Review of Inguinal Hernia Repairs by Various Surgical Techniques in a District General Hospital in the UK.

Inguinal hernia is the commonest surgical operation. This is a large study from a district general hospital. The study spanned over 2 years with 2 further years of follow up. It is a retrospective analysis of eight hundred and seventy seven (877)inguinal hernia operations performed in a district general hospital. The following factors were looked at: type of repair, grade of surgeon performing the procedure and outcome of various repairs. The results showed that the most common technique was the Lichenstein's repair(58%). Recurrence rates were between 0.4%-30% depending on types of hernia repair.

Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumours--report of a case and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumours are uncommon stromal tumours of the intestinal tract. They can involve any part of the gastrointestinal system, but are very rarely seen in the rectum. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a unique case of rectal schwannoma with associated synchronous adenocarcinoma of the splenic flexure and adenoma of the descending colon. A 70-year-old patient was admitted with complaint of bleeding per rectum and investigations revealed the presence of a large submucosal rectal lesion in addition to the colonic pathologies. Following panproctocolectomy with permanent spout ileostomy, histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the rectal lesion to be a schwannoma. CONCLUSION: Literature review of the few reported cases has suggested radical surgical excision to be the best approach. Prognosis tends to be favourable after resection.

Laparoscopic sigmoidopexy by extraperitonealization of sigmoid colon for sigmoid volvulus: two cases.

Sigmoid colectomy-open or laparoscopic-has been advocated as the treatment of sigmoid volvulus. This has a higher incidence of morbidity and mortality. We have successfully treated 2 cases of recurrent sigmoid colon volvulus with laparoscopic sigmoidopexy by extraperitonealization of the sigmoid colon. Laparoscopic sigmoidopexy by this technique has not been reported before. The first patient was a 20-year-old male and the second was a 72-year-old female. In both patients, initial detorsion of volvulus was achieved by rectal tube. As the colon was nongangrenous, elective laparoscopic sigmoidopexy by extraperitonealization of the sigmoid colon was performed 4 days after the detortion. Operative times were 50 minutes and 70 minutes. Both patients were discharged from the hospital on the third postoperative day. There has been no recurrence of volvulus over a period of 6 and 7 months. There were no complications. In conclusion, laparoscopic sigmoidopexy by extraperitonealization of the sigmoid colon may become a superior alternative for the treatment of sigmoid volvulus with nongangrenous colon.