Is there still any role for minilaparoscopic-cholecystectomy? A general surgeons' last five years experience over 932 cases.

Laparoscopy has rapidly emerged as the preferred surgical approach in a number of different diseases because it ensures correct diagnoses and appropriate treatment. The use of mini-instruments (5 mm or less in diameter) and, when possible, the reduction of the number of trocars used might be its natural evolution. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a gold standard technique.

Colorectal surgery in a community hospital setting: have attitudes changed because of laparoscopy? A general surgeons' last 5 years experience review.

Introduction: Laparoscopy is rapidly emerging as the preferred surgical approach to a number of different diseases because it permits a correct diagnosis and accurate treatment; however, it is not yet being applied in a widespread manner in the management of benign or malignant colorectal disease. The aim of this work is to illustrate retrospectively the results of our experience of laparoscopic colorectal surgery carried out in a community hospital over the last 5 years to document its feasibility, safety, and benefits when carried out by general surgeons in this setting.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2003 and December 2007 a total of 628 patients underwent a colorectal procedure.

Inguinal hernia repair in a community hospital setting--have attitudes changed because of laparoscopy? A review of a general surgeon's experience over the last 5 years.

Objectives: The laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) approach for inguinal hernia repair is well documented in numerous studies as an excellent choice when performed by an experienced surgeon. In this report we wish to evaluate our experience of TAPP laparoscopic inguinal repair performed in a Community Hospital over the last 5 years, focusing on the feasibility of the technique and the incidence of complications when performed by general surgeons in this setting. We also wish to report and discuss how our attitudes concerning inguinal hernia repair have changed since we adopted the laparoscopic approach.

Primary omental infarction: laparoscopic approach in two pediatric cases: a case review.

Two cases of pediatric acute abdomen owing to omental infarction are described in this paper, which were successfully treated laparoscopically. Owing to the objective rareness and absence of typical symptoms, the diagnosis was often neither made nor considered preoperatively. For other emergency situations, laparoscopy has been shown to be both a diagnostic and a therapeutic tool of a rare pathology found also in the pediatric patients.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy with a three-trocar 5-mm instrument approach.

The natural evolution of laparoscopy seems to be the use of miniature instruments and, where possible, a reduction of the number of trocars used. We report the results of our experience with all 5-mm instrument three-trocar cholecystectomy vs. the conventional laparoscopy approach.

Day-case laparoscopic surgery for appendicitis and non-specific abdominal pain.

Laparoscopy is commonly used in the treatment of appendicular diseases and non-specific abdominal pain. Nevertheless, the role of day-case laparoscopic surgery in these cases is still debated. The aim of this study was to identify which cases of appendicitis or non-specific abdominal pain are most indicated for daycase laparoscopic surgery.

Lightweight partially absorbable monofilament mesh (polypropylene/poliglecaprone 25) for TAPP inguinal hernia repair: initial experience.

Objective: An ideal mesh should produce slight foreign-body reactions and be compatible with the human organisms. Studies focusing on these aspects indicate that the use of mesh with less nonabsorbable material may reduce postoperative complications, insofar the web structure and its rigidity play an important role in compatibility. We evaluated retrospectively the patients of the past 1 year, who underwent laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) hernioplasty (without the use any trocar and/or instrument of 10 mm in diameter) focusing attention on the feasibility of the technique and on the incidence of complications, especially those possibly related to the new type of mesh implanted.

Preliminary experience using fibrin glue for mesh fixation in 250 patients undergoing minilaparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repair.

Purpose: Fibrin glue for mesh fixation has been proposed to prevent the risk of nerve injury in inguinal hernia repair. We retrospectively evaluated a series of 250 patients who underwent minilaparoscopic transabdominal preperitorneal (miniTAPP) hernioplasty (using trocars, optics, and instruments <10 mm in diameter) in whom mesh fixation was achieved using 2 mL of fibrin glue. We considered the feasibility of the technique and the incidence of complications, especially those possibly related to mesh fixation.

Peritonitis: laparoscopic approach.

Background: Laparoscopy has became as the preferred surgical approach to a number of different diseases because it allows a correct diagnosis and treatment at the same time. In abdominal emergencies, both components of treatment - exploration to identify the causative pathology and performance of an appropriate operation - can often be accomplished via laparoscopy. There is still a debate of peritonitis as a contraindication to this kind of approach.

[Laparoscopy. State of the art in Italy: the surgeon's point of view].

The aim of the study was to evaluate the practice of laparoscopic surgery in Italy. An audit on laparoscopic surgery was carried out through a written questionnaire sent to 600 institutions in Italy. The questions concerned the diffusion of laparoscopic surgery over the last 10 years, surgery-related morbidity and mortality rates, indications, and impact on the day-to-day surgical work of the individual centres.

Is minilaparoscopic inguinal hernia repair feasible? A preliminary experience.

Introduction: Laparoscopy has rapidly emerged as the preferred surgical approach to a number of different diseases because it allows for a correct diagnosis and proper treatment. It seems to be moving toward the use of mini-instruments (5 mm or less in diameter). The aim of this paper is to illustrate retrospectively the results of an initial experience of minilaparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (miniTAPP) repair of groin hernia defects performed at two institutions.

Meckel's diverticulum: a neglected (or deliberately ignored) entity.

Meckel's diverticulum is the most common of all the possible abnormalities that incomplete obliteration of the omphalo-mesenteric duct can produce. Often it is not sought during surgery performed for other abdominal diseases, e.g.

The laparoscopic approach in abdominal emergencies: a single-center 10-year experience.

Introduction: Laparoscopy has rapidly emerged as the preferred surgical approach to a number of different diseases because it allows for a correct diagnosis and proper treatment. In abdominal emergencies, both components of treatment--exploration and surgery--can be accomplished via laparoscopy. The aim of the present work is to illustrate retrospectively the results of a case-control experience with laparoscopic versus open surgery for abdominal emergencies performed at our institution.

Laparoscopic appendectomy: why it should be done.

Objective: Notwithstanding its widely perceived advantages, laparoscopic appendectomy has not yet met with universal acceptance. The aim of the present work is to illustrate retrospectively the results of a case-control experience with laparoscopic versus open appendectomy carried out at our institution.

Methods: Between January 1993 and November 2000, 555 patients (M:F = 210:345; mean age 25.

[Minilaparoscopic appendectomy: which indications?].

Laparoscopy has gained widespread acceptance in common surgical practice as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool. Suspected appendicitis is still a diagnostic challenge to the general surgeon. A correct diagnosis is crucial because of the various diseases that may be responsible for the same symptoms, in order to plan the appropriate procedure or avoid an unnecessary laparotomy.

Retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma mimicking acute appendicitis: laparoscopic management.

Background: Retroperitoneal leiomyosarcomas (RLMS) are a challenging clinical entity. The vast majority of patients are operated on when tumors are advanced. We report herein a case of RLMS, mimicking acute appendiceal disease and treated successfully via laparoscopy.

[Repair of mucosa stomal prolapse with circular stapler. Technical note].

Mucosal stomal prolapse is a frequent complication of end colostomies. We describe here an original mucosal colostomy prolapse repair technique using a circular stapling device. This technique stems from the recent introduction of stapled muco-haemorrhoidectomy and was employed on a 68-year-old male patient who had undergone a Miles abdominoperineal excision 17 years earlier.

[Acute abdomen due to a strangulated and perforated para-esophageal hernia. A case report].

Para-oesophageal hiatus hernia, a condition in which the fundus and part of the body of the stomach wrapped in a peritoneal sac herniate into the mediastinum, is a relatively uncommon entity. It tends to grow progressively and may become so large as to lead to symptoms of intrathoracic organ compression. In some exceptional cases, the entire stomach together with other abdominal viscera might herniate through the hiatus into the thorax.

[Our experience in the treatment of hemorrhoids and circumferential mucosal rectal prolapse using Longo muco-prolapsectomy ].

The authors report their experience with the treatment of hemorrhoid disease and circumferential mucosal rectal prolapse with the use of a mechanical suturing device, according to the Longo technique. Over the period from March 98 to December 2000, 106 patients were treated with the above-mentioned procedure (100 patients for haemorrhoids and 6 for circumferential prolapse). Twenty-one patients had grade 4, 77 grade 3 and only 2 grade 2 disease.

[Combined ROLL and sentinel lymph node: a new strategy in radio-guided surgery].

Radioguided surgery for the treatment of breast cancer is becoming the gold standard for both diagnosis and therapy. The main rule in using ROLL is perfect localization of non-palpable lesions and minimal invasiveness of excision. The same criteria apply to the sentinel lymph node technique.

[Laparoscopic appendectomy. State of the art].

The authors present the results of a fact-finding survey on the state of the art of laparoscopic appendectomy in North-Eastern Italy. Over the period from 1991 to 2000 a total of 10,451 laparoscopic procedures were performed. Despite the extensive and increasing use of minimally invasive surgery, only 58% of the surgeons surveyed adopt laparoscopy in the management of suspected acute appendiceal disease.