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Biomedical subjects

G Ribotta

Publications and source records attributed to G Ribotta.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Efficacy of octreotide in the prevention of pancreatic fistula after elective pancreatic resections: a prospective, controlled, randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: A prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in 33 Italian surgical departments with the aim of evaluating the efficacy of octreotide in the prevention of pancreatic fistula after elective pancreatic resections. METHODS: Between July 1990 and May 1992, 278 patients were enrolled in the study. Fifty-four dropped out because of unresectable disease and six were excluded because of protocol violation; the remaining 218 were randomly assigned to the octreotide group (n = 111) or to the placebo group (n = 107). There were 131 men and 87 women with a mean age of 58.2 +/- 11.7 yrs. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was the most common operation performed (n = 143), sixty-four percent of patients had a pancreatic or periampullary cancer; chronic pancreatitis accounted for 8.2% of cases. RESULTS: Mortality rate was 6.9%. A pancreatic fistula occurred in 31 patients (14.2%), 9% in the octreotide group and 19.6% in the placebo group (p < 0.05). Morbidity rate was significantly lower in the octreotide (21.6%) than in the placebo group (36.4%) (p < 0.05). When specific pancreatic complications were grouped together and evaluated, they occurred less frequently in the treated (15.3%) than in the placebo group (29.9%) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Octreotide was able to reduce significantly the incidence of pancreatic fistula after elective pancreatic resections.

Aged

[Restorative proctocolectomy. A morphological-functional study by computed tomography with coronal scans].

Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch has become the surgical treatment of choice for patients with ulcerative colitis and familial polyposis of the colon. Defecography is the radiologic technique commonly used to obtain detailed information on function and morphology of the ileal pouch, but it fails to depict the pelvis. Computed Tomography (CT), with coronal images only was used to examine 10 patients with ulcerative colitis, submitted to restorative proctocolectomy. Coronal CT, yielding a panoramic view of the pelvis, represent an effective alternative technique to defecography. In fact, the two techniques provide comparable information relative to the ileal pouch; coronal CT also depicts the possible thickening of pouch walls and of pelvic fat tissue. Coronal CT also depicts the continence of ileo-anal and ileo-ileal anastomoses and the functional changes of the perineal muscles at rest and during squeezing. Coronal CT images allow easy and clear detection of such major postoperative complications as pelvic inflammation and fistulae (less frequently stenosis or dehiscences of the anastomosis).

Adult

[VIPoma: surgical treatment].

This paper reports a case of pancreatic VIPoma with widespread hepatic metastasis which was treated for approximately 2 years with a synthetic somatostatin analog (SMS 201/995). The treatment of choice in cases in which the tumour was fully removable is surgical resection. This occurred rarely since approximately 80% of VIPomas are malignant and are operated late when local infiltration is already widespread; in addition, 50% of cases are already metastasised at diagnosis. In this case, due to the infiltration of the superior mesenteric artery by the primary tumour it was necessary to carry out a left pancreasectomy which included two-thirds of the neoplastic mass. This was justified by slow tumour growth and also facilitated control of diarrhea and ensured a greater efficacy of possible postoperative chemotherapy. The use of synthetic somatostatin analog (SMS 201/995) enabled diarrhea to be satisfactorily controlled and is therefore specifically indicated for this type of tumour. NSE serum assay (neuron specific enolase) allowed the evolution of disease to be monitored during follow-up.

Female

Critical evaluation of the anastomoses in large bowel surgery: experience gained in 533 cases.

We critically examined the morbidity and mortality of manual and stapled colorectal anastomosis in a retrospective study of 533 patients who underwent colorectal resection for neoplastic and non-neoplastic disease. The clinically detected anastomotic dehiscence rate was 4.5%, and the mortality rate 1.8%. The extraperitoneal site of the anastomosis after rectal anterior resection with stapled anastomosis and surgery for cancer showed a statistically significant predisposition to anastomotic dehiscence. Age, emergency surgical intervention, curative versus palliative resection, the location of the anastomosed intestinal segments, type of anastomosis and presence of a protective colostomy did not appear to be statistically significant factors for anastomotic dehiscence. While the stapler may offer an advantage in the individual case, the low incidence of morbidity and mortality for manual anastomosis in this study reaffirms the soundness and importance of the manual colorectal anastomosis in the surgeon's technical armamentarium.

Adult

Extended resection in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Between 1975 and 1990, 525 patients underwent resection of colorectal cancer in our unit. Of these, 38 had tumour invading adjacent structures and underwent an extended resection. Overall, there were 67 cases treated palliatively. Of these, three were in the group of 38 having an extended resection. When the groups of radical not extended (n = 423) and radical extended resections (n = 35) were compared, respective values for mortality (1.9% vs 0) and morbidity (12.8% vs 11.3%) were not different. Respective local recurrence rates (13% vs 26%) were significantly greater after extended resection. Five-year survival after extended resection was 30%, no different from the general survival rate for standard resections for T2-3 node-positive tumours. Extended resection is thus a safe and important approach for locally advanced tumours.

Adult

[What happened to Zollinger-Ellison syndrome?].

Three Zollinger-Ellison syndrome patients were treated during the period January 1977 to June 1978. The first patient is in good health 11 years 3 months after a total gastrectomy as is the second patient, 11 year after the enucleation of a cephalo-pancreatic gastrinoma. However the third patient died from malignancy 5 years after a total gastrectomy and enucleation of a cephalo-pancreatic gastrinoma followed by therapeutic cycles with streptozotocin and 5-fluorouracil. The decline in the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome over the last ten years is examined and the type of surgical treatment is discussed. Total gastrectomy once advocated as the preferred treatment, is now reappraised because of the effectiveness of medical therapy in controlling ulcers and because of the frequent malignancy of pancreatic gastrinomas.

Adult

Restorative proctocolectomy with J reservoir in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

The results of 16 cases of restorative proctocolectomy with J-pouch and ileoanal anastomosis performed for ulcerative colitis, associated with polyposis in one, and for diffuse polyposis in the last one, are reported. Satisfactory functional results as for continence, number of daily bowel movements and with moderate nocturnal leakage in a single patient, were obtained. The anal sphincter function, assessed manometrically about one year after surgery was shown to be normal in all cases except for the loss of sphincteric and inhibitory reflex. In spite of the still debated problems, it is concluded that this procedure based on the absence of operative mortality, acceptable morbidity and satisfactory long-term results, is the treatment of choice in surgery of ulcerative colitis with severe rectal lesions or dysplasia and of familial polyposis with carpeting rectum and/or cancer.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli

Antisecretory activity of pirenzepine versus cimetidine in man: a controlled study.

Antisecretory effect of single oral therapeutic doses of pirenzepine (25 mg and 50 mg) and cimetidine (200 mg and 400 mg) was studied in 12 patients with duodenal ulcer. Gastric secretion was studied in basal condition and after stimulation with pentagastrin. Basal, maximum and peak acid output, basal and maximum acidity, and basal and maximum volume were calculated after computerised correction for pyloric loss and duodenal reflux. Both drugs showed dose-related inhibition of all facets of gastric secretion. Cimetidine (200 mg) had a greater inhibitory effect on gastric basal secretion, but a similar effect on pentagastrin stimulated secretion as with pirenzepine (50 mg). Cimetidine (400 mg) showed about twice the inhibitory activity of pirenzepine (50 mg) both on basal and stimulated secretion.

Adult

[Treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts].

Based on the results of treatment of a personal series of 13 cases of pseudocyst of the pancreas, between 1974 and the present day, it is suggested that the choice of therapy should be surgical. An internal shunt is preferred for pseudocysts as a result of acute pancreatitis or injury, whereas a wider cysto-wirsung jejunostomy is recommended for cysts developing during the course of chronic pancreatitis. These proposals follow analysis of immediate and long-term (mean: 51 months) follow-up, on the basis of mortality, morbidity, pain symptoms, malabsorption and postoperative diabetes.

Acute Disease

Enterogenous reduplication cyst of the pancreas. A case report.

A case of enterogenous cyst of the head of the pancreas is reported. The cyst was shown to be endowed with both secreting and absorbing intestinal epithelium. The surgical treatment consisted in the removal of the whole cyst. The approach to be followed in the case of this extremely rare disease is briefly discussed, underlining that the present is the third such case to date reported in the literature.

Female