Microvascular grafting to enhance perfusion in colonic long-segment oesophageal reconstruction.

Purpose: Oesophagectomy with long-segment colon reconstruction is the first-line treatment when the stomach is not available. Supercharging of the newly formed conduit can improve vascular function utilizing intraoperative perfusion imaging system, following thoracoscopic oesophagectomy for distal-oesophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancer. The purpose of this study is to examine the safety and efficacy of microvascular augmentation of left colonic interposition following oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer.

Surgery and Obstetric Care are Highly Cost-Effective Interventions in a Sub-Saharan African District Hospital: A Three-Month Single-Institution Study of Surgical Costs and Outcomes.

Background: The Lancet recently sponsored a commission examining the role of surgery in global health. There is a paucity of published information on the cost-effectiveness of surgery in low- and middle-income countries, a key metric in the prioritisation of limited resources.

Methods: All patients undergoing emergency laparotomy, elective and emergency inguinal hernia repair, elective and emergency caesarean section, amputation, fracture manipulation, or fracture fixation over a 3 months period in a single district African hospital were assessed.

Consenting practice for open inguinal hernia repairs - are we failing to warn patients of serious complications?

Introduction: Open inguinal hernia repairs are one of the most commonly performed procedures in the UK. The procedure can sometimes result in considerable morbidity. It is imperative that the consenting process for this procedure is meticulous.

Video-assisted cardioscopy in a patient with left ventricular tumor of unknown etiology.

Ventricular tumors are a rare clinical entity with limited possibilities for excision diagnosis. For benign conditions surgical excision is the treatment of choice. A case presenting as a clinical conundrum with left ventricular tumor and complex past medical history is discussed.

Is there an alternative to systemic anticoagulation, as related to interventional biomedical devices?

To reduce the toxic effects, related clinical problems and complications such as bleeding disorders associated with systemic anticoagulation, it has been hypothesized that by coating the surfaces of medical devices, such as stents, bypass grafts, extracorporeal circuits, guide wires and catheters, there will be a significant reduction in the requirement for systemic anticoagulation or, ideally, it will no longer be necessary. However, current coating processes, even covalent ones, still result in leaching followed by reduced functionality. Alternative anticoagulants and related antiplatelet agents have been used for improvement in terms of reduced restenosis, intimal hyperphasia and device failure.