The introduction of wide-angle 270° laparoscopy through a novel laparoscopic camera system.

Background: Laparoscopy has enjoyed improvements over the last three decades primarily in achieving high definition, but the 70° field of view (FOV) remains unchanged. Complications related to events that take place out of the FOV continue to be reported. Additional problems leading to poor visualization are fogging and smoke accumulation.

Objective Evidence of Reflux Control After Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation: One Year Results From a Post Approval Study.

Objective: To report 1-year results from a 5-year mandated study.

Summary Background Data: In 2012, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved magnetic sphincter augmentation (MSA) with the LINX Reflux Management System (Torax Medical, Shoreview, MN), a novel device for the surgical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Continued assessment of safety and effectiveness has been monitored in a Post Approval Study.

Building and maintaining a successful surgery program in rural Minnesota.

For decades, it has been axiomatic that rural health care systems are crucial factors not only in the health of the populations that they serve but also in the viability of America's rural communities. Medical care, as it is delivered in rural America, is becoming increasingly problematic as national health care delivery models evolve. Increasing reimbursement pressures and changing practitioner lifestyle expectations have had negative effects on rural communities and resulted in rural hospital closings and a declining level of surgical care available.