Lessons from a large nationwide cohort of 350 children with ovarian mature teratoma: A study in favor of ovarian-sparing surgery.

Background: Ovarian mature teratoma (OMT) is a common ovarian tumor found in the pediatric population. In 10%-20% of cases, OMT occurs as multiple synchronous or metachronous lesions on ipsi- or contralateral ovaries. Ovarian-sparing surgery (OSS) is recommended to preserve fertility, but total oophorectomy (TO) is still performed.

Laparoscopic redo fundoplication in children: failure causes and feasibility.

Purpose: This retrospective study reports our experience in laparoscopic approach after failure of antireflux surgery. It evaluates the results and circumstances of failure of the initial procedure to understand indications of refundoplication.

Methods: Four hundred seventeen patients were operated on for a gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) by laparoscopy in our unit from August 1993 to February 2005.

Post-appendectomy intra-abdominal abscesses--can they successfully be managed with the sole use of antibiotic therapy?

Purpose: Controversy persists concerning the management of post-appendectomy intra-abdominal abscesses. We hypothesised that most of these abscesses can be successfully managed by antibiotic treatment alone, avoiding the complications of surgical treatment.

Methods: Hospital records of children treated in our unit for intra-abdominal post-appendectomy abscesses over a 6-year period were reviewed retrospectively.

Early laparoscopic Kasai's procedure in a low weight newborn.

The authors present an early laparoscopic treatment in a newborn with biliary atresia. They describe the technical details of the Kasai laparoscopic procedure. A 10-day-old girl, weight 2.

Multicentric assessment of the safety of neonatal videosurgery.

Background: Complex procedures for managing congenital abnormalities are reported to be feasible. However, neonatal videosurgery involves very specific physiologic constraints. This study evaluated the safety and complication rate of videosurgery during the first month of life and sought to determine both the risk factors of perioperative complications and the most recent trends in practice.

Thoracoscopy in pediatric pleural empyema: a prospective study of prognostic factors.

Purpose: The indications for thoracoscopy remain imprecise in cases of pleural empyema. This study aimed to identify preoperative prognostic factors to help in the surgical decision.

Methods: From 1996 to 2004, 50 children with parapneumonic pleural empyema underwent thoracoscopy either as the initial procedure (n = 26) or after failure of medical treatment (n = 24).

Benefits of the thoracoscopic approach for short- or long-gap esophageal atresia.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and results of thoracoscopy in various types of esophageal atresia (EA).

Materials And Methods: From April 2001 to August 2002, 5 patients with EA were treated by thoracoscopy. Their mean gestational age was 38 weeks and mean birth weight was 2700 g.

Tolerance of laparoscopy and thoracoscopy in neonates.

Objectives: Video-surgery in neonates is recent. Data on the respiratory, hemodynamic, and thermic effects during the first month of life are still sparse. This study aimed to evaluate the tolerance of video-surgery in neonates and to determine the risk factors of per-operative complications.

Conditions required for laparoscopic repair of subacute volvulus of the midgut in neonates with intestinal malrotation: 5 cases.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the optimal conditions for laparoscopic management of neonatal subacute volvulus with malrotation.

Methods: Between 1994 and 2002, 13 neonates with midgut volvulus and malrotation entered the authors' institution. Five of these neonates met the eligibility criteria for laparoscopy: good hemodynamic parameters, no gut perforation, and no severe ischemic distress of the bowel shown on preoperative ultrasonography.

An early thoracoscopic approach in necrotizing pneumonia in children: a report of three cases.

Introduction: Cavitary necrosis remains a rare complication of bacterial pneumonia in children. Conservative medical treatment and radical surgical treatment with lung resection are the current therapeutic choices. Evaluation of thoracoscopy for this pathology has not yet been reported.

[A comparative study of the feasibility and limits of ambulatory surgery in infants under and over one year of age].

Objective: Outpatient surgery in pediatrics is attractive for several reasons. Although 6-8 months has been generally acknowledged as the lower age limit, no minimal age has been clearly established. This study evaluated the outcomes and limits of outpatient surgery in infants from 4 months to 1 year of age.

[What a hidden testicle can hide?...or the clinical traps of cryptorchidism].

Although cryptorchidism is probably the most frequent genital anomaly encountered in boys, this pathology remains largely unexplained and its long-term prognosis is still uncertain. Despite the relative easiness of this diagnosis, attention should be paid to some clinical traps, which can mislead the sexual identity. Indeed, beside the isolated common cryptorchidism, many troubles of the testicular migration can be associated with various malformative syndromes and can be named as "cryptorchidism symptoms".

Ideal timing of thoracoscopic decortication and drainage for empyema in children.

Background: Thoracoscopy may be required for resistant empyema in children. This study aimed to determine the advantages of thoracoscopy performed soon after diagnosis and its ideal timing.

Methods: Between 1996 and 2002, 21 children who had undergone thoracoscopy as an initial procedure or after failure of medical treatment were retrospectively reviewed.

Blunt traumatic injuries of the gastrointestinal and biliary tract in childhood. Analysis of 16 cases.

Background: Little attention has been given to abdominal hollow viscus injuries in pediatric literature. The purpose of this report is to describe their main features, and the current methods of diagnosis and treatment.

Methods: We reviewed our experience with 16 cases of blunt injuries involving the gastrointestinal (GI) and biliary tract in the last seven years.

[Anorectal traumas by impalement in children. Apropos of 3 cases].

Traumatic impalement is an exceptional cause of anorectal lesions in the child. The clinical diagnosis is sometimes difficult and associated lesions raise the problem of the most appropriate exploratory examination. Based on our experience with three cases, we would emphasize the usefulness of hydrosoluble enema study prudently performed by the surgeon during the preoperative work-up.