Postoperative surveillance recommendations for early stage colon cancer based on results from the clinical outcomes of surgical therapy trial.

Purpose: Intensive postoperative surveillance is associated with improved survival and recommended for patients with late stage (stage IIB and III) colon cancer. We hypothesized that stage I and IIA colon cancer patients would experience similar benefits.

Patients And Methods: Secondary analysis of data from the Clinical Outcomes of Surgical Therapy trial was performed by analyzing results according to TNM stage; early (stage I and IIA, 537 patients) and late (stage IIB and III, 254 patients) stage disease.

Treatment of nonadhesive bowel obstruction following gastric bypass.

Background: Bowel obstruction secondary to internal hernias following laparoscopic and open gastric bypass is well reported. The number of gastric bypasses being performed in the United States continues to increase. As many patients undergo surgery at centers geographically distant from their home, increasing numbers of patients will present to their local emergency rooms with abdominal complaints that will need to be addressed by general surgeons who are not performing bariatric surgery.

Midline laparotomy and right retroperitoneal dissection is an alternative exposure for routine aortic surgery.

Background: In most atlases of vascular surgery, laparotomy and right retroperitoneal dissection with reflection of the right colon and a wide Kocher maneuver is either briefly described as an alternative exposure for the abdominal aorta under special circumstances or not described at all. This approach offers certain advantages over the two more commonly described and widely used exposures, however, and should be considered for use in both routine and complex cases. The author reports his experience with the use of midline laparotomy and right retroperitoneal dissection (MLRRD) for elective aortic operations.

Surgeon experience with laparoscopic-assisted colorectal surgery in Washington State.

Purpose: To describe the current practice and opinions held by surgeons performing colorectal surgery in Washington regarding laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

Methods: After attempting to identify all surgeons with hospital privileges in colorectal surgery in Washington, a survey was sent to 303 surgeons. The survey asked about the surgeon's practice, volume of colon surgery in the preceding year, the number of laparoscopic colon resections ever performed, the surgeon's opinion on the future practice of laparoscopic colorectal surgery, and whether faced with the personal need to undergo colon resection at the present time, would the surgeon elect to have laparoscopic or open colon resection.