Biomedical subjects

Stefano Olmi

Publications and source records attributed to Stefano Olmi.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

[Laparoscopic liver resection using a radiofrequency dissector. Initial experience].

Laparoscopic liver surgery, especially when resective, requires both the skill of an expert laparoscopist and the experience of a liver surgeon. The aims of the study were to assess the feasibility of minor laparoscopic liver resection by means of a radiofrequency dissector and to evaluate the laparoscopic approach. From January 1993 to November 2002 we carried out 7 laparoscopic liver resections (3 men, 4 women), 5 of which for benign diseases and 2 for metastases from colorectal cancer. In 4 of the above resections we used an argon coagulator, while the last 3 were performed using a radiofrequency instrument. We had no perioperative or postoperative complications in this small series of patients. The mean perioperative blood loss was 120 ml (range: 80-200) and the procedure took about 90 minutes on average (range: 80-110). The mean hospital stay was 4 days and pain was adequately controlled by administering 2 ml of Toradol twice daily. We believe that the advantages of the laparoscopic technique together with the efficacy of the radiofrequency instrument in liver surgery will lead to a more widespread use of this procedure and extension of its use to include the safe execution of both minor and major resections.

Electrosurgery↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Scissor-knot-pusher: an instrument for simplified laparoscopic extracorporeal knotting.

This paper describes the "scissor-knot-pusher," an instrument that greatly facilitates the execution of knot tying during laparoscopic operations. The instrument acts in essence as an extension of the surgeon's hand and, given its rigid structure, allows the surgeon full control of the process of knot tying. Additionally, after the knot has been tightened, it is possible to cut the suture without using a different instrument. As a result, this technical device simplifies knot tying and may help to reduce the frustration and the time often associated with intracorporeal suturing during laparoscopic surgery.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Laparoscopic surgery of the liver: state of the art].

Laparoscopic hepatic surgery has recently claimed its place among the minimally invasive techniques. Adequate technologies and experience both in laparoscopy and liver surgery are essential for its correct use. A review of the English literature on this subject is presented and the present state of the art discussed. Various topics are considered: staging, treatment of cystic lesions and treatment of benign and malignant primary and secondary tumours. Over the past five years various groups have published papers regarding case series, mainly concerning hepatic resection. More correct indications for the use of laparoscopy in liver surgery have been defined. In particular, laparoscopy is of great importance in the staging of primary and secondary liver cancer and in the treatment of cystic and benign lesions, mainly of the anterior segments. Less univocal are surgeons' attitudes towards the treatment of primary and secondary liver cancers. Laparoscopic liver surgery is gradually gaining wider and clearer acceptance in the treatment of hepatic lesions, while it has now virtually consolidated its role in the treatment of cystic lesions and in the staging of primary and secondary liver cancer.

Catheter Ablation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Laparoscopic surgery of the stomach: state of the art].

Over the past 10 years laparoscopy has been used for the staging of gastric cancer. It has also been used over the past decade for cancer resections, mainly stage I. In addition, it can be used for palliation in advanced stages. We have reviewed the main papers published in the English literature with a view to assessing the validity of laparoscopy in the staging of gastric cancer and in curative resections for cancer. Several studies published in the last 5 years have demonstrated the utility of laparoscopy in the staging of gastric cancer--mainly T3 and T4--and of cancer of the oesophagogastric junction. Laparoscopy can reduce the numbers of useless laparotomies performed and may be useful in selecting patients for neoadjuvant therapy. A number of studies have demonstrated the feasibility of laparoscopic gastric resections, mainly in stage I cancer. The advantages it affords consist above all in less postoperative pain and a quicker recovery. Laparoscopy, then, is useful in the staging of gastric cancer and in cancer of the oesophagogastric junction, mainly because it brings down the number of pointless laparotomies. More debatable is the issue of gastric resection for cancer, because of the low prevalence of early gastric cancer in Western countries.

Algorithms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Laparoscopic stoma creation.

Laparoscopic creation of an intestinal stoma may be preferable to an open operation. We report here our experience with faecal diversions. From April 1992 to April 2003 we performed 55 procedures (23 end colostomies for Miles operations; 21 end colostomies for Hartman procedures; 9 loop colostomies and 3 loop ileostomies). In 45 cases the procedure was completed laparoscopically. Ten (18%) of the cases required conversion due to bulky tumours (6 pts), obesity (2 pts) and adhesions (2 pts). The indications for diversions were rectovaginal fistula (1 pt), anastomosis leakage (1 pt), unresectable rectal cancer (21), rectal cancer resectable by Miles operation (20 pts). The two ileostomies were constructed to protect colo-anal anastomoses. The average duration of surgery was 50 minutes (range: 20-100) and 200 minutes in the case of Miles operations. The average postoperative hospital stay was 3 days (range: 2-5) and 7 days (range: 6-9) after a Miles operation. The demand for analgesics was far lower than with traditional surgery and did not continue after postoperative day two. We had no intraoperative complications. There was no mortality. During the follow-up period all the stomas have functioned well but a prolapse occurred in one case (2.6%). The laparoscopic creation of intestinal stomas is safe, feasible and effective and can be performed with a low morbidity rate. Stoma construction is the simplest of all laparoscopic procedures because it requires little dissection and only minimal mesenteric handling. The length of the procedure is longer in patients who have had prior surgery, but prior surgery is not a contraindication and a laparotomy can be avoided in the majority of patients. Patients who are obstructed or have significant bowel dilation are less prone to damage with laparoscopic procedures. In addition to the benefits of laparoscopic techniques for the patients, a laparoscopic colostomy may be ideal for the surgeon as a basic, initial step in the performance of laparoscopic colorectal procedures.

Colostomy↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Results of laparoscopic versus open abdominal and incisional hernia repair.

BACKGROUND: Incisional hernia is a frequent complication of abdominal surgery. The object of this study was to confirm the safety, efficacy, and feasibility of laparoscopic treatment of abdominal wall defects. METHODS: Fifty consecutive laparoscopic abdominal and incisional hernia repairs from September 2001 to May 2003 were compared with 50 open anterior repairs. RESULTS: The 2 groups were not different for age, body mass index, or American Society of Anaesthesiologists scores. Mean operative time was 59 minutes for the laparoscopic group, 164.5 minutes for the open group. Mean hernia diameter was 10.6 cm for the laparoscopic group, 10.5 cm for the open group. Mean length of stay was 2.1 days for the laparoscopic group, 8.1 days for the open group. Complications occurred in 16% of the laparoscopic and 50% of open group. Median follow-up was 9.0 months for the laparoscopic group, 24.5 months for the open group. Recurrence rates were 2% for laparoscopic group and 0% for the open group. CONCLUSION: Results for laparoscopic abdominal and incisional hernia repair seem to be superior to results for open repair in terms of operative time, length of stay, wound infection, major complications, and overall hospital reimbursement.

Abdominal Wall↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Laparoscopic surgery of pancreatic cancer: state of the art.

The use of laparoscopy in pancreatic cancer offers a significant contribution to the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. Both laparoscopic staging and treatment of pancreatic cancer have proved feasible and effective. This paper reviews the literature on this topic, by a Medline search using the words laparoscopy and pancreas. Various aspects are considered: staging, treatment and palliation. Cross-references from the articles retrieved were reviewed. The efficacy and safety of diagnostic laparoscopy and ultrasonography, lowering the rate of useless laparotomies, is evident in most studies. Moreover laparoscopic resection of the body and tail of the pancreas, as well as palliation of digestive obstruction has been demonstrated as feasible. Controversy exists on feasibility of pancreatoduodenectomy. Laparoscopic gastric outlet obstruction bypass and laparoscopic biliary decompression have been reported with good results compared to open surgical procedures. Randomized controlled trials are required to validate promising results coming from the reported series, mainly retrospective.

Biopsy, Needle↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Prospective study of laparoscopic treatment of incisional hernia by means of the use of composite mesh: indications, complications, mesh fixation materials and results].

The aim of this study was to establish the indications, safety, efficacy, feasibility and reproducibility of laparoscopic techniques in the treatment of abdominal wall defects, even of the larger kind, in order to standardise procedures and confirm the performance of the composite mesh used (Parietex, Sofradim, Trevoux, France). From January 2001 to December 2004, 185 non-selected patients (109 females, 76 males), with a mean age of 56 years (range: 26-77) and a mean BMI of 30 (range: 26-40) were included in the study; 162 patients (87.5%) had incisional hernias and 23 patients (12.5%) primary wall defects. The size of the defects treated ranged from 4 cm to 26 cm (mean: 12.1 cm). All patients underwent laparoscopic repair and all meshes were placed intraperitoneally. Over a mean follow-up period of 29 months (range: 1-48), we observed 11 postoperative complications (6.7%): 7 seromas (4.3%) which were still present after 4 weeks, one of which turned septic after several attempts at percutaneous evacuation and in which the prosthesis had to be removed laparoscopically; 3 (1.8%) experienced persistent neuralgia which disappeared after 2 months' treatment with NSAIDs, and also one case of trocar-induced haematoma. We had 4 recurrences (2.4%), all within 1 to 3 months of surgery; 1 in the size group measuring less than 9 cm and 3 in the larger defect group. Adhesiolysis was performed in 98% of all incisional hernia cases and in 7 cases (4.3%) we had to repair iatrogenic lesions of the small bowel. In 4 patients (2.5%), because of thick adhesions (1 patient) or bowel loop fixation to the previous surgical scar (3 patients), we caused complete bowel perforation repaired by laparoscopic suture. Mean operative time was 65.6 minutes (range: 28-130) and the mean hospital stay was 2.1 days (range: 1-5). We had no conversions and no mortality. We also reviewed the main methods of mesh fixation and believe that the best system at the moment is the EndoAnchor (Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Cincinnati, Ohio) device, although in future the best option is likely to be fixation with non-traumatic biological glue (Tissucol, Baxter, Maurepas), which we have already used in a series of 16 patients with optimal results and no recurrences. The results emerging from this clinical trial confirm the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic repair techniques, of this kind of mesh and of the anchoring devices used as well as the reproducibility of this technique for the intraperitoneal repair of primary and incisional abdominal wall defects, including even those of large size.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Use of fibrin glue (Tissucol) for mesh fixation in laparoscopic transabdominal hernia repair].

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy and safety and report the results of prosthesis fixation by means of fibrin glue during laparoscopic treatment of inguinal and femoral hernias. From September 2001 to December 2004 we employed fibrin glue (Tissucol, Baxter, Maurepas) as a means of fixation during a transabdominal preperitoneal procedure in 230 patients (225 M, 5 F) with an average age of 45 years (range: 20-75) presenting a total of 320 hernias: 140/230 (60.8%) were monolateral and 90 (39.2%) bilateral; 267/320 hernias (83.6%) were primary and 53 (16.4%) recurrent. We had no perioperative complications. After an average follow-up of 26 months (range: 1-40) the only postoperative complications we encountered were 6 seromas (1.8%) and 1 trocar-site haematoma (0.3%). None of the patients developed scrotal haematomas. None of the patients complained of immediate or subsequent paraesthesia or cruralgia. No recurrences have occurred to date. The mean operative time was 30 minutes for monolateral hernias (range: 15-45) and about 50 minutes for bilateral hernias (range: 30-75). This was true of both primary and recurrent hernias. Patients are usually discharged on day 1 postoperatively. In the absence of pain, working activities are resumed after 5 days and sports can be practiced after 10 days. In our experience, fibrin glue (Tissucol) is the best way of fixing the mesh during a transabdominal preperitoneal procedure. It is better than mechanical devices because, though guaranteeing prosthetic stability, it is completely non-traumatic and presents none of the problems of metal clips.

Adult↗