Laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed by residents: a retrospective study on 569 patients.

Introduction. Aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed by residents. Materials and Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 569 elective laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Results. Duration of surgery was 84 ± 39 min for residents versus 66 ± 47 min for staff surgeons, P < 0.001. Rate of conversion was 3.2% for residents versus 2.7% for staff surgeons, P = 0.7. There was no difference in the rates of intraoperative and postoperative complications for residents (1.2% and 3.2%) versus staff surgeons (1.5% and 3.1%), P = 0.7 and P = 0.9. Postoperative hospital stay was 3.3 ± 1.8 days for residents versus 3.4 ± 3.2 days for staff surgeons, P = 0.6. One death in patients operated by residents (1/246) and one in patients operated by staff surgeons (1/323) were found, P = 0.8. No difference in the time to return to normal daily activities between residents (11.3 ± 4.2 days) and staff surgeons (10.8 ± 5.6 days) was found, P = 0.2. Shorter duration of surgery when operating the senior residents (75 ± 31 minutes) than the junior residents (87 ± 27 minutes), P = 0.003. Conclusion. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed by residents is a safe procedure with results comparable to those of staff surgeons.

Ectopic duodenal insulinoma: a very rare and challenging tumor type. Description of a case and review of the literature.

Although most insulinomas are located in the pancreas, very rare ectopic cases have been described in the spleen, perisplenic tissue, duodenohepatic ligament, and adjacent to the ligament of Treitz. Moreover, three cases located in the duodenum have also been reported in the English literature. Ectopic insulinomas represent challenging neoplasms with clinical implications mainly due to the difficulties in their pre-operatory diagnosis and localization. In the present paper, we describe the fourth ectopic duodenal insulinoma so far reported. A 75-year-old woman presented at clinical observation due to neuroglycopenic symptoms that disappeared after glucose intake. Tumor was localized in the second portion of the duodenum in front of the papilla of Vater and was surgically enucleated. Microscopically, it was composed of monomorphic cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm arranged in trabecular and lobular patterns and diffusely positive for insulin, proinsulin, amylin, and PDX1. About 30 % of tumor cells also showed immunoreactivity for somatostatin, while no positivity for glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide, gastrin, serotonin, and somatostatin receptor subtype 2A was found. The Ki67 proliferative index was 1 %. We have also reviewed the literature on this topic to give the reader a comprehensive overview of this very rare tumor type.

Mirizzi syndrome: from ultrasound diagnosis to surgery-a case report.

The Mirizzi syndrome is a rare disorder that usually presents with jaundice and cholangitis; its lack of recognition in the diagnostic path could have serious consequences for the patient undergoing cholecystectomy. Here we describe the clinical case of a jaundiced patient from the ultrasound suspect of Mirizzi syndrome to the surgical treatment.

Entrapment of a dormia basket in the cystic duct: case report.

Nowadays endoscopic treatment of common bile duct stones is considered the treatment of choice for all common bile duct stones. Although this procedure is related to a good success rate, in rare cases serious complications can happen, especially if you use a Dormia basket. Here we describe the clinical case of a patient affected by hepatolithiasis, cholelithiasis, and common bile duct lithiasis with entrapment of a Dormia basket in the cystic duct. It was necessary to perform a surgical choledochotomy to deal with this rare complication.

The use of biological mesh to repair one large, contaminated abdominal wall defect due to neoplastic invasion. Report of a case.

We hereby report a case of use of biological mesh to repair one large, contaminated abdominal wall defect due to a sigmoid tumour presented as an abscess infiltrating the abdominal wall. Our patient was a 48-year-old woman. Her medical history was negative for any previous disease or surgical procedure. Because of the abscence of neoplastic secondarism an en-bloc resection of the interested sigmoid colon and of the infiltrated abdominal wall was performed, thus resulting a large wall defect in the left inguinal region. In order to close the wall defect a biological porcine collagen mesh was used. In our case we used a Permacol mesh made of porcine acellular dermal collagen. Reconstruction of complicated abdominal wall defects is a challenging surgical problem and primary repair is often difficult to achieve without excessive tension in the abdominal wall. The use of a syntethic mesh in this patient could have been inappropriate due to the possibility of creating adhesions with intra-abdominal viscera and fistula formation. We chose to use a biological mesh because of its safer properties in case of infected, inflamed or infiltrated surgical fields, as demonstrated in the literature.