[Laparoscopic appendicectomy: an 8-year clinical experience].

Background: For more than a century, open appendectomy through a laparotomy has been the golden standard for the surgical removal of the appendix. Nowadays, many surgeons question the utility of laparoscopic surgery to perform appendectomies because it is commonly stated that the appendix can be removed through a small surgical incision carrying a minimal surgical trauma to the patient. Although open appendectomy is really safe, on the other hand it carries a considerable risk of postoperative complications, is associated with postoperative pain and affects patient s normal activity.

[Aortic dissection: role of the general surgeon in diagnostic-therapeutic procedure].

Aortic dissection occurs when there is a tear or separation of the aortic intima from the media; flow of blood into the intima-media space allows the tear to develop into a dissecting hematoma. Aortic dissection is a rare condition which represents an acute cardiovascular emergency for which the appropriate therapy is immediate surgical correction. Patients with aortic dissection show a heterogeneous constellation of symptoms; hence, clinical suspicion is often difficult.

[Abdominoperineal amputation and radical lymphadenectomy (mesenteropelvic) in the treatment of cancer of the lower rectum. Anatomosurgery].

The authors describe their anatomical study upon the use of the total pelvic lymphadenectomy in addition to the classic abdominoperineal amputation following Miles in the treatment of lower rectal cancer. They used a modification of the "cellulectomie pelvienne" de Brunschwig et Huguier applying to the rectum the procedure originally born for the surgery of uterine cancer. They underline the bad results of the conventional surgery in terms of survival and local recurrence due to the incomplete lymphatic resection.