Moisture damage and fungal contamination in buildings are a massive health threat - a surgeon's perspective.

Objectives: Indoor air toxicity is of major public health concern due to the increase in humidity-induced indoor mould exposure and associated health changes. The objective is to present evidence for the causality of health threats and indoor mould exposure.

Methods: PubMed search on the following keywords: dampness, mould, indoor air quality, public health, dampness, and mould hypersensitivity syndrome, sick building syndrome, and building-related illness as well as information from the health authorities of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the Center of Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organisation (WHO), and guidelines of professional societies.

[Inguinal hernia operations-Always outpatient?].

Inguinal hernia operations represent the most frequent operations overall with 300,000 interventions annually in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH region). Despite the announced political willingness and the increasing pressure from the legislator to avoid costly inpatient treatment by carrying out as many outpatient operations as possible, outpatient treatment has so far played a subordinate role in the DACH region. The Boards of the specialist societies the German Hernia Society (DHG), the Surgical Working Group Hernia (CAH of the DHG), the Austrian Hernia Society (ÖHG) and the Swiss Working Group Hernia Surgery (SAHC) make inroads into this problem, describe the initial position and assess the current situation.

Trocar umbilical hernia repair by open suture repair and open suture-mesh repair in an ambulatory setting in comparison to recurrent and primary umbilical hernia repair.

Reports on the ambulatory open repair of umbilical trocal hernias are missing. Patients with trocar, primary and recurrent umbilical hernia open suture and open suture-mesh repair with prospective follow-up were retrospectively evaluated. Patients received perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, preemptive analgesia and modified anesthesia.

Prophylaxis and treatment of acute and chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP)-association of pain with compression neuropathy.

Can open inguinal hernia repair (OIHR) and tailored neurectomy (TN) be effective for prophylaxis of chronic postoperative inguinal hernia repair (CPIP) (I) and treatment of CPIP (II)? Patients with symptomatic primary inguinal hernia (I group 1) and secondary hernia with CPIP (II, groups 2-5) were investigated for postoperative complications and nerve damage. About, 98% of patients with OIHR with TN reported preoperative pain (I group 1,  = 388, recurrence rate 1%). There were 73 cases (II) of CPIP after laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR) (group 2,  = 22), OIHR (group 3,  = 37), LIHR followed by OIHR/LIHR (group 4,  = 5) and OIHR followed by LIHR/OIHR (group 5,  = 9).

Traumatic abdominal wall hernia diagnosed 14 years after a bad fall with lumbar spine fracture.

Unlabelled: Traumatic abdominal wall hernias have significant implications for patients and insurance companies, especially when not been discovered at the time of trauma. We present the case of a gardener who sustained a bad fall during work in 1994 with immediate admission to the hospital for treatment. A fracture of the second lumbar spine body has been diagnosed and stabilized operatively.

Calf pain in runners may be caused by venous insufficiency.

Unlabelled: Sportsman complaints in the legs are most often associated with diseases and/or trauma of the musculoskeletal system. More rarely disturbances of the vascular system, e.g.

Inguinal hernia vs. arthritis of the hip in sporting adolescents--case report and review of the literature.

Unlabelled: Chronic pain in the hip, groin or thigh can be caused by a wide spectrum of diseases posing extended diagnostic problems. We describe the case of a 10-years old child with chronic pain in the groin with gait restriction for more than six months without successful classification and treatment. The girl suffered from heavy pain in the groin after a sporting contest which forced her to walk with walking sticks and to avoid climbing stairs.

Low recurrence rate in hernia repair--results in 300 patients with open mesh repair of primary inguinal hernia.

Introduction: There are about 700,000 open mesh repairs done as day surgery procedure in the United States each year; in Germany in 2003 only about 6% of inguinal repairs were done as day surgery procedure.

Study Goal: Prospective evaluation of complications, recurrence, and chronic postoperative pain after primary inguinal hernia repair with Ultrapro mesh in 300 consecutively operated patients in our clinic.

Material And Methods: 300 consecutive patients with primary inguinal hernia repair with Ultrapro mesh were prospectively followed-up.

Treatment procedures for anal fistulous cryptoglandular abscess--how to get the best results.

Introduction: Up to date anal fistulous cryptoglandular abscess is a subject of controversial scientific discussions and the number of medico legal cases dealing with treatment procedures is growing . In principal, there is a dispute whether it is reasonable to perform a primary fistulotomy at the time of abscess drainage or to wait for a secondary fistulotomy. The purpose of this study was to compare studies focussing on the treatment of anal fistulous abscess with regard to different treatment procedures, their outcome (recurrence, incontinence, follow-up) and factors influencing outcome (primary or recurrent fistulous abscess, comorbidity, exclusion criteria, anaesthesia, microbiology, antibiotics, search for internal opening, classification).

Adverse events of sutures: possible interactions of biomaterials?

Absorbable sutures are in use for more than 30 years. Tissue reactions which might be associated with suture material have rarely been reported in the past. After a long period without complications caused by suture material we observed 12 cases of unexpected tissue reactions after clean operations.

Inguinal Hernia: classification, diagnosis and treatment--classic, traumatic and Sportsman's hernia.

Inguinal hernia repair is performed in more than 600,000 cases every year in the United States. However, the true prevalence may be even higher. Many groin hernias are not diagnosed, e.

Laparoscopic procedures as a risk factor of deep venous thrombosis, superficial ascending thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism--case report and review of the literature.

Unlabelled: Since its introduction laparoscopic surgery has been used for many indications, e.g., cholecystolithiasis, hernia, appendicitis, fundoplication, benign large bowel disease and gynaecological disorders.

First results of Lichtenstein hernia repair with Ultrapro-mesh as cost saving procedure--quality control combined with a modified quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) in a series of ambulatory operated patients.

There are about 200,000 hernia repairs per year in Germany and about 770,000 in the U.S. In the United States most hernia repairs (80-90%) are performed as day surgery procedure; 90% of operations are open herniorrhaphies with mesh.

Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in the treatment of thrombosis.

Thromboembolic complications are a common and costly medical problem, associated with significant morbidity and mortality, especially in postoperative patients. There have been reports of death due to thromboembolic complications even after short procedures, e.g.

Prophylaxis of thrombosis with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH).

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting approximately 4 million people each year in the United States. The identification of risk factors for the development of DVT and PE helped to develop a system for risk stratification. The risk to develop a deep vein thrombosis has been estimated to be up to 80% in some populations without prophylaxis.