Treatment of the intraabdominal abscesses through percutaneous ultrasound-guided drainage in oncological patients: Clinical and microbiological data.

Aim Of The Study: Oncological patients are particularly prone to the onset of septic complications such as abdominal abscesses. The aim of our study was to analyze clinical and microbiological data in a population of oncological patients, submitted to percutaneous ultrasound-guided drainage (PUD) for postoperative abdominal abscesses.

Patients And Methods: Data from 24 patients operated on for neoplastic pathologies and treated with PUD for abdominal abscesses during the postoperative period were reviewed.

Pathogenesis and evolution of carpal instability: imaging and topography.

Carpal instability is a biomechanical alteration with a multiple pathogenesis which, if not identified and treated in time, leads to gradual articular collapse. Traumatism is known to be one of the main causes of carpal instability, while deposits of microcrystals caused by metabolic (chondrocalcinosis and gout) and congenital (ulna minus variance) diseases are less frequently involved in the pathogenesis. In forms secondary to traumatism, the trauma causes ligamentous injuries that lead to misalignments of the joint surfaces, or badly healed fractures with consequent articular incongruency.

[Empiric antibiotic therapy in the treatment of postoperative abdominal abscesses. Clinical and microbiological data].

Abdominal abscesses arising postoperatively constitute a serious problem, particularly in the field of oncological surgery. The aim of our study was to interpret clinical and microbiological data relating to a population of oncological patients, undergoing ultrasound-guided drainage for postoperative abdominal abscesses, so as to be able to better plan empiric antibiotic therapy. We therefore retrospectively analysed the data of 24 patients operated on for neoplastic pathologies and treated with ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage for abdominal abscesses during the postoperative period.

Treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma: a comparison of techniques and long-term results.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the results over time of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), laser thermal ablation (LTA) and combined therapy in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: Between 1998 and 2004, 131 cirrhosis patients (99 Child-Pugh class A, 32 Child-Pugh class B) with a small hepatocellular carcinoma were included in the study; 34 were treated with PEI, 46 with LTA, 18 with TACE and 33 with combined therapy.

Results: No major complication occurred during any procedure.

US, MRCP, CCT and ERCP: a comparative study in 131 patients with suspected biliary obstruction.

Background: Recent years have witnessed a rapid and continuous evolution in the diagnosis of biliary obstructive disease. Traditional methodologies, such as US (ultrasonography), CT (computed tomography), ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) and PTC (percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography), have been supplemented by MRCP (magnetic resonance cholagiopancreatography) and CCT (cholangio computed tomography) The purpose of our study was to compare the reliability of diagnostic US, MR and other imaging techniques in intrinsic biliary obstructive disease.

Material/methods: Between June 1999 and July 2003 we conducted a prospective study on 131 patients--60 males and 71 females--ranging in age from 37 to 79 years, with clinical features of biliary obstructive disease.

Treatment of large hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison between techniques and long term results.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare results over time of Transcatheter Arterial Chemo Embolization (TACE), Percutaneous Ethanol Injection (PEI), Laser Thermal Ablation (LTA) and combined therapy of large Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: Between 1995 and 2003, 89 cirrhosis patients (51 Child-Pugh A, 38 Child-Pugh B) with at least one nodule of HCC =/> 40 mm, were included in this randomized study; 21 were treated with TACE, 20 with PEI, 29 with LTA and 19 with combined therapy. The total number of HCC nodules was 92 with a mean diameter of 52.