A unique case of free-floating gastric band tubing causing intraabdominal sepsis in a patient with locked-in syndrome secondary to Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is a known bariatric procedure that has largely fallen out of favor in our modern surgical era. Several case reports describe various complications secondary to gastric band slippage. Here we present a unique complication not related to gastric band slippage, but intraabdominal sepsis secondary to free-floating gastric band tubing after removal of the subcutaneous port in a patient with locked-in syndrome secondary to Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Outcomes of sentinel node biopsy for breast cancer in British Columbia, 1996 to 2001.

Background: This study evaluated the outcomes of the first 5 years of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, 1996 to 2001.

Methods: There were 547 SNB procedures for breast cancer performed by 29 surgeons at 12 hospitals in BC between October 1996 and July 2001. Identification, accuracy, and false-negative rates were determined and correlated to patient, tumor, and surgical factors with the chi-square test.