Pathophysiological and clinical aspects of the CO2 pneumoperitoneum (CO2-PP).

Experimental studies demonstrated a severe cardiac load of the CO2 pneumoperitoneum caused by an accelerated after- and a decreased preload. Patients displaying cardiovascular risks are therefore often rejected from laparoscopic surgery. Hence, the pathophysiological changes and the intraoperative risk of the CO2 pneumoperitoneum in high-risk cardiopulmonary patients (NYHA II-III, n = 15) undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy are described.

[Significant value and therapeutic implications of routine gastroscopy before cholecystectomy].

Endoscopy of the upper digestive tract was performed in 338 consecutive patients undergoing cholecystectomy between January 1991 and December 1992. Pathological findings were seen in 160 (47.3%), 6.

Human galanin modulates human colonic motility in vitro. Characterization of structural requirements.

Background: Human galanin (hGal) is a 30-residue non-amidated gut-brain peptide that shows considerable sequence divergence compared with galanin (Gal) forms of other species. Conflicting results have been reported with regard to the structural requirements for its modulatory action on gut motility.

Methods: We investigated the effect of human and rat Gal and substituted analogues of Gal on the contractility of longitudinal muscle strips of the human colon in vitro.

A novel technique for long-term vascular access in the unrestrained rat.

A new system for long-term vascular access in the unrestrained rat (n = 380) is described that combines low cost with high reliability and free movement. It consists of a polyurethane catheter that is placed in the right atrium via the external jugular vein. A leather harness is applied to the animal and the catheter passed subcutaneously to the neck into the harness.

[Recurrent calculus ileus of the small bowel. A diagnostic problem].

Occlusion of the lumen by gallstones must be considered a rare cause of small bowel ileus; diagnosis and clinical symptoms have only sporadically been reported. The present paper shows that, in addition to gallstones, coproliths may also cause small bowel ileus, giving rise to identical clinical symptoms. For this reason, pre-operative diagnostic work-up should differentiate concretions in gallbladder and small bowel with respect to size, shape, consistency and X-ray contrast.