Management of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors: experience from an Italian hospital.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are malignancies originating from stromal/mesenchymal tissues, most commonly in the stomach and small intestine, although they can be located everywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. Diagnosis is based on histological and immunohistochemical examination, and these rare tumors are characterized by c-kit (CD117) staining. Complete removal of the tumor is often curative in localized gastrointestinal stromal tumors and is always recommended.

[Laparoscopic management of small-bowel obstruction].

Laparoscopy is not generally accepted as an effective, advantageous alternative to formal laparotomy for abdominal emergencies. Its use in patients with previous surgery and intestinal obstruction is often debatable. A retrospective study was performed to analyse the results of the laparoscopic approach for acute small-bowel obstruction in terms of efficacy and safety.

Successful laparoscopic treatment of ileocecal-appendicular endometriosis.

Intestinal endometriosis is an uncommon clinical entity that is rarely seen by general surgeons. It traditionally requires laparoscopy for diagnosis and an open laparotomy procedure for the treatment. Herein, we report a rare case of colonic endometriosis involving the ileocecal region and left adnexal region.

[Operative laparoscopy in the management of perforated peptic ulcer].

The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the feasibility, safety and efficacy of the laparoscopic approach in the management of perforated peptic ulcers. From January 1997 to December 2002, all patients referred to our community hospital for abdominal surgical emergencies were routinely managed by laparoscopic surgery. A review was carried out on 39 consecutive patients suffering from perforated peptic ulcers with or without generalised peritonitis.