Analysis of lymph node dissection patterns in D2 radical gastrectomy by hand-assisted laparoscopic technique / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To summarize the experience of lymph node dissection patterns in hand-assisted laparoscopic radical gastrectomy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and eleven patients with gastric carcinoma between December 2010 and September 2012 were operated by hand-assisted laparoscopic system designed by us. Clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. The lymph nodes were dissected from left to right together with total tumor resection(reverse lymph nodes scavenge pattern), then digestive tract was reconstructed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Total gastrectomy, distal gastrectomy and proximal gastrectomy were performed in 57, 46 and 8 cases respectively. Combined cholecystectomy and lateral segment of left liver lobe were needed in 4 and 2 patients respectively, and 1 case underwent combined splenectomy and pancreatic body and tail resection. TNM staging of patients in I(, II(, III(A, III(B, and IIII( were 16, 8, 35, 14, and 38, respectively. Histological type was poorly differentiated in 78 cases, moderate differentiation in 26 cases and good differentiation in 7 cases. The incision length was(6.8±0.3) cm, blood loss was(238.4±113.6) ml, operative time was (171.9±23.3) min, number of removed lymph node was 17.2±5.7, hospital stay was (10.1±3.7) d, postoperative complication rate was 9.0%. One case died during perioperative time.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Hand-assisted laparoscopic D2 radical gastrectomy(reverse lymph nodes scavenge pattern) can avoid the multiple conversion of open-laparoscopic operation model, and is beneficial to the standardization for surgical procedure.</p>

Hand-assisted laparoscopic radical gastrectomy: comparison between laparoscopic and open approach / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the short-term outcomes after hand-assisted laparoscopic radical gastrectomy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between June 2010 and May 2011, a series of 15 patients underwent hand-assisted laparoscopic gastrectomy(HG), 16 patients underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy(LP), and 11 patients underwent open gastrectomy(OP). Short-term outcomes included operative time, blood loss, lymph nodes harvested, and the length of incision were collected after operation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The operative time was 150-200 min in HG, 180-220 min in LP, and 150-200 min in OP respectively. The time of laparoscopic procedure was 18-58 and 70-100 min respectively. The average incision length was 6.8 cm in HG, 5.6 cm in LP, and 13.5 cm in OP. The average number of lymph nodes harvested was 17.6, 15.1 and 16.4 respectively. The average estimated blood loss was 228 ml, 278 ml, and 427 ml respectively. The mean length of hospital stay was 9.9, 10.8, and 12.4 d. No anastomotic leakage, bleeding, or gastric paralysis were found. One wound infection case was found in OP.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Hand-assisted laparoscopic gastrectomy is in concordance with the standardized treatment protocol for gastric cancer. Lymph node dissection is easier by HG, therefore HG can be an alternative for the radical resection of gastric cancer.</p>

Male sexual function after D(3) lymphadenectomy combined with pelvic autonomic nerve preservation by laparoscopic and open surgery for rectal cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate male sexual function in a series of rectal cancer patients randomized to laparoscopic(LS) or open surgery(OS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between June 2006 and October 2007, a total of 119 patients with rectal cancer were randomly assigned to laparoscopic(n=60) or open (n=59) resection group. All the patients were treated by D(3) lymphadenectomy combined with pelvic autonomic nerve preservation(PANP) technique. Sexual function was assessed by International Index of Erectile Function(IIEF) before surgery and on 3, 6 and 12 months after operation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Sexual dysfunction rate of LS and OS at 3rd month after operation were 23.3% and 32.3% respectively, and 18.3% vs 27.1% after 6 months, and 11.6% vs 16.9% after 12 months. There were no significant difference between LS and OS in sexual dysfunction rate after surgery.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Laparoscopic D(3) lymphadenectomy combined with PANP is not associated with higher sexual dysfunction rate, and the sexual function after laparoscopic surgery is satisfactory.</p>

Measurement of H'(0.07) using the plastic scintillation pulse height weighting integration method.

The pulse height weighting integration method for measuring H'(0.07) using a plastic scintillator has been developed through Monte Carlo simulations and laboratory tests. In order to design an optimal detector configuration, the parameters of input-window thickness and plastic scintillator thickness were investigated by EGS4 for their influences on the energy response for electrons. Based on the calculated deposited spectra in the plastic scintillator for electrons with various incident energies, a weighting function W(E), folded with the deposited energy spectra, was introduced in order to obtain a flat energy response in the low energy range. A constant response within +/-3% was confirmed, by calculation, for electrons with energy >0.15 MeV. In addition, a preliminary experiment was performed using three beta sources (90Sr-90Y, 147Pm, 204Tl) and the energy response within +/-6% for beta rays with the maximum energy >0.22 MeV was obtained. Some factors causing uncertainties in the measurements are also discussed in this article.