[The Hartmann intervention. The current indications and the authors' own experience].

Seventy years after it was first presented at the 30th Congress of the French Association of Surgery Hartmann's operation still fulfils a necessary albeit limited role in colorectal surgery. It is generally regarded as necessary in emergency surgery when general or local conditions advise against immediate anastomosis or would make it dangerous, or more rarely it is used electively in palliative neoplastic pathologies. The authors report their personal experience over twenty years and the reasons which led them to opt for this technique rather than others.

[Prevention of laryngeal nerve lesions in thyroid surgery].

The authors analyse problems related to laryngeal nerves in matters of thyroid surgery. As a matter of fact laryngeal nerve injury is still one of the most common complications for patients undergoing thyroid surgery. Although the sharp reduction in this drawback, due to a better anesthesiological technique and a wider surgical experience, the most representative case report show an incidence ranging from 3% to 5%.

[Diverticulosis of the sigmoid colon: when to operate and which surgical treatment to use].

Diverticulosis of the colon is an increasing frequent disease: 50% of all subjects over 70 are affected by this pathology. The paper reports a series of cases and a therapeutic approach for simple, symptomatic and complicated diverticulosis. The long-term results are also reported.