Implementation of robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy at a community tertiary care hospital utilizing a comprehensive curriculum.

Background: We evaluated the outcomes of a robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy (RPD) program implemented at a community tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A retrospective review of 65 RPD cases compared surgical outcomes and performance to benchmark data.

Results: Postoperative complications occurred in 31% (20) of patients vs.

Gemcitabine transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/aims: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) has been shown to increase survival in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however toxicity from commonly used agents limits its use in unresectable disease. Gemcitabine is a well tolerated chemotherapeutic agent with a high first pass clearance. In this study we evaluated a cohort of patients with unresectable HCC treated with gemcitabine-TACE alone.

Laparoscopic resection of benign hepatic cysts: a new standard.

Background: We sought to evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of laparoscopic resection of symptomatic hepatic cysts.

Study Design: Fifty-one patients underwent laparoscopic resections for symptomatic hepatic cysts. Resection was accomplished laparoscopically with an Endo-GIA vascular stapler.

Bridging locoregional therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma prior to liver transplantation.

Introduction: The impact of locoregional therapy prior to liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma utilizing either transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), yttrium-90 ((90)Y), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), or resection prior to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is largely unknown. We sought to examine locoregional therapies and their effect on survival compared with transplantation alone.

Methods: A retrospective review of a prospectively collected database.

Surgical management of hepatocellular adenoma: take it or leave it?

Background: Hepatocellular adenoma (HA) is a rare benign tumor of the liver. Surgical resection is generally indicated to reduce risks of hemorrhage and malignant transformation. We sought to evaluate clinical presentation, surgical management, and outcomes of patients with HA at our institution.

Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy: a surgical perspective.

Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy has been rapidly and widely adopted by the surgical community as an oncologic equivalent elective lymphadenectomy for regional node staging in both melanoma and breast cancer. Despite being the de facto standard of care, it remains a highly unstandardized procedure surrounded by many unresolved controversies for surgeons who perform the procedure. The controversies are as basic as the definition of the real sentinel node and as specific as the appropriate localization pharmaceutical(s), site of injection, timing of the injection, and utility of external scintigraphy (dynamic versus.