Accelerated skills preparation and assessment for senior medical students entering surgical internship.

BACKGROUND: Skills training plays an increasing role in residency training. Few medical schools have skills courses for senior students entering surgical residency. METHODS: A skills course for 4(th)-year medical students matched in a surgical specialty was conducted in 2006 and 2007 during 7 weekly 3-hour sessions. Topics included suturing, knot tying, procedural skills (eg, chest tube insertion), laparoscopic skills, use of energy devices, and on-call management problems. Materials for outside practice were provided. Pre- and postcourse assessment of suturing skills was performed; laparoscopic skills were assessed postcourse using the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons' Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery program. Students' perceived preparedness for internship was assessed by survey (1 to 5 Likert scale). Data are mean +/- SD and statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: Thirty-one 4(th)-year students were enrolled. Pre- versus postcourse surveys of 45 domains related to acute patient management and technical and procedural skills indicated an improved perception of preparedness for internship overall (mean pre versus post) for 28 questions (p < 0.05). Students rated course relevance as "highly useful" (4.8 +/- 0.5) and their ability to complete skills as "markedly improved" (4.5 +/- 0.6). Suturing and knot-tying skills showed substantial time improvement pre- versus postcourse for 4 of 5 tasks: simple interrupted suturing (283 +/- 73 versus 243 +/- 52 seconds), subcuticular suturing (385 +/- 132 versus 274 +/- 80 seconds), 1-handed knot tying (73 +/- 33 versus 58 +/- 22 seconds), and tying in a restricted space (54 +/- 18 versus 44 +/- 16 seconds) (p < 0.02). Only 2-handed knot tying did not change substantially (65 +/- 24 versus 59 +/- 24 seconds). Of 13 students who took the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery skills test, 5 passed all 5 components and 3 passed 4 of 5 components. CONCLUSIONS: Skills instruction for senior students entering surgical internship results in a higher perception of preparedness and improved skills performance. Medical schools should consider integrating skills courses into the 4(th)-year curriculum to better prepare students for surgical residency.

Incidence of residual choledocholithiasis detected by intraoperative cholangiography at the time of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients having undergone preoperative ERCP.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of residual common bile duct (CBD) stones after preoperative ERCP for choledocholithiasis and to evaluate the utility of routine intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in this patient population. METHODS: All patients who underwent preoperative ERCP and interval LC with IOC from 5/96 to 12/05 were reviewed under an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved protocol. Data collected included all radiologic imaging, laboratory values, clinical and pathologic diagnoses, and results of preoperative ERCP and LC with IOC. Standard statistical analyses were used with significance set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 227 patients (male:female 72:155, mean age 51.9 years) underwent preoperative ERCP for suspicion of choledocholithiasis. One hundred and eighteen patients were found to have CBD stones on preoperative ERCP, and of these, 22 had choledocholithiasis diagnosed on IOC during LC. However, two patients had residual stones on completion cholangiogram after ERCP and were considered to have retained stones. Therefore, 20 patients overall were diagnosed with either interval passage of stones into the CBD or a false-negative preoperative ERCP. In the 109 patients without CBD stones on preoperative ERCP, nine patients had CBD stones on IOC during LC, an 8.3% incidence of interval passage of stones or false-negative preoperative ERCP. In both groups, there was no correlation (p > 0.05) between an increased incidence of CBD stones on IOC and a longer time interval between ERCP and LC, performance of sphincterotomy, incidence of cystic duct stones, or pathologic diagnosis of cholelithiasis. CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence of retained or newly passed CBD stones on IOC during LC after a preoperative ERCP is 12.9%. Although the natural history of residual CBD stones after preoperative ERCP is not known, the routine use of IOC should be considered in patients with CBD stones on preoperative ERCP undergoing an interval LC.

Needle biopsy of incidentally discovered adrenal masses is rarely informative and potentially hazardous.

INTRODUCTION: The role of fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy in patients with incidentally discovered adrenal masses is limited. However, image-guided biopsy continues to be performed in this setting, in some cases before biochemical workup. The purpose of this study was to review the value of FNA biopsy of adrenal masses in patients referred to a large university endocrine surgical practice. METHODS: Patients referred to the endocrine surgery service at our institutions from 1997 through 2006 for evaluation of an adrenal mass were identified and those who underwent needle biopsy were selected for analysis. RESULTS: Of the 347 patients evaluated for adrenal masses, 22 (6.3%) had undergone needle biopsy before referral. Clinical presentations were incidentaloma (n = 15), suspected metastasis (n = 4), and symptomatic large mass (n = 3). In 10 cases, a radiology report had either suggested a biopsy or stated that the mass was "amenable" to biopsy. In the 15 patients with incidentaloma, 12 (80%) had nondiagnostic biopsy results and 2 showed pheochromocytoma. Biopsies were diagnostic in 2 of 4 patients with suspected metastasis and in 1 of 3 patients with a large symptomatic mass. There were 3 biopsy-related complications: 1 liver hematoma, 1 hemothorax, and 1 duodenal hematoma. No biochemical testing for pheochromocytoma was performed before biopsy in 10 patients, 5 of whom were ultimately diagnosed with pheochromocytoma. Biopsy results did not alter clinical management in any of the 22 patients in this study. CONCLUSIONS: FNA biopsy is not useful in the diagnostic workup of patients with incidentally discovered adrenal masses and rarely alters management in patients with resectable adrenal metastases and primary adrenal malignancies. Furthermore, biopsy in this setting can also be potentially hazardous. Language that suggests biopsy of adrenal masses should be avoided in radiology reports.

Pooled data analysis of laparoscopic vs. open ventral hernia repair: 14 years of patient data accrual.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the published perioperative results and outcomes of laparoscopic (LVHR) and open (OVHR) ventral hernia repair focusing on complications and hernia recurrences. METHODS: Data were compiled from all English-language reports of LVHR published from 1996 through January 2006. Series with fewer than 20 cases of LVHR, insufficient details of complications, or those part of a larger series were excluded. Data were derived from 31 reports of LVHR alone (unpaired studies) and 14 that directly compared LVHR to OVHR (paired studies). Chi-squared analysis, Fisher's exact test, and two-tailed t-test analysis were used. RESULTS: Forty-five published series were included, representing 5340 patients (4582 LVHR, 758 OVHR). In the pooled analysis (combined paired and unpaired studies), LVHR was associated with significantly fewer wound complications (3.8% vs. 16.8%, p < 0.0001), total complications (22.7% vs. 41.7%, p < 0.0001), hernia recurrences (4.3% vs. 12.1%, p < 0.0001), and a shorter length of stay (2.4 vs. 4.3 days, p = 0.0004). These outcomes maintained statistical significance when only the paired studies were analyzed. In the pooled analysis, LVHR was associated with fewer gastrointestinal (2.6% vs. 5.9%, p < 0.0001), pulmonary (0.6% vs. 1.7%, p = 0.0013), and miscellaneous (0.7% vs. 1.9%, p = 0.0011) complications, but a higher incidence of prolonged procedure site pain (1.96% vs. 0.92%, p = 0.0469); none of these outcomes was significant in the paired study analysis. No differences in cardiac, neurologic, septic, genitourinary, or thromboembolic complications were found. The mortality rate was 0.13% with LVHR and 0.26% with OVHR (p = NS). Trends toward larger hernia defects and larger mesh sizes were observed for LVHR. CONCLUSIONS: The published literature indicates fewer wound-related and overall complications and a lower rate of hernia recurrence for LVHR compared to OVHR. Further controlled trials are necessary to substantiate these findings and to assess the health care economic impact of this approach.