RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Patients with anorectal malformation (ARM) need long-term follow-up, in order to evaluate fecal continence; the main predictors of longer-term success are the type of ARM, associated anomalies and sacral integrity. Three-Dimensional High Resolution Anorectal Manometry (3D-HRAM) gives detailed information on pressure on the anal complex profile. Our objective was to analyze anal sphincter activity in ARM patients with 3D-HRAM establishing the correlation between manometric and clinical data. METHODS: Forty ARM patients were submitted to 3D-HRAM: manometric, anatomical and clinical scores were correlated with each other and with the bowel management response (BM). RESULTS: A positive correlation between all scores and types of ARM was found: in high ARM and in patients with spinal anomalies (regardless to ARM type) lower scores were reported and even after BM they did not achieve good continence. CONCLUSIONS: 3D-HRAM gives detailed data on the functional activity of the anal sphincter complex. Our study revealed a correlation between manometric parameters and clinical outcomes, confirming spinal malformations and ARM type as the most important prognostic risk factors for a bad outcome. Specific sphincteric defects can also be explored with manometry, allowing for tailored bowel management strategies.
RESUMO
Background and Objective: The use of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) has increased more slowly in pediatrics than in the adult population. Despite the many advantages of robotic instruments, the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) still presents some limitations for use in pediatric surgery. This study aims to examine evidence-based indications for RAS in the different fields of pediatric surgery according to the published literature. Methods: A database search (MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science) was performed to identify articles covering any aspect of RAS in the pediatric population. Using Boolean operators AND/OR, all possible combinations of the following search terms were used: robotic surgery, pediatrics, neonatal surgery, thoracic surgery, abdominal surgery, urologic surgery, hepatobiliary surgery, and surgical oncology. The selection criteria were limited to the English language, pediatric patients (under 18 years of age), and articles published after 2010. Key Content and Findings: A total of 239 abstracts were reviewed. Of these, 10 published articles met the purposes of our study with the highest level of evidence and therefore were analyzed. Notably, most of the articles included in this review reported evidence-based indications in urological surgery. Conclusions: According to this study, the exclusive indications for RAS in the pediatric population are pyeloplasty for ureteropelvic junction obstruction in older children and ureteral reimplantation according to the Lich-Gregoire technique in selected cases for the need to access the pelvis with a narrow anatomical and working space. All other indications for RAS in pediatric surgery are still under discussion to date, and cannot be supported by papers with a high level of evidence. However, RAS is certainly a promising technology. Further evidence is strongly encouraged in the future.
