Toward sutureless laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair in children?

We report our experience with a sutureless technique for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair in children. Twenty-eight children, 12 girls and 16 boys, aged 3 months to 7 years, underwent sutureless laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair. In girls, we utilized simple cauterization of the internal inguinal ring with a single trocar technique.

Laparoscopic treatment of symptomatic simple renal cysts in children: single-center experience.

Simple renal cysts, although common in adults, are rare in children. They are usually discovered incidentally in the course of the study of other urinary tract symptoms, although they are not always asymptomatic. Renal cysts can be classified as being either simple or complex.

Tubularized proximally-incised plate in distal/midshaft hypospadias repair.

The aim of this study was to verify the validity, feasibility, and the functional results, by uroflowmetry, of Tubularized proximallyincised plate technique in selected case of distal/midshaft hypospadias. Out of 120 patients scheduled to undergo TIP (or Snodgrass) procedure, 23 were selected between January 2013 and January 2016 (19.1%).

Long-Term Follow-Up of Testicular Microlithiasis in Children and Adolescents: Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study of the Italian Society of Pediatric Urology.

 Testicular microlithiasis (TM), characterized by the presence of intratubular calcifications in a single or both the gonads, is an uncommon entity with unknown etiology and outcome in pediatric and adolescent age. In this study, the results of a multicenter long-term survey are presented.  From 11 units of pediatric urology/surgery, patients with TM were identified and yearly, followed up in a 7-year period, adopting a specific database.

Laparoscopic upper pole heminephroureterectomy in children: Seven-year experience.

Background: Minimally invasive surgery is the current approach to perform heminephroureterectomy (HN) in children. This can be obtained through a transperitoneal (TP) or a retroperitoneal approach. Here, we report our experience using a TP approach.

Use of LigaSure™ on bile duct in rats: an experimental study.

Background: The closure of a cystic duct during cholecystectomy by means of radiofrequency is still controversial. We report our preliminary experimental results with the use of LigaSure™ on common bile duct in rats.

Methods: Thirty Wistar rats weighing 70 to 120 g were employed for this study.

Vesicoscopic Treatment of Symptomatic Congenital Bladder Diverticula in Children: A 7-Year Experience.

Introduction The objective of this study was to report on the use of vesicoscopy in the treatment of symptomatic congenital bladder diverticula (CBD) in children. Material and Methods In this study, 16 males, aged 4 to 12 years (median age, 6.25 years), were treated for symptomatic CBD; 3 patients presented double diverticulum and 13 presented single diverticulum.

Single-incision laparoscopic surgery and conventional laparoscopic treatment of varicocele in adolescents: Comparison between two techniques.

Background: Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) has gained great popularity in paediatric surgery due to its minimally invasive approach and improved cosmetic results. Notwithstanding, reports describing its adoption in children are still fragmentary and some perplexities have been raised by some surgeons. We reviewed our experience with the SILS Palomo varicocelectomy procedure (SIL-V) in children and adolescents, comparing this group with a similar series operated using conventional laparoscopic varicocelectomy (CL-V).

[Psychopathologic risk assessment and self-esteem in patients undergoing hypospadias surgery].

Aims: Although the long-term outcomes ofhypospadias surgery are considered important for psychosexual development, only a few attempts have been made to evaluate patient psico-pathology.

Material And Methods: 20 out 40 patients who received under sealed cover two envelopes--the first containing the assessment tools, the other empty and prepaid for the answer--joined the study. The results came from the analysis of anamnestic interview specially created in order to gather information on how to access to surgery and the degree of information that the parents had from the surgeon, from the analysis of the CBCL (Child Behavior CheckList 2001:4-16 years) and TMA (Multidimensional self-esteem Test: the Italian version of the MSCS Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale).

[Advantages of the anterior and mid-shaft hypospadias repair in the first year of life].

Purpose: Only a few studies have been performed on the evaluation of complications strictly related to the age at operation of hypospadias repair. The aim of our study was to evaluate the incidence of complications of surgical treatment of anterior and midshaft hypospadias in relation to the age at operation.

Materials And Methods: 108 patients from 2005 to 2011 were operated on by the same surgeon (AM) for anterior and mid-shaft hypospadias.

[Laparoscopic treatment of UPJ obstruction in ectopic pelvic kidneys in children].

Aims: To assess the feasibility and safety of a laparoscopic approach to UPJ obstruction (UPJO) in ectopic pelvic kidneys.

Material And Methods: In a retrospective analysis we selected 14 children, aged 6 months to 17 years, 12 males, 2 females, who had been treated in our Department between January 2004 and June 2011. 9 patients presented ureteropelvic junction obstruction (in 3 cases pelvic stones coexisted) with normal/moderately reduced (> or = 25%) relative function at radionuclide scan (MAG3), 3 nonfunctioning kidneys associated or not to hypertension, 2 congenital hypo-dysplastic kidneys.

"Spaghetti maneuver": a useful tool in pediatric laparoscopy - our experience.

Aims: The laparoscopic "Spaghetti Maneuver" consists in holding an organ by its extremity with a grasper and rolling it up around the tool to keep the organ stable and facilitate its traction within a small space. We describe our experience with the "Spaghetti Maneuver" in some minimally invasive procedures.

Materials And Methods: We successfully adopted this technique in 13 patients (5F : 8M) aged between 6 and 14 years (average age, 10) on whom we performed 7 appendectomies, 2 ureteral reimplantation and 4 cholecystectomies.

Pneumovesicoscopic correction of primary vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in children. Our experience.

Aim: We report our experience with pneumovesicoscopic cross-trigonal ureteral reimplantation to correct primary vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in children.

Material And Methods: 14 children (10 girls, 4 boys, aged 4 to 12 years) with persistent VUR ≥ grade III (5 bilateral, 19 refluxing ureters) underwent pneumovesicoscopic Cohen's cross-trigonal reimplantation. Under cystoscopic control, a first midline 5-mm trocar was introduced for a 0°\30° telescope at the dome of the bladder, and 2 left and right 3- or 5-mm trocars were inserted through the anterolateral wall.

Effectiveness of botulinum-A toxin for the treatment of refractory overactive bladder in children.

Aims: We describe our experience with botulinum-A toxin (BTX-A) in children presenting idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB) refractory to anticholinergic drugs.

Material And Methods: 21 patients, aged 8-12 years, were treated over a 3-year period. BTX-A was administered at a dosage of 12.