Alvimopan addition to a standard perioperative recovery pathway.

Background And Objectives: Alvimopan, a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist, decreased time to gastrointestinal recovery and hospital length of stay in open bowel resection patients in Phase 3 trials. However, the benefit in laparoscopic colectomy patients remains unclear.

Methods: A retrospective case series review was performed to study addition of alvimopan to a well-established standard perioperative recovery pathway for elective laparoscopic colectomy.

Early experience with lidocaine patch for postoperative pain control after laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.

Introduction: Reduced postoperative pain is one of the many factors that have driven the growing emphasis on the role of laparoscopic surgery for surgical management. Several studies have documented the advantages of the laparoscopic repair of ventral hernias compared to the open ventral herniorraphy. However, the laparoscopic approach may be associated with more postoperative pain initially.

Occult ventral hernia defects: a common finding during laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.

Background: In many incidences, laparoscopic exploration reveals occult ventral hernia defects that were not detected on physical examination. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency of occult ventral hernia defects detected during laparoscopy.

Methods: Prospectively collected data on 146 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic ventral hernia repair were reviewed.