[Routine drainage following uncomplicated, elective cholecystectomy? A prospective, randomized study].

A prospective randomized and controlled study of prophylactic drainage after simple, elective cholecystectomy was carried out. From March 1988 to June 1991 80 patients received an Easy-Flow drain and 80 did not. Operation and perioperative management were standardized.

[Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and continuing surgical education].

The rapid spread of laparoscopic cholecystectomy as standard operative treatment of cholelithiasis raises the question whether this new technique can be learned as prescribed for the traditional training of surgeons. To answer this question traditional methods of instruction were used for the first consecutive 100 laparoscopic cholecystectomies after the instructors had seen the method elsewhere and learned by operations on animals. 15 surgeons operated on these 100 patients (23 men and 77 women; mean age 50 [20-79] years).

[Ultrasonic diagnosis in suspected acute appendicitis: probable or certain indications for surgery?].

The diagnostic accuracy and the clinical impact of routine ultrasonography performed by 4 surgeons, were prospectively studied in 366 unselected patients admitted for suspected acute appendicitis. Clinical and sonographic findings on admission were correlated with laparotomy findings, pathological outcome and clinical as well as follow-up data. The overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis were 55.

Histamine and the stomach: chemical histamine assays.

Histamine assays in gastroduodenal tissues and body fluids are not an absolute objective of scientific interest but are related to the role of histamine in health and disease. Hence, the reliability of histamine assays has to be assessed in relation to this aim. Sensitivity and specificity of the chemical histamine assays are similar in tissues and body fluids.

[Stress ulcer or pneumonia: effect of prevention with H2 blockers on gastric juice pH].

In a study with 30 consecutive ventilated patients in a surgical ICU, the course of gastric pH was measured for 24 h. Cimetidine, 1.2 g per 24 h, was given to prevent stress bleeding.