instruments. In this study, we tried a different approach area via the aid of a flexible robotic system.

[Mineral composition analysis and hemostatic effect of limonitum with different mineral genesis].

Models were established in mice with warfarin sodium method, and their bleeding time and hemostasis time were measured by tail cutting method and slide method respectively. Rats were administered for 15 consecutive days to measure their recalcification time, plasma viscosity, platelet adhesion rate, platelet aggregation rate and other blood indexes. As compared with the blank group, the bleeding time was prolonged in model groupn(P<0.

Robotic liver donor right hepatectomy: A pure, minimally invasive approach.

Right hepatectomy for a living liver donor via a pure minimally invasive approach is a challenging procedure and only a few cases have been reported. Between May 2013 and August 2015, 13 patients underwent robotic living donor right hepatectomy in our institute, and 54 patients received open surgery. In this series, no conversion was conducted for robotic donor right hepatectomy.

Robotic Versus Open Hepatectomy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Matched Comparison.

Background: Robotic hepatectomy has been suggested to be a safe and effective approach for liver disease; however, studies comparing robotic hepatectomy with the conventional open approach regarding oncologic outcomes for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are limited. Accordingly, we performed a matched comparison of surgical and oncological outcomes between robotic and open hepatectomy.

Methods: Between January 2012 and October 2015, a total of 183 patients underwent robotic hepatectomy and 275 patients underwent open hepatectomy by the same surgical team in our center.

[Project to improve the free flap survival rate in oral cancer microreconstruction free flap surgery].

Background&problems: Free-flap thrombosis risk factors affect the success of microreconstruction surgery that involves the use of a free flap. The free flap survival rate in our unit was 92.65%.

Role of progesterone in TLR4-MyD88-dependent signaling pathway in pre-eclampsia.

The role of progesterone in the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-MyD88-dependent signaling pathway in pre-eclampsia was studied. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from pre-eclampsia (PE) patients were subjected to primary culture, and stimulated with different concentrations of progesterone (0, 10(-8), 10(-6), and 10(-4) mol/L). The mRNA expression of TLR4, MyD88 and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) was detected by using real-time PCR.

Analysis of the risk factors of untransplantable recurrence after primary curative resection for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine the prognostic factors that predict recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exceeding the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) criteria after primary resection.

Methods: HCC patients who underwent curative liver resections between 2001 and 2007 and who were within the UCSF criteria (n = 716) were examined. Independent prognostic factors were examined by the Cox proportional hazard model.

Outcomes following endovascular or open repair for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in a Chinese population.

To determine whether emergent endovascular repair (eEVAR) can be an alternative for anatomically suitable ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAA) in a Chinese population compared to open aneurysm repair (OAR), 36 patients with RAAA undergoing either OAR or eEVAR in National Taiwan University Hospital from 2005 to 2012 were analyzed retrospectively. Thirty-five (97.2 %) patients were treated.

MR imaging of human pancreatic cancer xenograft labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide in nude mice.

The aim of this work was to investigate the MRI findings on tumor xenografts induced in nude mice by the inoculation of human pancreatic cancer cells labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO), and to monitor the kinetics of SPIO distribution in tumor xenografts. The labeled cancer cells were subcutaneously inoculated into 11 nude mice to induce tumor xenograft. The unlabeled cancer cells served as a control inoculated into nine nude mice.

Magnetic resonance imaging for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas induced by N-nitrosobis (2-oxopropyl) amine in Syrian golden hamsters.

Objectives: This study aimed to study magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAs) induced by N-nitrosobis (2-oxopropyl) amine (BOP) in Syrian hamsters.

Methods: A total of 101 female hamsters, 8 weeks old, were randomized into 3 groups. They were randomized into a BOP-treated group (n = 80; with weekly subcutaneous injections of BOP [10 mg/kg body weight] for 7 consecutive weeks), a saline-treated group (n = 16), and an untreated group (n = 5).

[Effects of epidural ropivacaine labor analgesia on duration of labor and mode of delivery].

Objective: To study the effects of ropivacaine on the duration of labor and mode of delivery in the primigravidas using patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA).

Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed. The 190 healthy, full-term, and single-fetus parturient primigravidas who received PCEA with 0.