The use of ultrasound elastography in the assessment of malignancy risk in thyroid nodules and multinodular goitres.

Objective: The objective of our work is to use a surgical series to analyse the validity of elastography in evaluating the malignancy of thyroid nodules and multinodular goitres.

Patients And Methods: The study examined 156 patients, 134 women (85·9%) and 22 men (14·1%), who underwent surgery for nodular thyroid disease between October 2008, and November 2010. The average age of the patients was 52 years (±14·42).

[Vacuum assisted closure in open abdomen and deferred closure: experience in 23 patients].

Introduction: We analyse our experience and the results obtained with the use of vacuum assisted closure (VAC(®), KCI Clinic Spain SL) in the management of open abdomen.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the laparostomies performed between June 2006 and March 2011 using VAC(®) treatment in the Hospital Xeral-Cíes, Vigo.

Results: We included 23 consecutive patients (18 males and 5 females) on whom the VAC(®) was used in the open abdomen due to different indications (abdominal trauma, peritonitis, pancreatitis, ischaemic disease or abdominal compartmental syndrome).