Endoscopically obtained bile aspirate is an accurate adjunct in the diagnosis of symptomatic gallbladder disease.

Objectives: The experience of a single surgeon in a rural hospital over a 10-year period was analyzed with respect to the utilization of endoscopically obtained bile aspirates as an adjunct in the diagnosis of symptomatic gallbladder disease.

Methods: A retrospective study of the author's entire cholecystectomy experience over a 10-year period with 641 patients was conducted to evaluate the utility of the bile aspirate in the preoperative selection of operative candidates and with respect to the ultimate pathologic diagnostic accuracy of the test.

Results: Derivation of preoperative diagnosis via traditional standard means was possible in 479 patients.

Laparoscopic surgery in the pregnant patient: results and recommendations.

Background: The complete experience of a single surgeon in a rural hospital over more than 11 years was evaluated with respect to laparoscopic operations performed on pregnant patients.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all laparoscopic operations was carried out with respect to number and types of operations, stage of pregnancy, complications, and fetal outcomes.

Results: Between October 1995 and January 2007, 36 laparoscopic operations were conducted on 36 pregnant patients.

Laparoscopic surgery in the pregnant patient--one surgeon's experience in a small rural hospital.

Objectives: The laparoscopic treatment of urgent surgical conditions that develop in pregnant patients has not been extensively addressed in the current literature. It is a potential issue to which surgeons, especially rural surgeons, should give careful consideration, prior to being faced with an urgent situation during the delivery process. This report details 1 surgeon's experience over a 5-year period with laparoscopic surgery in the pregnant patient, primarily laparoscopic cholecystectomy, at a small rural Nebraska hospital.