Female physician and pregnancy- effect of the amended German maternity protection act on female doctors' careers.

Objectives: In Germany, the 2018 amended Maternity Protection Act frequently leads to fundamental restrictions for female physicians, especially surgeons, and now even also for students impeding the progress of their careers. Our goal was to assess the current situation for pregnant female physicians and students, respectively, and their perspective on this amendment regarding their career path.

Methods: A nationwide survey was conducted in Germany from December 2020 to February 2021.

Comparative Study of the Use of a Suturing System and Titanium Clips.

There is a need for secure and easy methods for suturing in laparoscopic surgery, no matter whether vessels are to be ligated, two structures sutured together, or the cystic duct is to be occluded in cholecystectomy. Laparoscopic suturing can be done with a suture, using automatic sewing devices or clips. Improper ligation of a vessel for example can result in bleeding, which is more difficult to treat in a laparoscopic procedure than in an open procedure.

[Dissection technique--is ultrasound the best method?].

Preventive hemostasis is extremely important in endoscopic surgery. Ultrasonic dissectors are used very often. We tested the occlusion safety of bipolar forceps and ultrasonic dissector for porcine vessels.

Transanal endoscopic microsurgery.

Transanal endoscopic microsurgery, although technically challenging, offers a viable and perhaps superior outcome to radical abdominal or traditional transanal excision of rectal neoplasia. Appropriate training and case selection, as with any new technology, are mandatory to help ensure optimal results.

The Tübingen balloon. A new method for adjusting the tension of the fundic wrap during laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication.

An adequate fundic wrap is fundamental to the success of conventional and laparoscopic Nissen fundoplications. Nevertheless, up to now there has been no standardized method for the surgeon to determine intraoperatively the width and tension of the fundic wrap according to objective criteria. With the support of Rüsch (Kernen, Germany), we developed a measurement balloon for use in laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication.