Lessons learned from lethal cardiac injury by nuss repair of pectus excavatum in a 16-year-old.

This report investigates cardiac injury and arrest during a Nuss repair of severe pectus excavatum in a 16-year-old boy in 2006. The injuries of the right atrial auricle and the right ventricle were sutured, and the patient was resuscitated. Ultimately he died on the 11th day of progressive malignant cerebral edema and respiratory distress syndrome despite cerebral decompression and hypothermia. Typical morphologic features of cardiac injuries are demonstrated, and strategies to avoid inadvertent organ injury in pectus operations are discussed.

Laparoscopic approach to ovarian mass in children and adolescents: already a standard in therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Functional cysts, ovarian torsion, and benign neoplasms are the most common ovarian masses among young adolescents. The laparoscopic approach to giant ovarian cysts in the pediatric population maybe difficult due the limited working space and the high risk of spillage. In this paper, we evaluate the role of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of adnexal disease occurring in young girls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With the approval of the institutional review board, a retrospective chart review(2007-2003) of patients with adnexal disease was conducted. RESULTS: Overall, 12 patients were evaluated with preoperative imaging, sonography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and laboratory values. None resulted in malignant histology. All resections of ovarian cysts were performed laparoscopically. The outcome was uneventful in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment is indicated if the diagnosis is in question, the cyst persists, in the case of ovarian torsion,or if the patient is symptomatic. Laparoscopy is becoming the favored approach by most pediatric surgeons for the treatment of ovarian cysts. All surgical procedures for ovarian cysts should spare functional ovary as much as is technically possible. Simple cysts can be fenestrated, but complex or functional cysts should be excised, with the preservation of the remaining ovary by careful dissection. The laparoscopic approach for adnexal masses can be performed in an acceptable manner, with comparable results to an open approach, plus the cosmetic advantages of minimally invasive surgery, which is an important aspect for the treated patients.

New endoscopic minimal access pectus carinatum repair using subpectoral carbon dioxide.

PURPOSE: This study establishes a minimal access hybrid technique for pectus carinatum repair. Based on 132 conventional repairs (1984-2000) and our own endoscopic technique for correcting prominent costal arches, the conventional carinatum repair was adapted to an endoscopic-assisted technique. DESCRIPTION: Inserting two submuscular trocars and inflating CO2, the entire ventral thoracic wall was dissected endoscopically detaching pectoral muscles from ribs and sternum. February 2001 to February 2004, we repaired 37 patients (32 male) of 16.8 +/- 4.3 years (12 to 36 years). Endoscopic-assisted rib resection and axial reanastomosis, transsternal struts, and sternotomies were performed semi-open from a 2.9 to 4.7 cm incision. EVALUATION: All were completed minimally invasively, one seroma was managed conservatively. Thirty-three patients rated their result as excellent, 4 as good with a follow-up of 29.1 +/- 9.5 months (range, 18 to 55 months). Twenty-one struts were removed with no recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Minimal access pectus carinatum repair is safe, effective, and offers high comfort for the patient. The results are at least as good as conventional repairs, but hospital stays could be halved. Encouraging results of this early experience warrant further evaluation by other centers.

Extrapleural, submuscular bars placed by bilateral thoracoscopy--a new improvement in modified Nuss funnel chest repair.

BACKGROUND: Thoracoscopic Nuss funnel chest repair still has a significant complication rate. Bar dislocation, pneumothorax, pleural effusions, and pericarditis seem to be caused mechanical irritation by the bar. We intended to reduce these problems by further technical modification of the Nuss technique. METHODS: Of 157 prospectively followed modified Nuss repairs, the last 57 patients had the bars placed in an extrapleural position and fixed by 10 to 14 pericostal sutures under bilateral thoracoscopy. RESULTS: Entirely, extrapleural bar position was feasible in 53 of 57 patients. Four patients had minor holes over one of the bars, predominantly on the left side of the thorax. Pleural effusions, pneumothorax, and pain were greatly reduced, so that we discontinued the so far routine use of bilateral pleural drainages. CONCLUSIONS: Extrapleural bar position is feasible in more than 90% of modified Nuss repairs. It reduces pleural secretion and pain, and seems to reduce pneumothorax, pulmonary bar adhesions, and pericardial effusions. The technique is easy and safe, and reduced the incidence of most complications in this early experience of 57 adolescent patients, although no sportive restrictions were imposed at all.

Abdominal inflammatory masses mimicking neoplasia in children-experience of two centers.

Despite progress in modern imaging, some inflammatory masses are difficult to distinguish clinically from neoplastic processes. In such cases the pathology report has a great distinctive value, but even then the final diagnosis may be difficult to reach. Eight patients with abdominal tumors of inflammatory origin were treated in two institutions, the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the Medical University of Gdansk, Poland, and Helios Center of Pediatric Surgery in Berlin, Germany, during the last 10 years. Four tumors were located in the pelvis, two in the liver, and two in the colonic mesentery. Five of them were inflammatory pseudotumors (two subclassified as inflammatory fibrosarcoma), one had nonspecific inflammatory changes, one was diagnosed as idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis, and one was diagnosed as bacillary angiomatosis. All patients underwent surgical tumor biopsy, excisional in four and incisional in four. All but two children underwent macroscopically complete tumor excision (four primarily, two secondarily). In one case the tumor resolved with antibiotherapy. Surgery in retroperitoneal masses was often extensive and associated with significant complications because of invasive tumor growth. In conclusion, intraabdominal inflammatory lesions may closely mimic neoplasia in children. Clinical doubts result in repeated biopsies, and for this reason excisional biopsy should be preferred. In some cases, when excisional biopsy is not feasible due to invasive growth of the tumor, delayed complete mass excision should follow, despite occasional significant morbidity. The etiology and exact nature of inflammatory pseudotumors are still obscure, and it is unknown whether they represent inflammatory lesions or true neoplasia.

The technique of laparoscopic retroperitoneal splenopexy for symptomatic wandering spleen in childhood.

BACKGROUND: Wandering spleen is an uncommon diagnosis, difficult to prove by standard investigations. The authors report a new method for laparoscopic splenopexy in children using a balloon-dilated retroperitoneal pouch. METHODS: From 3 accesses, the spleen is mobilized and displaced into a retroperitoneal pouch dilated to the double splenic volume. The pouch is dilated by a self-made balloon via a further intercostal access and narrowed by sutures incorporating the cranial and caudal edge of the gastrosplenic ligament. RESULTS: The peritoneal pouch contracts around the retroperitoneal spleen resulting in a firm fixation of the organ. This technique was successful in a 9-year-old girl with a 5-year history of severe recurrent abdominal pain. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic retroperitoneal pouch splenopexy is a safe and effective procedure for symptomatic wandering spleen precluding the use of foreign materials in this age group.

Ultrasonic shear coagulation of main hilar vessels: A 4-year experience of 23 pediatric laparoscopic splenectomies without staples.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasonic shears (LCS) are used increasingly for laparoscopic splenectomy. So far however, all investigators use vascular staplers or clips for section of the main splenic artery and vein. METHODS: After several trials the authors started to use the ultrasonic triple welding technique in open surgery to occlude major vessels of 5 to 8 mm by 10-mm LCS. In June 1997 the authors introduced triple welding into laparoscopic splenectomy to mobilize the complete spleen by LCS. RESULTS: There was no hemorrhage in 23 laparoscopic splenectomies performed exclusively by LCS and no complications except 1 port site hernia. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic splenectomy entirely by reusable LCS without clips and stapler is a safe, simple, and inexpensive technique. Moreover, the policy of "leaving nothing back" is an attractive strategy in endoscopic pediatric surgery.