Facilitating intracorporeal colorectal anastomoses.

Background And Objectives: An experimental study was undertaken to evaluate whether a previously described technique for laparoscopic sigmoid resection with intracorporeal resection-anastomosis and specimen removal via a suprapubic incision could be facilitated and applied to the rectum.

Methods: Ten domestic pigs (median weight 41 kg) underwent low anterior resection of the rectum, which was transected with an articulating endoscopic stapler. Pursestring sutures were fashioned intracorporeally with a laparoscopic pursestring clamp.

Norwegian multicentre study of survival and prognostic factors in patients undergoing curative resection for gastric carcinoma. The Norwegian Stomach Cancer Trial.

The influence of clinical and tumour-related variables on long-term survival in patients with gastric carcinoma was studied in a national prospective multicentre study. A total of 532 patients underwent curative surgery with a 5-year survival rate of 40 per cent. In a Cox multivariate analysis, age, stage of disease and macroscopic appearance of tumour were the only factors that independently affected survival.

Is Lauren's histopathological classification of importance in patients with stomach cancer? A national experience. Norwegian Stomach Cancer Trial.

This study was performed to investigate the association between Lauren's histopathological classification system and different clinico-pathological characteristics in patients with gastric carcinoma. We revealed that the percentage of intestinal type tumour (ITT) increased with advancing age (52% in patients less than 60 years compared to 73% of octogenarians (P less than 0.001)).

Patient and physician treatment delay in patients with stomach cancer in Norway: is it important? The Norwegian Stomach Cancer Trial.

The effect and consequences of treatment delay were studied in 1165 patients with stomach cancer included in a Norwegian multicentre study. Median patient delay was 42 days; median doctor delay 37 days; and median total treatment delay 107 days. By Cox proportional hazards model analyses we found that an increase in weight loss was associated with an increase in total delay, whereas a more advanced stage of disease was related to a short total delay.