Moisture damage and fungal contamination in buildings are a massive health threat - a surgeon's perspective.

Objectives: Indoor air toxicity is of major public health concern due to the increase in humidity-induced indoor mould exposure and associated health changes. The objective is to present evidence for the causality of health threats and indoor mould exposure.

Methods: PubMed search on the following keywords: dampness, mould, indoor air quality, public health, dampness, and mould hypersensitivity syndrome, sick building syndrome, and building-related illness as well as information from the health authorities of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the Center of Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organisation (WHO), and guidelines of professional societies.

[Inguinal hernia operations-Always outpatient?].

Inguinal hernia operations represent the most frequent operations overall with 300,000 interventions annually in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH region). Despite the announced political willingness and the increasing pressure from the legislator to avoid costly inpatient treatment by carrying out as many outpatient operations as possible, outpatient treatment has so far played a subordinate role in the DACH region. The Boards of the specialist societies the German Hernia Society (DHG), the Surgical Working Group Hernia (CAH of the DHG), the Austrian Hernia Society (ÖHG) and the Swiss Working Group Hernia Surgery (SAHC) make inroads into this problem, describe the initial position and assess the current situation.

Trocar umbilical hernia repair by open suture repair and open suture-mesh repair in an ambulatory setting in comparison to recurrent and primary umbilical hernia repair.

Reports on the ambulatory open repair of umbilical trocal hernias are missing. Patients with trocar, primary and recurrent umbilical hernia open suture and open suture-mesh repair with prospective follow-up were retrospectively evaluated. Patients received perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, preemptive analgesia and modified anesthesia.

Prophylaxis and treatment of acute and chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP)-association of pain with compression neuropathy.

Can open inguinal hernia repair (OIHR) and tailored neurectomy (TN) be effective for prophylaxis of chronic postoperative inguinal hernia repair (CPIP) (I) and treatment of CPIP (II)? Patients with symptomatic primary inguinal hernia (I group 1) and secondary hernia with CPIP (II, groups 2-5) were investigated for postoperative complications and nerve damage. About, 98% of patients with OIHR with TN reported preoperative pain (I group 1,  = 388, recurrence rate 1%). There were 73 cases (II) of CPIP after laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR) (group 2,  = 22), OIHR (group 3,  = 37), LIHR followed by OIHR/LIHR (group 4,  = 5) and OIHR followed by LIHR/OIHR (group 5,  = 9).