High-Intensity Laser Therapy - An Option for Managing the Pain in Anal Fissures.

Anal fissures (AFs) are a prevalent pathology. Although internal lateral sphincterotomy is still the gold-standard surgery for treating chronic AFs, this procedure is associated with a considerable risk of anal incontinence. This study describes an alternative and minimally invasive technique for treating AFs using photobiomodulation and a high-power diode laser-fissure treatment (LFT) and highlights initial results pertaining to pain.

How to do bedside mediastinal decompression in tension pneumomediastinum.

Tension pneumomediastinum is uncommon but it is a rapidly progress condition that can lead to cardiogenic shock. Mediastinal decompression is an emergency procedure and the knowledge of this technique is a life-saving treatment.

Operative and long-term results after one-stage surgery for obstructing colonic cancer.

Background/aims: To analyze retrospectively the operative results and five-year survival after single-stage resection and primary anastomosis for right- or left-sided colonic malignant obstruction.

Methodology: From 1994 to 2002, 83 patients with acute obstruction due to primary cancer underwent a one-stage procedure, 36 (43.3%) for cancer of the right and 47 (56.

Extension of the adult hepatic allograft pool using split liver transplantation.

Background: The ever increasing number of, especially, adults waiting for a liver transplantation necessitates to develop techniques allowing to extend the available donor liver pool.

Materials And Methods: Between November 1988 and December 2004, 37 (6.6%) of 559 adults underwent split liver transplantation at Saint-Luc Hospitals.

[Laparoscopic pancreatic resection: preliminary experience].

The aim of the study was to evaluate the results of laparoscopic pancreatectomy for pancreatic tumours. Four women and three men underwent laparoscopic pancreatectomy and were recruited into the study retrospectively over the period from June 2002 to February 2004. Pancreaticoduodenectomy (n = 4), intermediate pancreatectomy (n = 1) and distal pancreatic resection with splenectomy (n = 2) were successfully performed.

[The treatment of bronchopleural fistulae due to bronchial dehiscence by chest wall interventions. The authors' personal experience].

The authors present their personal experience of three cases of bronchial fistulae post pneumonectomy or lobectomy. Surgical treatment was not done directly on the bronchial stump but by thoracoplasty. This approach to the thoracic chest gets good results on condition that stabilization in reexpansion of residual parenchyma and drainage of bronchial secretions is carried out.

Videothoracoscopic treatment of bullous lung disease: indications and techniques.

The author reports his experience of Minimally Invasive Surgery for treatment of bullous lung disease. He describes patient selection and preoperative study, considering both the advantages and the problems connected with this new surgical technique. The experience acquired and the results obtained contribute towards the confirmation of the validity of this technique applied to thoracic surgery.

Pneumomediastinum: physiopathological considerations and report of six cases treated in an emergency surgery division.

Pneumomediastinum indicates the presence of air in the mediastinal space. It may be classified in three categories, based on the main causes of air dissection into the mediastinal structures: spontaneous pneumomediastinum (pnm), the most frequently encountered, post traumatic pnm and pnm secondary to non-traumatic rupture of an abdominal hollow viscus. This paper reports the experience of a major regional emergency surgery division in the management of pnm during a five years period.

[Gasless laparoscopic cholecystectomy using retractor of the abdominal wall].

The Authors present a new gasless laparoscopic cholecystectomy method using an abdominal wall elevator with subcutaneous traction ("laparotenser"). Fifty patients between May 1994 and March 1995 were operated by videolaparoscopy using this new gasless method. Twenty of them were operated with Nagai's method while the laparotenser was used in the remaining thirty.

[The minimally invasive treatment of bullous pneumopathy. The anatomicopathological and pneumological findings in 18 months of experience].

The authors present 18-month experience in the minimally invasive treatment of bullous pneumopathy and review of the relative literature. Results of pneumologic and pathologic studies are correlated with the advantages of the technique. Tobacco smoking, positive family history, associated disease and long standing treatments have been considered.

[Middle lobe syndrome].

The authors, based on their actual experience with four cases and using previously published articles, state the pathological and clinical features of the middle lobe syndrome. Considering the physio-pathological processes, the authors determine the therapeutic program: the first approach would be pharmacological, second, if necessary, surgical-seeking to be as conservative as possible.

[Drainage of the pleural cavity].

The authors, from their personal experience, demonstrate the goals, the indications, the techniques and complications of performing a drain of the pleural cavity (DCP). DCP has an important role as a single operation or at the end of every thoracic operation. For this reason it is mandatory to respect the principles and the concepts reported by the authors.

[Recurrent hepatic echinococcosis. A case report and review of the literature].

The paper report a case of postoperative recurrent hydatid disease in a fifty-year-old man. The scarcity of published works on the etiological causes of this pathology and the lack of an uniform treatment protocol necessitate a correct and radical surgical approach. The patient underwent cystopericystectomy and after three months follow-up is still free of disease.

[Risk factors in the surgical patient over 80].

Authors present the experience about 266 elderly patients treated by surgery since 1985 to 1990. The range of the patient's age is comprised between 74 and 89. 113 patients (42%) have been treated in emergency, with 12% mortality.