[The current and future use of robot-assisted surgery for gastro-oesophageal cancer].

Minimally invasive oesophagectomy and gastrectomy are increasingly used procedures due to the known advantages, e.g. shorter hospital stay, less post-operative pain and quicker recovery.

[Long-term survival after curative resection for oesophageal and cardia cancer].

Introduction: We present the long-term survival after curative resection for cancer at the gastro-oesophageal junction.

Material And Methods: From 1992 through 2003, 147 patients with cancer at the gastro-oesophageal junction underwent curative resection. Preoperative evaluation included a computed tomography (CT) scan of the thorax and abdomen, gastroscopy, endoscopic ultrasonography and ultrasonography of the neck.

[Postoperative peritoneal adhesions].

Postoperative adhesions occur after most surgical intraabdominal procedures, and small bowel obstruction is a common complication. Research has focused on the pathophysiology of adhesion formation and on the development of prophylactic barriers and drugs. The present paper provides a resume of existing research into peritoneal adhesion prophylaxis and pathophysiology.

[Is screening of wireless capsule endoscopies by non-physicians feasible?].

Introduction: Reading a wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) may be time-consuming. In order to reduce the time needed by a physician to view a WCE, we investigated if other medical professions could preview the video and detect bowel pathology in advance.

Materials And Methods: A specialist in gastroenterology and two laboratory technicians independently viewed 34 consecutive WCEs and noted all findings.

Endobiliary brush biopsy: Intra- and interobserver variation in cytological evaluation of brushings from bile duct strictures.

Objective: Obtaining cytological specimens by wire-guided endobiliary brushing at the time of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a convenient way to reach a diagnosis. Sensitivity for malignant disease is generally around 50% and specificity around 100%. The present study was designed to assess the reproducibility of the cytological examination.