Severe blunt renal injury after motorcycle accident: failure of the conservative management.

We report the case of a patient who presented after a motorcycle accident a grade IV kidney lesion primarily treated with a NOM, which failed. We discuss the possibility at admission to select a subgroup of patients with a high grade (IV and V) kidney trauma in whom NOM might fail. KEY WORDS: Kidney Trauma, High grade renal trauma, Non operative management.

Idiopathic spontaneous liver hemorrhage A report of two cases and a review of the literature.

Spontaneous liver hemorrhage (SLH) is a serious, extremely rare, and life-threatening occurrence requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Since diagnosis might be difficult, a high mortality rate is reported. Survival depends on a prompt diagnosis followed by an appropriate management. If left untreated, SLH progresses, in fact, to a hemorrhagic shock and death. SLH is rarely idiopathic, whereas more commonly is secondary to severe preeclampsia and HELLP (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelet count) syndrome, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), adenoma, focal nodular hyperplasia or hemangioma, and connective tissue diseases. We report two patients presenting with an idiopathic SLH successfully treated with angioembolization, and the results of an extensive literature review. KEY WORDS: Intrahepatic hematoma, Spontaneous liver hemorrhage, Spontaneous liver rupture.

Minimizing the Access Trauma of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy: the Transoral Specimen Extraction Technique.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has become a popular stand-alone procedure among bariatric surgeons. Recently, Natural Orifice Specimen Extraction laparoscopic surgery has been introduced to avoid minilaparotomy, possibly reducing postoperative pain, hospital stay, and improving QoL and cosmetics. Operative steps and preliminary results of NOSE sleeve gastrectomy are described and reported. METHODS: Five patients underwent NOSE LSG from November 2014 to March 2015. Selection criteria were as follows: age <60 years, ASA score ≤III, BMI <50. Operative steps are the same of standard LSG, but the stomach transection that starts higher on the greater curvature. A 2­3 cm width opening is created on the exceeding antrum and the resected stomach sutured to the calibration probe tip, which is pull back allowing transoral specimen extraction. The exceeding antrum is stapler-trimmed, allowing breach closure and completion of tubulization. RESULTS: Mean age was 41.6 years (median 43), average weight was 123.6 Kg (median 114), mean BMI 43.6 Kg/m2 (median 44). Mean operation time was 72 min (median 75). Mean and median postoperative stay were 4.6 and 5. No intraoperative nor postoperative complications occurred. Postoperative day 1 mean and median VAS pain score at were 1.4 and 1, respectively. Follow-up ranged 1­5 months (mean and median 3), average weight loss was 19.8 Kg (median 19), and excess weight loss 36.2 % (median 32 %). CONCLUSIONS: NOSE LSG potential advantages are as follows: improved cosmetics, decreased postoperative pain, possible incisional hernia rate reduction. No objective data are available to confirm these theoretical benefits; larger observational studies and RCTs are mandatory before clinical validation.

[Emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the treatment of acute cholecystitis: when and how?]. / Colecistectomia laparoscopica d'urgenza nel trattamento della colecistite acuta: "quando" e "come".

Optimal surgical timing and operative technique in the treatment of acute cholecystitis are of major importance and are still debatable issues. We report the results of our study on the timing of surgery in a consecutive series of 163 patients treated in the emergency setting for acute cholecystitis over the period from 1998 to 2008. Early surgery and the partially downwards laparoscopic cholecystectomy technique provide a safe and effective way of treating these patients and preventing major complications. The mean time period between onset of symptoms and surgery was 69.2 hrs, with a median value of 53 hrs. The mean operative time was 63.9 min, with a conversion rate of 0.6% and a specific complication rate of 1.22%. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 3.2 days. The timing of surgery (measured in hours) and operative time (measured in minutes) were recorded and analysed to verify whether or not there was a statistically significant relationship between these two variables and establish the best timing for surgery. Our results show a linear relationship between operative time and the timing of surgery. Moreover, at the cut-off point of 57 hrs, the later subgroup (over 57 hrs) had a two-fold increase in operative time compared to the earlier subgroup. At more than 60 hrs approximately from the onset of symptoms, the pathological changes in the surgical target begin, with increasing rapidity, to present a troublesome challenge to the surgeon, making laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis more difficult and less safe than when performed earlier.

Acute emphysematous cholecystitis as a cause of pneumoperitoneum.

The authors report a rare case of acute emphysematous cholecystitis with pneumoperitoneum. Emphysematous cholecystitis is an uncommon variant of acute cholecystitis. Association with pneumoperitoneum is very rare and the finding of a macroscopic perforation of the gallbladder is possible only in a few cases. A review of the literature revealed 15 other cases of this combination. Diagnostic options and treatment modalities in these patients are discussed here.

[Therapeutic and diagnostic protocol for mild acute biliary pancreatitis: our experience and review of the literature]. / Protocollo diagnostico terapeutico della pancreatite acuta biliare lieve: nostra esperienza e revisione critica della letteratura.

Through a critical review of the literature, the authors analyze and re-assess the current diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms used in the treatment of mild acute biliary pancreatitis, reporting their experience with 27 cases observed in the Policlinico Umberto I Emergency Department (Rome) over the period from March 2003 to May 2005. All patients were treated with the same diagnostic and therapeutic protocol: once the diagnosis of acute biliary pancreatitis had been made and the severity evaluated, patients presenting clinical or ultrasonographic signs of main biliary duct stones underwent ERCP within 72 hours of onset of symptoms. All patients then underwent a standard-technique laparoscopic cholecystectomy during the same hospital stay, and whenever ERCP had not been performed preoperatively, an intraoperative cholangiography was performed at the time of surgery. No intra- or postoperative complications were observed, with a mean hospital stay of 10.6 days (range: 5-25 days).

Perforated jejuneal diverticulosis. Case report and review of literature.

Acquired (non-Meckel's) jejunoileal diverticulosis is an uncommon disease, generally characterised by vague and unspecific symptoms. This rare condition is mainly expressed as acute complications: gastrointestinal haemorrhage, mechanic obstruction of the small intestine or perforated diverticulum, requiring urgent surgical intervention. The authors report a case of this unusual clinical occurrence characterized by a picture of abdominal pain due to perforation of jejuneal diverticulum. The final etiological diagnosis was possible only during surgery.

Iatrogenic intramural hematoma of the duodenum caused by endoscopic therapy of bleeding peptic ulcer. A case report.

The authors report a case of intestinal obstruction resulting from a duodenal intramural hematoma after therapeutic upper digestive endoscopy with injection therapy. Intramural duodenal hematomas are rare clinical entities, mostly caused by blunt traumas. They may also, more rarely, be due to complications of peptic duodenal ulcers, or be the iatrogenic result of an endoscopic biopsy or placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy catheter. It has recently become obvious that surgery is not necessary in most patients with duodenal hematomas. The treatment of choice for cases of intramural duodenal hematomas is of a conservative kind. Today we can employ minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for the percutaneous or laparoscopic evacuation of the hematoma, which seem to guarantee optimal results, compared to the high morbidity rate associated with laparatomy evacuation.