Local repair of a trans-stomal ileocecal prolapse by stapler device.

The creation of a stoma, although considered a simple surgical procedure, is burdened by various complications, one of the most common being prolapse. Usually prolapse increases gradually, involving generally limited functional disorders and it can be well managed with non-operative measures. Occasionally it requires major surgery, for severe skin excoriation, bleeding or incarceration of the bowel. However, for critical clinical conditions of patients, often is not possible to use classical techniques, as bowel-pexy fixation or resection of the prolapse. Maeda has described a simple method for the correction of prolapse of the transverse colon using a stapler device that can be applied in this type of patients. In this report, we describe the first application of this technique to treat the prolapse of the ileocecal loop in an 81-year old woman, suffering from Parkinson's disease. A definitive ciecum stoma was performed the previous year for an Olgivie syndrome. At 6 months, follow-up showed no recurrence of prolapse with a functional stoma and without any skin irritation. In conclusion, this approach is recommended especially for high-risk patients who cannot be submitted to a much more invasive treatment. In fact, the main advantages consist of a minimally invasive technique, with minimal blood loss and with a rapid recovery of a normal quality of life.

The role of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the treatment of ovarian cancer relapse.

Nowadays the standard clinical management for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer is constituted by primary cytoreductive surgery associated to adjuvant systemic chemotherapy. Even if this first-line chemotherapy shows a high rate of complete responses, the disease recurrences occur especially in stage-III patients. Actually an option for this subset of patients is represented by secondary cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy that represents a promising therapy, having shown positive results in terms of median overall survival, progression free survival and overall survival. However, a much more research is still required especially by prospective randomised trials to improve outcomes in recurrent ovarian cancer.

[Intestinal perforation by ingested foreign bodies in the digestive tract: an insidious pathology always of interest. Our experience]. / La complicanza perforativa da ingestione di corpi estranei alimentari: una patologia insidiosa sempre attuale. Nostra esperienza.

The authors want to present five cases (from May 1999 to May 2009) of acute abdomen from perforation of the foreign body introduced with food. They highlight how the accidental ingestion is very common but the perforation is rare. The preoperative diagnosis, in these cases, is always very difficult and the radiological examinations are not always able to resolve the diagnostic doubt with other acute intestinal diseases that are responsible of perforation. Then, the surgery procedure is, necessarily, the only possible diagnostic and therapeutic means. The mortality and the morbidity remain still high first of all for the delay in the diagnosis and the advanced age of patients.

Massive bleeding from a Dieulafoy's lesion of the duodenum successfully treated with "adjuvant" transarterial embolization and endoscopic laser coagulation.

Dieulafoy's lesions, very rare in the duodenum, are considered uncommon causes of gastrointestinal bleeding and occur from pinpoint non-ulcerated arterial lesions. We report a case of Dieulafoy's lesion of the duodenum, in which a first diagnostic approach by using endoscopy and angiography was not successful; then, due to a high operative risk, we performed an "adjuvant" embolization of the gastroduodenal artery with the aim of reduce the flow through the artery, allowing the endoscopic localization of the site of bleeding and subsequent effective treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first case reported in the literature, in which, without aetiological diagnosis, an "adjuvant" embolization of the gastroduodenal artery was performed with the aim of reduce the blood flow in the duodenal wall, permitting an easier endoscopic diagnosis of Dieulafoy's duodenal lesion and successful treatment with laser coagulation.

[Endoscopic diverticulostomy for Zenker's diverticulum. Experience on 123 cases]. / Diverticulostomia endoscopica per diverticolo di Zenker. Esperienza su 123 casi.

AIM: To evaluate the short-term clinical outcome of the patients with Zenker 's diverticulum undergone to endoscopic esophago-diverticulostomy according to Collard. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis evaluated 123 patients. The most common symptom was dysphagia, severe in 50 patients (40.6%) and moderate in 73 (59.4%), with a mean dysphagia score of 2.3 (range 0-4). Regurgitation was present in 70 cases (56.9%), with a mean score of 0.8 (range 0-2). The mean diameter of diverticula was 4.1 cm (range 2.5-10). The procedure was undertaken in 87 male and 36 female with a mean follow-up of 69.1 months (range 1-168). RESULTS: Good results were obtained in 82 patients (66.7%), and the improvement of symptoms in 24 (19.5%), data confirmed by pre versus postoperative dysphagia mean score (2.3 vs 0.4) and by regurgitation score (0.8 vs 0.2). The failures have been seen in 17 patients (13.8%). The mean time of the intervention was 18 minutes (range 15-40), while the mean length of postoperative hospital stay was 2.5 days (range 1-5), with a oral intake in first postoperative day (mean). Major complications were documented in 2 patients (1.6%), minor ones in 10 patients (6.1%), without mortality. CONCLUSION: Nowadays esophago-diverticulostomy according to Collard, based on our results and on the literature data, represent the most effective and safe technique for the patients with Zenker's diverticulum, with low rate of morbidity and mortality compared to the others surgical on endoscopic procedures.

Quintuple primitive malignant neoplasms. A case report.

The authors describe the case of a patient who developed during 31 months, five malignant tumours, three synchronous and two metachronous. The primitive origin and the long interval of time between the occurrence of each tumour, allow to set them in the group of Multiple Primitive Malignant Neoplasm. The authors, reviewing the classifications and the pathogenesis of these tumours, underline the importance of the follow-up in oncology patients and emphasize the role of nosographic setting in order to plan the most suitable therapeutic approach.

Acute gallstone cholecystitis in the elderly: treatment with emergency ultrasonographic percutaneous cholecystostomy and interval laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of acute cholecystitis in the elderly is still a subject of debate, particularly with reference to the timing of surgery and the role of laparoscopy. PATIENTS: From January 1994 to June 2002 we observed 27 patients aged over 70 years with acute calcolous cholecystitis. The patients were submitted to ultrasonographic percutaneous cholecystostomy within 12 h of the acute attack. For two patients (7.4%) at high operative risk, we chose a conservative treatment. Twenty-five patients (92.6%) were submitted, in 15 cases (60%) within 5 days and in 10 patients (40%) within 8 days, to a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Statistical significance was accepted when the value of p was less than 0.05. RESULTS: Ultrasonographic percutaneous cholecystostomy was performed successfully in all patients, without major morbidity or mortality, and complete resolution of clinical symptoms was obtained within 48 h. The conversion rate of laparoscopy was 20% (13.3% in patients submitted to surgery within 5 days and 30% in the group submitted within 8 days--p > 0.05). The postoperative morbidity rate was 24%; it was higher (40% versus 15%) in patients converted to laparotomy (p > 0.05); mortality was 4%. The period of hospitalization was 11 days in patients operated laparoscopically and 21 days in those converted to open cholecystectomy (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The more rational treatment of acute calcolous cholecystitis in elderly patients is represented by ultrasonographic percutaneous cholecystostomy followed, within 5 days, by laparoscopic cholecystectomy using an abdominal insufflation maximum to 12 mmHg and a limited 10-15 degrees head-up tilt.

[The capillary hemangioma of the stomach: an unusual cause of haemorrhage. Case report]. / L'emangioma capillare dello stomaco: una rara fonte di sanguinamento. Caso clinico.

Gastric haemorrhages are common clinical emergencies which often directly involve the surgeon in diagnosis and treatment; among these, rare vascular neoplasms deserve particular attention. The Authors report a rare case of benign vascular tumour of the stomach, a capillary angioma. After a literature review they highlight the importance of specific exams to reveal these small neoformations which, generally, show up clinically with acute bleeding, which may be severe, and which may not be discovered if the clinical evaluation is not very detailed. The surgical excision supported by a frozen sections is the most effective treatment.