Evaluation of human collagen biomaterials in the healing of colonic anastomoses in dogs.

Objective: To investigate the ability of human collagen biomaterials to secure colonic anastomoses in dogs and to evaluate the biocompatibility of anastomotic protection patches (APP).

Design: Experimental open study.

Setting: Experimental research centre, France.

[Telesurgery: standards--consultations--continuing education].

The aim of the TESUS project is to bring together several European university hospitals in a federation as well as a certain number of clinical centers in a network, the purpose of which is the online and offline transmission of surgical procedure imaging and advice. The innovation is threefold: It provides the surgeon with online information, diagnostic and therapeutic tools and expert advice, the need for which might come up before and during surgical procedures, as well as the same services in the context of teaching and training through regular staff. The developed services will be a major contribution to EU-wide standardisation of health care procedures and therapeutic approaches.

Laparoscopic right and left adrenalectomies. Surgical procedures.

Background: Laparoscopic approach for adrenalectomy was recently described and the operative technique is not yet well defined.

Methods: Twenty-seven laparoscopic adrenalectomies were performed between 1992 and 1995. There were 18 women and nine men ranging in age from 31 to 70 years (mean, 50.

[Celioscopic digestive surgery: from the explosion to a critical reflexion].

A critical review of laparoscopic digestive surgery indications is proposed. Patient's benefit by laparoscopy is to undergo the same procedure as by open surgery with identical security conditions but with less postoperative pain and an earlier recovery. Today laparoscopy in digestive surgery is mainly indicated in the fields of functional and benign diseases.

Biomaterial supports for colonic wall defect healing. An experimental study in the rat.

New artificial biomaterials were tested for support of gastro-intestinal tract wound healing in the rat. Double layered collagenic matrices were prepared with purified collagens extracted from human placental tissues. Two types of patches were tested, the first constituted from a collagen type I + III layer covered by collagen IV in a liquid phase (patch I + III/IV) and the second from a collagen IV layer covered by liquid collagen IV (patch IV/IV).

Laparoscopy not recommended for routine appendectomy in men: results of a prospective randomized study.

Background: Laparoscopic appendectomy has now gained wider acceptance in clinical practice, particularly in the treatment of women with right iliac fossa pain. However, the precise role of laparoscopic appendectomy in men is unclear, and this study was therefore undertaken to examine this specific issue in a prospective randomized trial.

Methods: One hundred men between the ages of 16 and 65 years who had suspected appendicitis were recruited and randomized to undergo either open or laparoscopic appendectomy.

Photodynamic imaging of a rat pancreatic cancer with pheophorbide a.

Laser-induced fluorescence of pheophorbide a (Ph-a) was used for in vitro photodynamic imaging (PDI) of a rat pancreatic acinar tumor. A 400 nm excitation induced a 470 nm autofluorescence and a 678 nm dye fluorescence in tumors and their surrounding pancreas 24 h after a 9 mg kg-1 body weight Ph-a intravenous administration. With lower intensities in these blood-rich tumors than in pancreas, Ph-a fluorescence signals are unable to provide tumor images.

Biomaterials for primary closure of a choledochotomy in dogs.

Since primary closure of the common bile duct is often not undertaken because of the risks of biliary leakage and peritonitis, we have evaluated feasibility and reliability of closure using biomaterials. In three groups of dogs, an unsutured choledochotomy was closed with circular glued patches: a scleroprotein patch in 4 dogs and an oxidized, compressed human collagen patch reinforced (n = 6) or not (n = 6) with three stitches. The scleroprotein patch (n = 4) was resorbed too soon, and in 2 dogs the unstitched collagen patches became unglued; biliary leakage was the result in both instances.

Geometric and physical representations for a simulator of hepatic surgery.

Despite the large interest in simulators of minimally invasive surgery, it is still unclear to what extent simulators can achieve the task of training medical students in surgical procedures. The answer to that question is certainly linked to the realism of displays and force-feedback systems and to the level of interaction provided by the computer system. In this paper, we describe the virtual environment for anatomical and surgical training on the liver, currently under construction at INRIA.

[Colonic diverticular haemorrhage].

Bleeding related to diverticular disease occurs in 10 to 30% of patients suffering from diverticular disease. Haemorrhage varies from occult to massive bleeding. Bleeding is related to mechanical aggression of the artery in the wall of a diverticulum.

[Primary leiomyosarcoma of the femoral vein. Therapeutic aspects].

Leiomyosarcomas are exceptional in peripheral veins. Clinical signs are not specific, secondary to effects of the tumoural mass. Computed tomography and MRI give a precise topographic diagnosis.

Experimental pancreatic cancer in the rat treated by photodynamic therapy.

Selective histological necrosis of experimental pancreatic carcinoma by photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been successful with haematoporphyrin derivatives and phthalocyanine as photosensitizers. This report describes the feasibility of PDT with pheophorbide A as the photosensitizer to treat azaserine-induced pancreatic rat carcinoma and analyses survival of the animals. An organ distribution study 24 h after pheophorbide A administration (9 mg/kg intravenously) gave a selectivity ratio of 13.

[Treatment of perforated duodenal ulcer: the celioscopic approach].

Ten patients underwent laparoscopic surgery for typical perforated peptic ulcer symptomatology. Two conversions to open surgery were due to technical problems related to delayed hospital admission. Nine patients underwent duodenal suture reinforced with fibrin glue, and one perforation was only glued.

Laparoscopy: an alternative to surgery in patients treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Fifteen laparoscopic abdominal operations were performed in 14 patients treated by continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis for chronic renal failure. Celioscopic exploration of the abdomen and subsequent operation displayed several advantages specific to the method: identification of the etiology of scrotal dialysate outflow was achieved in 4 cases, peritoneal dialysis catheter salvage during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1 case, abdominal exploration during occurrence of peritonitis in 3 cases, and catheter dysfunction or abdominal examination before catheter implantation in 7 cases. The laparoscopic procedure allows early resumption of peritoneal dialysis after surgery, hence avoiding the need for transient hemodialysis.

[Implantable insulin pump: the first step towards an artificial pancreas].

Recent improvements in miniaturization of implantable pumps and the ability of their control by teletransmission allow implantation of autonomous pumps which administer insulin into the peritoneal cavity. Fifty-six patients with diabetes mellitus underwent implantation of 66 pumps with a mean function life of 21.8 months per patient.

Implication of cholecystokinin in pancreatic adaptation after biliopancreatic bypass in the rat.

Biliopancreatic bypass (BPB), a bariatric surgical procedure, leads to a malnutrition-induced general visceral atrophy except for the pancreas. This work investigates the implication of cholecystokinin (CCK) in the exocrine pancreatic adaptive process using a plasma CCK assay and the CCK receptor antagonist CR 1409. No significant reduction in weight and DNA content of the pancreas was noted 36 days after BPB, while a strong decrease in protein, enzymes and RNA contents indicating cellular hypotrophy became apparent.

Trophic and enzymatic adaptation of the intestine to biliopancreatic bypass in the rat.

Biliopancreatic bypass (BPB), the exclusion of a duodenojejunal loop from the digestive continuity, has been proposed as a bariatric procedure for treatment of morbid obesity. The present study in rats investigated the effect of this surgical procedure on the mucosae of the ileum directly anastomosed to the stomach, and of the jejunum irrigated only by biliopancreatic secretions. The proximal part of the ileum adapted by two-fold increases in its mucosal mass, total protein and RNA content; DNA content was four-fold higher than in sham-operated animals.

[Boerhaave syndrome or spontaneous rupture of the esophagus].

Spontaneous rupture of esophagus is a rare affection resulting from barotrauma to lower esophagus during the effort of vomiting. The diagnosis is suggested by the presence of violent retrosternal pain after a bout of vomiting following the partaking of a copious meal by an alcoholic patient. Prognosis is dependent on the rapidity of treatment, always surgical and completed by long-term antibiotic therapy.

[Severe complications after cholecystectomy by celioscopy: lessons from yesterday and today].

The case of a series of grave complications after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy is reported: a common bile duct section diagnosed rather late, hemoperitoneum, inappropriate common bile duct reconstruction and late anastomic leakage, stenosis of an hepatico-jejunal anastomosis, haemorrhage through the external biliary drainage and iterating sepsis. The final outcome was good. The stenotic hepatico-jejunal anastomosis was dilated by a Gianturco self-expanding prosthesis percutaneously placed.